Simplify your life and other trivia

 

Irene's in trouble again and definitely needs saving,
if I can only get that second book written.

Thanks to Susan Wittig Albert’s blog, “All About Thyme,” for alerting me that this is National Simplify Your Life Week. My first thought is that through quarantine I simplified my life about as much as it can stand—got it down to bare bones. Eat, sleep, write, and read. What else do I need? But as I read farther, I realized that there are many hints that I automatically follow—and still my desk is a mess and household chores still overwhelm me. I won’t quote Susan’s list, which in truth she borrowed from someone else. But if you want to see it, here’s a link: https://susanalbert.com/all-about-thy...

A couple of Susan’s suggestions struck home with me, and immodestly I admit they are practices I try to follow. One is “Have a To-Do List.” How many times have you wracked your brain trying to remember what it was that you meant to do, who you meant to email, and so on? A list makes it so easy to tick those items off. Every time something crosses your mind that you should do, write it down on that list, whether you keep the list on your phone, a piece of paper, or your computer. I recently bought a desk-size whiteboard, with erasable pen, for a friend for a birthday gift. I figured it would be a great way to keep your to-do list. As it is, mine is too often on scattered bits of paper all over my desk.

Related is the advice to plan each day the night before: make that list of what you need/want to do. For novelists, I find it so important to note each night where the novel is going the next day. I am a pantser, which means I write without an outline, but if I don’t have some idea of what’s next, I’m liable to stare at the screen all morning. But it doesn’t all have to be about writing. First thing on my to-do list for tomorrow? Make refrigerator pickles. I found a really easy recipe, and I have some cucumber that need to be used.

A piece of desk advice: only handle a piece of paper once. When you pick it up, deal with it; don’t put it aside with, “I’ll deal with that later.” I’d add to that: once you open an email, deal with it—answer if you need to, jot a note on a calendar if that’s what’s required, or delete. I have known people who had a hundred emails stashed in their inbox—it would infuriate me if I’d written that person, got no answer, and knew that I was among a hundred being postponed or ignored. I usually keep my inbox empty; if it has five items to be dealt with, that’s unusual…and a big deal for me.

All that about efficiency leads me to add that I have been terribly inefficient today. I messed up sending some publicity materials to an online newsletter for readers, I botched up trying to advertise my forthcoming non-fiction title (thanks for asking: it is The Most Land, the Best Cattle: The Waggoners of Texas, about the largest ranch under one fence in this country and the legendary family who built it, enjoyed it, and ultimately sold it. A bittersweet tale.) A big goof of the day: I love cottage cheese and can do lots with it, but somehow I managed to order five containers from Central Market today. Guess what I’ll be having for breakfast for days…and days. Jordan is still laughing at me.

I vowed I would get back to writing on Irene in Danger today after a three-day holiday away from it, but I had so much email and trivia to deal with that I didn’t before I left the computer at two for a nap. Proud to say though, that while I was waiting for Christian to grill salmon, I wrote 900+ words. Yay for me. The salmon was delicious

So back to daily work. Vacations, even long weekends, are nice, but it’s good to be back in routine. Sweet dreams, everyone.

Hiding in a book

I suspect most of those who follow this blog are readers, so in effect I’m going to be preaching to the choir. But I had two lessons today on the power of books. One was a newspaper article which discussed the growing communication gap between peace officers and citizens, especially black citizens. The article suggested several books to read for better understanding of each culture and how they can relate to each other.

The second was a more personal experience. I have been lost or hiding in a book all day yesterday and today. It’s a manuscript I’m reading for my friend Susan Witting Albert, a fictional exploration of the relationship between General Dwight David Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, and his British driver Kay Summersby. Believe it or not, I was too young during WWII to be aware of much of this history—or the scandal which was apparently kept quiet. But I didn’t even know the battle history, and I find it fascinating.

Getting lost doesn’t happen with every book I read, though I don’t know about you. But in a few books I find myself wrapped up in the world created by the book, so much a part of the characters and what’s happening to them, that I can read all day without stopping. It’s a rare and wonderful treat when that happens.

Oh, sure I read a lot of books that I enjoy but am not driven to read constantly. The plot is good, the characters believable, but that magic is just not there. I think of the things we see on Facebook and TV about teaching a child to read and opening a whole new world for them. Three of my four children were avid readers growing up (not so much now that the world crowds in on them) and some of my grandchildren read, others don’t. Jacob finds it boring, and I’m waiting for the light bulb to go on in his head. Madison, the oldest, crushed me when she said she thought To Kill a Mockingbird was boring—maybe she had the wrong teacher. They read dystopian sci-fi an fantasy things like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Rick Riordan’s books and the Game of Thrones—things I can’t relate to. But I’d rather have them reading those than not reading at all.

I had a professor when working on my masters who said he’s rather have kids reading comic books than not reading. I remembered that my knowledge of the Bible is straight out of the comic book Bibles I had as a child. And my conception of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the rise of Satan, etc., all stems directly from a class on Milton I took while working on my Ph.D.

Yes, reading opens a magic world for us and enlarges our horizons. I’ve got to get over the lingering guilt that I should be working when I’m reading. A fellow author reminds me that reading is working for us. What a nice thought. I’ve worked hard the last couple of days.