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| Mt. St Helens and collapsed crater on right after eruption in 1980. You can see Vince's reflection through the canopy. |
have unfinished business.
Is it fear that keeps me from finishing? The other day I wondered if I had a creative bone left in me to work with. Apparently I do. I sat down to try some flash fiction, and out came the opening scene to another book I am anxious to start. It was so much fun, and uses my new setting here (we live in the desert on a runway!). At any rate, I have been caught in the revision process far too long. It's time to wrap things up, fear or no fear.
JUST IN CASE IT IS FEAR, I have given myself a visual reminder, a recent trip to Mt. St. Helens in my husband's home built plane, an RV8. I have never been comfortable flying in the mountains, as there is no easy place to land, and weather and all kinds of things can go wrong.....or so my white-knuckled reasoning goes, even though I could not be with a more conscientious pilot.
But all fears were unfounded. It was a perfectly beautiful day to fly, and THE SCENERY WAS AWESOME. By the way, Mt. St. Helens is Washington State's famous volcano that blew its top in 1980. We lived in Pullman, WA at the time, in a small college town, and the region was covered for miles with a talcum powder-like ash for weeks. Incredible. I still have a jar of ash as a souvenir.
You can see the reflections (my husband's) on the canopy in the photos. Photoshop can remove these, but I like that they are proof we were there. We did a clockwise flight around the mountain and landed in Packwood for lunch with our friends (they were flying an RV7) .
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| You can see a section of the wing in front. It appears blue in the sunlight, but it is really unpainted (bare aluminum). |
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| Up close. (Mt. Adams is in the distance) |
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| Safe and sound on the ground in Packwood, WA |
My goal is to finish a rewrite of my cosy mystery in time to enter it into a contest. Wish me luck.
ReplyDeleteTerrific, Elizabeth. Good luck and all the best in your pursuit.
ReplyDeleteBreathtaking! That would definitely inspire me to write.
ReplyDeleteIt really was. Thanks for visiting, Stephanie.
DeleteYou should be able to beat him in the writing arena by a long shot, however finding an agent might take additional time. It will be interesting to see which of you "reaches the finish line" first.
ReplyDeleteActually, the details include actively submitting and pounding down all doors before I can claim the finish line. I need to finish the final chapter, write a synopsis (again), scope out the market (again) and begin writing query letters (again). As the book has changed a lot with revisions, previous versions no longer work. I find this part of the process cumbersome and discouraging, which is why I keep putting it off. It feels like the wild west out there. I like writing, but not the "business" of writing.
DeleteHmmmm, I hope you beat your husband :) But if he's anything like mine, once it's a competition, it would give him the encouragement to beat me LOL! xx
ReplyDeleteHa-ha. I know what you mean. (I've noticed he's picked up the pace). Honestly though, I'd be happy to see either of these projects completed. We both have procrastinated big time!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow -what a great way to view this scene. I remember when it blew. I remember the old man not leaving (what was his name again??Harry??). Life has returned big time there which is great to see. Good luck with the novel and his plane:) Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteHarry......I think you are right. The old guy just wouldn't leave, poor man. All the best in the New Year, Birgit! Have enjoyed your visits in 2014.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures and beautiful thoughts for a new year. Thank you for that. But, those are four very scary words 'The page is blank'. I suppose they should also be exciting words. OK, I'll think of them that way - exciting.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you Sharon.
Thank you for the follow! Nice to meet you too. Well, I don't mean a ms with a blank page of course (unless you are starting fresh on something), but life in general if you know what I mean. Life really is an exciting journey. We just never know, do we?
ReplyDeleteWhat great pics, and I love the idea about the "race." Plane or novel? Hmm... All of us can lose our way when writing or revising. Sometimes I even give up on a novel and start another. You have to follow your heart. Good luck!
ReplyDelete(There were a few incorrect blog addresses on the Celebrate hop's Linky. I visited every site, edited broken links, and it's all fixed now! I look forward to you next post!)