The Latest

Word has come that my contest submissions will arrive in the mail, tomorrow presumably. But the e-mail had an interesting additional point. The secretary/editor of the chapter says she will be coming to visit me in a dew weeks and will bring another member with her, one I have not yet met. (Gosh, that means I will have to clean the house! And have some goodies ready. I knew there would be a nice side to this. Feed your guests and perhaps they will forget you do not make sense.)

But I want to tell those of you who missed it yesterday, David McCullough spoke at the Charlotte, N. C., book fair, about his new book, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. As always, McCullough was a delight to listen to. His whole speech delighted many, of course, but some of it was especially good for writers to hear, if not all of it. When someone in the Q&A period asked him if he spent more time in research or in actual writing, he answered we must not forget a third step in the process—thinking. How timely! I had recently discovered the benefit of being dressed for bed and sitting a while in almost darkness, in say, the living room, a room you do not sleep in, or a garden room, or even just outside if no one disturbs you, and letting all the thinking of the day flush out of your mind BEFORE you try to sleep. Settle there, without slouching, and hash out the next thing for the latest plot, if you must, and then clear your mind of it completely. I sit with my back to a dimly lit lamp and study the geometric designs it makes on the ceiling and walls, the identical design every night. That helps me to rid myself of plot intrigues, and all the day’s activities, and sleep comes more easily.

I certainly plan to buy McCullough’s new book for my Nook. ♥