Author:
Hi all,
some of you may have read a little deeper into some of my outpourings and recognised that I am often driven by music. Not that EVERY lyric in all the songs is appropriate, but I get a lot of inspiration and indeed a certain amount of soul-ease from songs.
This blog even has an appropriate message in song, so I will open with this one ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIL8PxLmjm4 (which is an appropriate entry for the title of this blog) ... and close with another!
So this summer has been hectic in the extreme. I scarcely knew it was with us.
We had a few visitors to entertain.
We had several domestic duties, changes and so on.
And weeks seemed to slip by without noticing.
Amongst the tasks that I have had, the following are included:
I am gearing up for retirement
I have a newish granddaughter (8 months old tomorrow!) who has required several visits
I have house hunting, car hunting and pension applications to deal with.
I have catered a wedding, two birthdays and a funeral.
I have been doing a lot of proof-reading.
I have dismantled and mantled again various stacks of furniture.
...
...
...
I have written several partial episodes of 'Julina' and have been stringing them together slowly. This task has been amazingly more complex than I would ever have believed. My major problem with it is that all this RL stuff means that I no longer have entire afternoons/evening in which to sit down and just write.
I may get a couple of hours, but then 90 minutes of that time gets used up re-reading what I have done so far, re checking facts and events from earlier episodes, re-reading the events that are coming up and so on. I seem to get about 30 minutes of solid writing in in those two hours. And I probably get about three or four two hour 'slots' per week.
Which is why the posting schedule has slowed decidedly this year!
The next Julina I would estimate would be ready by the coming weekend - assuming my 'proofers' have the time for my efforts.
So to finish this heads-up/apology here is another music track. Written by Willie Nelson way back in 1961, this is my favourite version that I have encountered in those 55 years. (Sorry about the ad at the beginning, you can skip over it after a few seconds!)
This version?
From 1992 - 24 years ago; it seems only yesterday ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhZAoKHWkTI
Cheers
Julia
Comments
Amen to that
Strangely, writing SEE was relatively easy - especially once I had some help. Thanks, Jules!
Once I began branching out, however, things quickly became more complicated, which is why What Milsy Did has suffered. This is because of the need to go back and cross-reference things and make sure I have all the dates and timings right - exactly the same problem Jules has.
For example, I need to know how long a letter takes to get from Blackstone to the palace... and a reply to get back to Blackstone. Now, I know when such a letter might have been sent and when the reply was received, but I now have to fit in Milsy's explorations around that.
Meh. I'm whining. Writing stories is complicated, writing worlds is much worse.
As to Real Life, I concur with the above mentioned sentiments. I, too, have younglings which demand attention, although mine are now old enough to even argue with us. I, too, have made journeys to assemble Ikea furniture, in my case into the nether regions of London. (Fortunately, I was spared the trip to fetch such furniture from the store.)
It is just the phase of life we are in, I guess. Sometimes I wish that I had begun writing these tales much earlier in my life but the state of me and the state of the Internet were such that it wouldn't have been feasable. Like the man said, you have to play the hand you were dealt with.
Take your time, Jules. It is better to check and double-check to get things right than to rush something out and have to repent at leisure.
Hmm. I must stop these mixed sayings.
Penny
Ah Retirement...
I've been retired for 5 weeks now and I'm as busy as I was before.
Some of the jobs you listed were very familiar to me.
I have a long (and only getting longer) list of jobs to do around the house. Not even looked at the garden but I ordered some new Raspberry canes today.
I have Solar PV panels being installed on Thursday. Then I can charge my car for free.
And I'm trying to organize 106,400 digital photographs and 400+ Vinyl Albums.
And some people find Retirement boring????
Oh, I made the Chirstmas Cake on Sunday.
Whenever it comes, enjoy your retirement.
Samantha