I was blessed with sunshine and the company of a dear friend this weekend and in the end I came home with four chapter outlines, a narrative arc, a tentative ending and, even, a completed chapter. I got to write about my experience with the fortune teller in Tam Ky. Three years later his predictions […]
slow and steady wins the race Read More »
All we have to plan this trip, but so far we’re doing all right. I’ve got the car rental taken care of and reservations for the first two nights of camping, then we’ll be lucky enough to stay with friends and family throughout California. Yesterday I trekked it down to the central library (a trek
three weeks is all we have Read More »
So I’ve spent two days trying to coalesce the major events and themes of my book into a readable synopsis and still I’m so unhappy with it. There are bits that I think are good, but things that I know are not quite right and it’s killing me. There are so many bits and pieces
synopsizing is hard Read More »
Writing this book constantly gives me moments to relive and every time that a memory hits me particularly hard, it surprises me. Today I wrote about saying goodbye to a fellow volunteer and more so about having to watch as my daughter suffered the pain of having to say goodbye forever to someone she’d truly
I don’t know what reminded me of them, but for some reason the band This Mortal Coil came to mind today and I couldn’t shake it. I missed their album Filigree and Shadow so much I actually bought it. Then I sat there for the next hour, bathing in it, drowning at times, and wondering
pacifying the soul Read More »
A poignant film by Michael Rubbo: “A film about the people of Saigon told through the experiences of three young American journalists who, in 1970, explored the consequences of war and of the American presence in Vietnam. It is not a film about the Vietnam War, but about the people who lived on the fringe
Sad Song of Yellow Skin Read More »
Changes this time are only to the blog as I transition things over a bit at a time until this blog features some of the better posts (but not all of them). I want this site to be both informational and inspirational. As I write my book about our travels, and re-read blog posts and
ch-ch-changes again Read More »
I have a reading this evening at Marylhurst University, and I’ve managed to whittle what had been a chapter down to two pages to read aloud: Not one of the two dozen children who live at the baby orphanage come out to greet us when Jo and I ride in, ringing our bike bells in
Tam Biet, Em Be (an excerpt) Read More »
As summer quickly approaches, we’re putting together plans for this year’s adventure. Last year it was Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. This year it will be the western states. I’m still nailing down an itinerary and places to sleep, I have the route pretty well decided on. Have any recommendations on where to go and what
something to look forward to Read More »
I’ve got six weeks to finish my book if I want to have the draft finished by the time of the writers’ conference. Six weeks. It’s taken me two years to get half done and now I need to get it done. We’ll see what I can accomplish when push comes to shove. Again.
