Just learned of this event, from alert reader Anne…

Radical Book Fair
Sunday December 2nd
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Liberty Hall
311 N. Ivy (just North of Fremont and Williams)

Sponsored by Portland IWW (International Workers of the World) and Glaberman Library
Rumor has it that there will be a puppet show at 3 p.m.
Childcare available.

I have lots of little quirks, when it comes to writing fiction. (My family, in the background, “HA. HA. Ha!”)

Blog posts are a whole different animal — they strike when they strike. It doesn’t matter if a cat is on my desk, drinking my coffee, or if he’s yowling out the window at birds (that would be Wacky Cat 3). The kids can be fighting and wrestling at my feet, I can be talking with my Mom, Zip or the insurance company on the phone, it does not matter. Have blog, will post.

But when I’m writing fiction, I have to do things in a certain order.

* First, I have to vacuum and dust my entire office. (Done. This is why it’s awesome to have several days in a row to write.)

* All clutter and paperwork have to be out of my sight.

* I have to eat really simple food — sandwiches, a bowl of soup, pieces of fruit, an entire bag of Hershey kisses — because this is not cooking time, this is writing time.

* I keep a jug of water and a glass next to me, so I don’t have to leave my office. (I love my office, I mean it. Three windows, a glass door to the backyard, so I can keep an eye on the kids when they’re playing. Why am I moving? Can I keep the office?)

* I cannot pay bills, fold laundry, any of that, or else I’m derailed.

* I have to have a cup of tea. Preferably English breakfast with three splashes of milk. Or an entire pot of coffee. (Will settle today for my alloted cup.)

* The phone cannot ring. If it does, I tell whoever it is (unless it’s an agent or editor, or another writer who is looking for excuses not to write — sometimes I will play, other times I won’t) “Gotta go, writing.” Then I hang up. They’re all used to this. At least, I hope no one’s feelings get hurt. I have become my grandmother — dad’s mom. She was queen of saying, “OK, then.” (click.)

* I have to have some music on, but it has to be just the right music, at the right level. Not too quiet, not too loud.

* Blog posts have to be wrapped up tight.

Gotta go, writing.

happy Saturday, y’all.

Nancy

* I’m listening to Tracy Chapman’s version of, “3 Little Birds,” Van Morrison, “How Long Has This Been Going On,” and Elvis Costello, “Every Day I Write the Book.”

* Just talked with Planet Nomad; they are back from California safe and sound, studying French and enjoying the rain.

* Hockey God and my mother-in-law just ran the kids to school. She’s here for four days which means… I GET TO WRITE WHILE SHE AND MY HUSBAND, HER SON, WATCH THE KIDS.

* My kids are blessed, blessed and extremely spoiled rotten by four grandparents (3 grandmas and 1 grandpa) who are all playful, talented, and good-looking, to boot. (The blue eyes, the kooky mannerisms, the musical obsessions, the love of books — they get all of it from their grandparents.) Before school, Wacky Boy and Grandma were playing with transformers.

Her: “Look! This one turns into a guy, then back into a car, then back into a guy again!”

Wacky Boy, eyes shining and looking at her adoringly: “YES.”

She also admired the “fossils” that the kids made for her out of plaster-of-paris and seashells. Tonight we’re having dinner with my mom and sister. In the meantime…

* …I write. More fiction.

* Hey, is NoPoMoFoMamaLamaDingDong over today? It was fun.

Happy Friday, yins.

WM

“I do not weep at the world — I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.”

— Zora Neale Hurston

Thursday 13ers and all you Usual Suspects,

Come over here. Let’s talk. It’s always me, me, me around here. Yadda-yadda-blip. Here are…

Thirteen Things I Wanna Know About You

1) Who are you?

2) Where do you live?

3) Have you been sleeping well?

4) Do you still cuddle with a teddy bear? Did you ever?

5) If you could be a candy bar, which one would it be?

6) Do you miss me when I don’t post? Wait, I always post. Invalid question. (I’ve almost made it through November.) (Oh, that first post! It was so long ago.) Um. Do you get sick of hearing me talk?

7) Which blogs are your favorites?

8) What do you do for “real” work, or do you make so much money off your site that this is your “real” job?

9) What’s your secret? Tell me now. I’ll wait.

10) What’s your lucky number?

11) What’s your favorite side dish?

12) Favorite movie?

13) Last time you shaved?

14 — bonus question!) Will you please go buy a NAWACOTID or Wacky Mommy T-shirt from me? Thank you! (Shamless hussy.)

Please answer any or all of these questions in comments, or e me if you’re shy. Happiest Thursday to you.

Love,

WM

Celebrate your freedom to say, “You’re right! Why didn’t I see this all along?”

Who’s in? Check here.

(Looks like Kevin Allman’s in, too.) Oooh, he’s handsome. Go tell him hi.

You may be asking yourself, “Why not fight? I like to fight!” Yeah, me, too. And Hockey God? Always down for a good fight, especially when it’s the Portland Winter Hawks vs. Seattle. Here are 13 reasons not to fight. And the post that started it all…

If you’re in, send me your url and I’ll add you. We’re going to have a new blog, dedicated solamente to NAWACOTID, up and running next week.

Besos,

WM

writing fiction today…

love,

wm

Richard Avedon took some pictures on January third, 1961 in Palm Beach, Florida. They were nice photos. So nice, in fact, that people are still poring over them, almost fifty years later. They were of the most famous four of the Kennedys — Jack, Jackie, Caroline and little John-John, and he took them at the family’s compound. They were gorgeous photos, of course. Have you ever seen a bad photo of any of them? You’ll find sad photos, sometimes, but never bad ones. So you have a brilliant photog, coupled with one of the most photogenic families of all time. Excellent set-up. The original pix ran in LOOK and in Harper’s Bazaar, and you’ve seen a few of them here and there. But the entire shoot, with proof sheets? That’s something you haven’t seen before, and that’s what you get with this collection from the Smithsonian. (Collins Design, $29.95, 127 pages.)

It’s the ultimate coffee table book and a nice holiday gift, for yourself or someone else.

Next up for gift ideas: Feng Shui — a complete house re-do would be nice, or at the very least one of those sweet little ceramic tiles that says JOY or BLISS or something. Those are good — they look nice just about anywhere — on a shrine, in the entryway, on a nightstand, paired with one perfect white tea light. Yes, dear, as long as we’re at it, let’s talk about the concept of feng shui. Mine is a mess. Nancilee Wydra gives us “150 simple solutions for health and happiness in your home or office.” (McGraw-Hill, 276 pages.) The cure for my karmic twist-up can be found on page 26:

“To be in the Tao is to be connected. Whether your home is rural, suburban, or urban, to feel deeply at peace you should feel positively enmeshed with your surroundings.”

I. Do. Not. The immediate surroundings? Yes, enmeshed. Beyond that? No.

Thus, we continue packing. We’ve moved more things into storage. We’re still hashing out the whole do we or do we not decorate for the holidays? I say, no. Hockey God and kids say, yes. I’ll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, how do you feel about pre-lit, fake Christmas trees? Yay or nay? Please advise.

Lauri Ward’s book, “Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well in a Smaller Space,” was just the handbook I needed and received a few weeks ago. (Collins, $24.95, 182 pages.) Turns out when you’re packing and repacking, painting and patching up, pruning, mowing, raking and tidying — you can get burned-out pretty dang fast. I’ve got a second burst of adrenaline from reading Ward’s tips. (I appreciate, too, that she gave buying tips — stores, prices — for furniture, containers, screens, etc., but was discreet about it, with product round-ups at the ends of the chapters.) I have been devouring this book. And it’s a little mis-titled. It could have just as easily fit under the categories of simplifying your life, home decor, or “how to get your tail in gear and pack to move.”

A few suggestions:

*If downsizing, stick with a bed that does not have a footboard. (Also nice if you’re looking for clean lines in a room.)

* Using artwork properly means not hanging things too high and not scattering it all over the place, and always leaving one blank wall for the eye to rest on. (Extra tip: Hold up the art where you think it should go, then lower it three inches.)

* Try for multi-sectioned furniture when possible to add versatility.

* With limited space, a writing table can take the place of a larger desk and offer a comfortable place to work on a laptop or write thank-you notes.

Happy reading.

WM

I would like to swing on a star, if it meant getting out of the house.

Also, I would like to point out that a whole week off for Thanksgiving is an awfully long break. (We had conferences for two days, beginning of week, so it wasn’t such a long break for the staff.) If we had traveled for the holiday, it would have been just right, but since we stayed home? And I had (have) bronchitis? It was a long haul. The kids are squirrelly, Hockey God’s birthday was not all it could have been, but I’m not wheezing like I was.

As one of my girlfriends phrased it, listening to me over the phone, “Oh, good. You’re wheezing on the inhale and the exhale.”

Happy Saturday, everyone. Salud.

“How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?”

— Plato