storyfires

I am obsessed with things Celtic; therefore, I like St. Patrick's Day. This kind of thinking is typical of American descendants of Irish people. In Ireland, St. P's is a religious holiday. In America, it's a celebration of rockin' Irish roots and cheesy green decorations. My personal obsession with the Celts began around fifth grade with Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series and Lloyd Alexander's Book of Three , etc. Richard Llewellyn's How Green was my Valley helped the obsession right along. Those were Welsh Celts, and I wanted to be Welsh. I loved the sounds of those Celtic words (I studied Susan's pronunciation guide in the back of The Grey King ), the landscape, the names, the folklore, the musical/poetical traditions...blah, blah, blah. I wasn't excited about the coal mining. I fell in love with the name Bronwen. I wanted to be a bard: Me, in my fifth-grade dreams. Alas, no Welsh ancestry in these v...

This has been a writing-marathon week, peaking yesterday and today, when I stayed in bed with my computer and only got out to do essential stuff like eat and read bedtime stories to my kid. Didn't even exercise or shower. I feel kind of disgusting. My daughter cooked dinner. I finished another round of revisions and my book is almost ready to go to my agent again. I've given myself a final deadline of March 20th. It's almost two am and I shouldn't be posting on my blog, but I had to record somewhere that I'm done with this piece of the process--that is, until I get my manuscript back again from a last critique or two. Now I can clean my house again, fix food again, pay my overdue bills, use soap, and put on a birthday party for my son without feeling like something's itchy in the back of my mind, undone, scratching for attention. A short respite from the crazy dogs behind the fence. They'll be back soon, I know they will.

Sorry this is late. I promised tomorrow; I lied. Correct the Celebrity Answer Key 1. Which album title has the spelling error? a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige c. “Graduation” by Kanye West d. None of the above 2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake? “When you cheated girl, My heart bleeded girl.” a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone! b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is. c. There should be commas before and after “girl.” d. Both b and c are correct. 3. Circle the errors Paris Hilton made blogging about her new shoe collection. (Hint: there are at least three!) “Don’t worry, [unnecessary comma] if you arent [aren't] in Orange County, [should be a semicolon] you can also get the shoes at Kitson, Zappos.com, Endless.com, Bakers, Lord & Taylor and select specialty boutiques across the counrty” [country, also needs a period]  [Alternative interpretation] “Don’t worry, [should be a semicolon] if you arent [ar...

February brain-fog is lifting, even though the weather still kind of stinks. I had a good writing day. It's also NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY, March forth, er, fourth. I know you're excited. Some Grammar Day comics for you: Take this quiz, courtesy of the Grammar Girl website. See how you do. Correct the Celebrity 1. Which album title has the spelling error?       a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie       b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige       c. “Graduation” by Kanye West       d. None of the above 2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake? “When you cheated girl, My heart bleeded girl.”       a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone!       b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is.       c. There should be commas before and after “girl”       d. Both b and c are correct. ...

The last week of February ends tomorrow and I admit, in spite of the rest of it, the month has redeemed itself: First, because the sun came out and there was light . And because snow fell all day one day and stuck to the trees and they stood around like bright-white elegant sculptures in the fog while I took the dog for a walk on the mountain twice. It looked like this: Magical.  Also, because then the sun came out again and shone so hard and warmed up the air so much I went on a bike ride . I don't have a picture of that. But, all that brightness turned on something in my brain, and I rewrote the beginning of Hepzibah again - and decided I have my final beginning . I've said that before, but I believe this time it's true. And then, because of " Bright Star ," which I watched tonight, about the poet John Keats. It was stunning. I love his poetry, loved the movie. I cried. And then I remembered that I got to hear Manachem Pressler play Ch...