After Christmas, my friend Jane and I met to go for a walk and she handed me two magnetic bookmarks.
"I forgot these on Christmas Day. Laugh is for your mother and Create is for you," she told me.
At the time, I simply appreciated how well she knows both of us. But as the new year approached, and the idea for that novel dropped into my head and then onto the pages of a notebook, I began to wonder if this simple bookmark was actually a sign. I was about to create a completely new book.
When I posted this photo on Instagram on New Year's Eve, I wrote about how I don't pick a word for a year like many people do, but last year it was necessary to make "focus" my word for a lifetime. It was time to focus on only my writing -- something I'd never allowed myself to do.
And now that I have over seven thousand words written in this novel, I'm seeing this coming together of FOCUS and CREATE at the start of this new year and to be honest...
...it's kinda freakin' me out. Like, how did Jane know? How could she know what I needed -- even before I knew I needed it?
I love this shit! It's what gets me through the day. And long, tiring days they are going to be, but in such a good way. I wrote Field Notes in two months so it's not as if I don't know that I can do this. Actually, I've discovered that not only do I work best with a deadline, even if self-imposed, but a tight deadline -- three months rather than eight months -- is even better.
Git 'er done, as they say in the country.
To be focused on creating an unexpected story that excites me and interests me and challenges me, already, is nothing short of a miracle. So is Jane. And of course, this mug that was a gift five years ago (and how did Angela know then?????).
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