The Only Reason Why I Would Stop Writing...

I found out in September that I was... 

Yup, that's right, I'm pregnant Beyonce'!

HA!  I wish.  

No, I'm just plain old pregnant!

Immediately after finding out I was pregnant, I started to feel pregnant:  tired, nauseated, bloated, uncomfortable, unfocused, unmotivated, hungry... and writing was pushed to the background while I battled first trimester foolishness.  The past 13 weeks have been incredibly eventful, yet, quite uneventful (lots of laying in the bed and watching HGTV).  I had an emergency pregnancy scare (which I will write about in my next post, stay tuned folks).  I have had to mentally get my mind around the fact that I indeed could have children and that nothing bad was going to happen to me.  And, I also had to figure out how to handle working, school, family and friends while trying to keep my dinner down and take the horse pills they call "prenatal vitamins."  Basically, although I haven't been blogging, I have been trying to find that space in between feeling pregnant and feeling normal so that I can actually want to write again.  I think now, I have reached that point (thank God)!

It's not like I didn't have time to prepare for what was coming.  If you talk to DH about it, it happened like this...

 

But, in actuality, we had been trying to conceive for almost a year.  I struggle with a condition called Polyscystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and had convinced myself early in my 20's that getting pregnant was not going to happen for me.  When DH and I decided that we wanted to at least try to have a baby, we attempted it the natural way (i.e. no medical intervention) but that didn't work.  It has taken time and some serious drugs to get us here and we are beyond thankful.  But, no matter how much I thought I was ready, I still had no idea how to handle actually being pregnant, mentally and physically.

But, today I am making a commitment to come back to writing, to make time for it just like any other priority in my life, so that when this nine month journey is over and the real adventure starts, I am able to incorporate time for it organically in my new life.  And, although I have been trying to keep this blog more about writing and reading in general, I think you all might be hearing a bit more about my personal life in the future.  I promise not to drift too far from my subtitle of "a writer's blog," but one thing I know about writing and being a writer is that our life experiences always find a way into our work.  I am very curious to see how this part of my life gets played out on pen and paper and I am glad I can share with you all!

Just My-Shelf

Ever since I was a little kid I loved to read.  I remember coming home from school, taking off my pants (because I hate pants, clingy little buggers), lying around in my underwear reading or watching Reading Rainbow.  I ended up marrying a man who owned more books and CDs than clothes and so our old apartment was a giant bookshelf with two couches and a TV.

Inspired by this post at real actual hilary by way of the YA Highway, I thought I would share with you all my book shelveseseses...since there are six of them in my house (full disclosure, one of those shelves is dedicated to my husband's extensive CD collection/Wii game storage/DVDs/junk...so I will spare you the photos of all of that for fear that you will indeed judge us and never want to visit...and trust me...a visit to Stroleman Manor is awesome, we have a Tempurpedic guest bed and I can make a mean monkey bread!)

We bought our house in 2010 and one of the most important things on our "must have" list was a room for all our books.  After we got in the house, we set up our library/office and then...there were still books left over...so we have four rooms in our home with at least one book shelf in it.

These are our office shelves

And these are the shelves in both our guestrooms (unedited, crap and all) 

Gosh, with it all together like this, I feel really nerdy!  If DH and I ever end up missing, look for us underneath one of these shelves.  We have so many books, we even used them as table centerpieces at our wedding.

NERDS!

So FREAKING Excited!

Short post today because I don't want to admit how lame I am.  I JUST realized that the movie version of one of my FAVORITE books is coming out on September 21.  That's two weeks ya'll!

Me.  Right. Now.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Check out the trailer!

 

YAY!  Now...how do I convince DH to take me to see it?  Especially since I've been neglecting his desire to go see The Campaign (Will Ferrell and Zak Galifianakis...I SO want to see that, but just haven't made the time to go).  Maybe if I let him off the hook when Breaking Dawn Dos comes out?  

Nah...he must suffer!  He got away with missing The Hunger Games, he has to make up for it!  He's been chilling in the basement streaming episodes of Breaking Bad for way too long.  I got to stop the testosterone surge before someone gets hurt or he starts dealing meth.

Have any of you read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky?  If so, what did you think?  Are you as excited about the movie as much as I am?  Am I lame because I also want to see Breaking Dawn Dos (Twilight)?  You don't have to answer that.  I know, I am a little lame for that, but...I sort of can't help myself...

 

Hermione, girl, I know!

Character Analysis and Our Significant Others

Last night, Dear Husband and I had a tiff.

I asked him one of those dreaded questions that significant others who are bound to creative thinkers...artists, musicians, writers, tax attorneys...always are asked at some point when it comes to whatever project said thinker is working on.  "So, what you do think...?"  followed by a long, drawn out explanation that covers the entire combination of chosen colors, score, plots and tax code regulations attempting to be circumvented.

I love Dear Husband.  DH is what I call him.

DH, unlike many other times, decided to indulge my inquiries last night.  I don't know why.  He had to have known it would lead to no good.  Or maybe, since he is also a creative thinker, he knew how good it would lead (okay, that didn't work, but...you get what I'm saying).  

My question:  "So, what do you think if my character asks the protagonist for help?"  DH picked up the thinking stick in response, a rolled up pole of wrapping paper leaning against the wall in my office.  He swung it around for a bit, used it as a light saber, tossed it around his head, pretended it was an extension of a particular body part that shall not be named and said, "I don't think your character would do that"  in so many words.  

I was like
 


Please... who asked you anyway?

He continued..."I know this person, the kind of guy you are writing about.  He's a dick right?  This guy would think all of that, what you are writing about, is beneath him.  He wouldn't ask for help because he wouldn't think he needed it.  He wouldn't see how wrong he is because he is privileged."

Hmm...DH was on to something.  The more I thought about it and let his comment stew, the more I realized that he was actually right.  That my character was privileged and had no idea that he should ask for help.  But, the entirety of my plot depended on his getting this help.  So, what could I do?  What should I do?  The only thing I could do.  I got to know my character.  Or rather, I started to get to know him better.  Because I had an idea of who he was.  I had an idea of who I wanted him to be in the end.  But, I didn't know him well enough to allow him to take me there.

So the word of the day is "character."  No plotting, no story, no further...not until I know exactly who I am dealing with.  Thank you DH and all the other significant others out there for putting up with our random questions and actually indulging us with coherent and meaningful responses.  You many not think you help, but you really do.