Le Voyage Magnifique

Freezing temps and mixed metaphors.

Real life? Yesterday’s freezing temps meant scraping ice from my windshield before I could drive to an appointment with a doctor. In South Carolina, mind you. I thought I had escaped from all that hassle when I left New Jersey. Next stop: Key West.

Spent the afternoon and evening working on a review for a friend in our local writing group. http://www.meetup.com/lowcountry-creative-writing-forum/

After reading the first chapter of his novel over several times and hacking away with my blue editor’s pen, something still didn’t sit right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Finally gave up and went to bed early. About midnight, I woke up with a brilliant piece of revelation (firefly), which I promptly captured on that little notepad I keep by the bed (canning jar). I lay back down and tried to sleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, another idea flickered. I caught that one and lay back down. Once again, another thought flashed. That process continued for about two hours until the stream finally ran dry. This morning I had two pages of notes to use for my review. Isn’t it amazing what the subconscious can do for you if you let it flow?

I spent most of today composing and crafting a review that I hope will be helpful. Ripping someone’s precious brainchild apart in a tactful way that is constructive and supportive can be a challenging proposition.

Fireflies? Canning jars? Stream? Are these mixed metaphors starting to confuse you? We are about to cast off the bowline and sail away from the safe harbor with the trade winds in our sails after spending a week carousing in the parking lot of a truck stop. (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but I managed to slip out one night for a "Blind Date" .) Yes, folks, I’m telling you this Journey of ours is going to make Mr. Phileas Fogg’s tour “Around the World in Eighty Days” seem like a walk in the park.

With all the little side excursions we’re likely to encounter, trying to keep a daily record probably wouldn’t be realistic, so I’m going to shoot for three times a week.

Now, it’s time to get this train back on the track.

Imagine!