Weekly Recap: Finding Time to Write

Hi, Another busy week. I've been trying to increase my writing output, not on the blog....but my novel. During the A-Z Challenge I read an interesting post on Stephen King's writing schedule and was favorably impressed. He writes 4 hours a day, which means he writes only 28 hours a week. I have since read variations of this schedule, but the idea stuck. Four hours a day......Can I do it?

 As it turns out, I can to some degree. I wrote 21 hours and 30 minutes last week, up from my average 11 hours. However, the plan failed over the weekend. I admit that weekends are precious to my husband and me. It is our playtime, catch-up time, church time, relax time, shopping time, and occasional 4-day travel weekend. I try to do bills, housework, gardening and other activities during the week. (It helps that I no longer need to work outside the home).   

So on Friday we went to Thai Ginger for dinner (phad with eggplant and tofu for me; chicken with peanut sauce for hubbie). We have been in love with Thai food for a long time. We first ate Thai Jasmine rice while living in Malaysia ('95-96). We thought it funny at the time that this rice was technically illegal to purchase in Malaysia, but everyone skirted the rule. We were later stranded on a Thai train over night (another train had crashed ahead of us!), where we were treated royally and served the best lemon grass soup and other Thai courses we have ever had!

Top: train that derailed and crashed on a track parallel to ours! 
Bottom: Vince and me.....safe and sound in Bangkok (1995)

  We also saw the new Star Trek movie over the weekend, Star Trek into Darkness. This movie is mostly for younger viewers, with lots of ear-popping loud action in 3-D, but we are hard core Star Trek fans. We accept any bone Hollywood is willing to give us, and the actors they have picked for young Kirk and Spock are well suited for the roles.

 We watched the original Star Trek in the 1970s. I still remember being concerned with my two young children watching this series. I issued a ban on all Star Trek viewing, which was then nixed by the family over time. Ha! The original series seems so innocent now. We also watch Star Trek (Next Generation) on Netflix during the week. Yep, we're hard core.

So, how about you? How was your week?

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

Hey, That Just Isn't Right

Sometimes life kicks you in the shins and you want to stand up and raise a fist, yelling, "Hey, that just isn't right!" We stumble through and when it's all over, we are stronger and more resilient, or at least that is the hope. But sometimes the result is more permanent. A life is changed forever, or worse, a life is lost in its prime. It always seems to happen to the nicest people--the neighbor at the end of the block--the one with the barrel full of daffodils every spring, a teacher you remember loving so much, a kid that struggled in school and finally made it in the world . . . Tragedy strikes and they are snatched from our world here on earth forever. And when we finally catch our breaths, all we can say is, "Why?"

Sometimes it happens to someone or people we have never met before, but we relate to them on a human level. We grieve as a nation, as a community, and alone. This morning I read in the newspaper about a British couple I would never meet. They were living the life of their dreams, bicycling around the world and chronicling their journey in a blog called Two on Four Wheels. 

On Monday, they were struck and killed by a pickup truck in Thailand. The driver survived. Peter Root and Mary Thompson, both 34, lost their lives doing what they loved most, exploring the world on bicycles, a journey that had begun in 2011 (from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands). They had traveled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China, and had plans to visit New Zealand next.

"They were camping wild, as they called it," said Jerry Root, father of Peter Root. "What helps me is to think of how happy they were with each other. They were leading the life they wanted to. It was the happiest, the most fruitful of lives." (Associated Press, 02-19-13)

I truly hope it was, and although they died tragically on a remote road in Thailand, I am almost certain they were in love with that beautiful country. It is sad we will never hear their impressions. Their last blog post had a photo of Cambodia, taken over a week ago. I include a photo from my own files of Thailand in 1995, in their memory.

 (Thailand - author's trip in 1995)

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl