early chapters in a writing life

sunrise:  6:34

I realize that my anonymity will be thrown out the window in today's post, but it feels like a natural evolution of this process I'm going through this year. 

There were two distinct chapters in the sky today -- pre-dawn crimson followed quite a while later by the grandeur of a blue dome arcing above the rising sun:


My examiner.com job is beginning to feel like an actual occupation.  I've written 8 articles so far, and they've been well received.  Yes, I've only made something along the lines of $5.00, but money was never the goal with this particular project.  The discipline of writing is becoming a steady daily event, and I really love it.  I'm feeling more legitimate saying those words when someone asks what I do -- "I am a writer."

Meanwhile, I still have a daughter who is my full time priority.  Her independence is both well established and growing continually, but I don't think I flatter myself when I feel that I'm still an essential centerpoint.  So...when it's time for me to write my early morning blog and she shows up with things to talk about at 7:00 on a (vacation day!) morning -- T. comes first.

In exercise class today I had a flurry of compliments and even a hug from my impressive instructor in response to the story I wrote about her.  Every little bit of positive feedback gives me a lift and helps me keep at it.

And speaking of keeping at it - the book I've been trying to write for going on two years now is moving very slowly.  Rachel Field was an award winning novelist, children's writer, poet, and playwright in the who died young in 1942.  She lived in an island home that J. and I bought 16 years ago.  The house still has things that belonged to her scattered around, and I have grown to know and care about her over the years.  Her life story is triumphant and picturesque and heartwrenching -- and I am determined to write it.  Little by little, I'll get there.

The article I wrote for Port City Life (now renamed "maine. the magazine") offers a little taste of my connection with this vibrant woman.  I also spoke at a writers' conference in Tampa last fall about writing her biography, so I have had plenty of push to keep going.  The process of instilling a process of writing onto my life is long and labored.