Musings & Thoughts for Wednesday, April 24, 2024, or: The Highs and Lows of a First-Time Novelist’s Existence

Late Morning, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, all.

It’s a nice spring morning here in my corner of Madison as I start writing this post, but that happy state of (weather) affairs is going to change. Currently, the temperature is 46°F (8°C) under partly sunny conditions. With humidity at 87% and the wind blowing from the south-southwest at 3 MPH (6 Km/H), the feels-like is 61°F (16°C). Today’s forecast (ugh) calls for scattered light rain showers and a high of 53°F (12°C). Tonight, we can expect mostly clear skies. The low will be 24°F (-4°C).

On Writing & Storytelling: Chapter 15 Gets a Third Scene

Yesterday was another productive day for me, writing-wise. At first, I thought it wouldn’t be; I had a bunch of things on my mind during my midday rest break, and for the first few minutes after I started working, I thought my worries – mostly about the future – would play havoc with my ability to create. After all, writing is a task that requires a lot of concentration, and it’s hard to concentrate when you’re thinking about your life and environmental conditions (in both the physical and social senses).

Luckily, I shook off the anxieties of the moment and focused on the task of following up on Monday’s successful efforts to write a steamy scene between Jim and Maddie in Reunion: Coda’s Chapter 15.

And, considering the “strong disturbance in the Force” I felt during lunch, I surprised myself – again – when, at the end of my four-hour novel writing shift, I saw that I’d exceeded my expectations and created not just part of a scene but a complete one.

In retrospect, writing this scene was relatively easy because it describes the aftermath of the “steamy” (literally and metaphorically) Scene Two. Because it does not directly mention what happened in the earlier scene – which I assure you is rather tame and more romantic than it is erotic – I was able to write it without worrying about how readers would react to the goings-on between Jim and Maddie.

Since it’s always better to “show, don’t tell,” here’s a brief excerpt from Scene Three:

3

Time Zones of the Heart

Maddie’s Apartment, 1:00 PM

The remnants of steam from our shower dance lazily in the air, blurring the reflection in the mirror as we stand shoulder to shoulder. I’m clad in my suit pants and the blue Arrow shirt that Maddie loaned me for my unexpected overnight stay. It’s a little snug, but it feels right—like a piece of her I get to carry.

Maddie, a vision in her pink terrycloth bathrobe, with the sash tied loosely around her waist, commands my attention. Her hair, bundled up in a towel and twisted at the top like a crown, draws a smile from me; there’s an undeniable charm to her makeshift turban.

As the steam begins to settle, the cozy confines of Maddie’s bathroom become our sanctuary. The minty tang of Crest toothpaste invades my mouth, a refreshing assault that’s both unwelcome and oddly comforting. It’s a far cry from the familiar warmth of Colgate, my usual brand, which I swear has a hint of vanilla that Crest can’t match. But here, standing shoulder to shoulder with Maddie, our reflections mingling in the foggy mirror, I find myself savoring the shared experience.

Our toothbrushes dance a clumsy tango, bristles flicking toothpaste specks onto the mirror. Maddie’s nose scrunches up when she brushes, a quirk that endears her to me even more. We’re in sync, even in this mundane act, our movements echoing each other’s until we both lean over the sink, a choreographed duet.

The moment our heads nearly collide, a shock of adrenaline spikes through me, but it dissolves into laughter as we catch each other’s eye. It’s a silly, intimate ballet, one where the prize is not just clean teeth but a deeper connection. And as we rinse and spit, the cool aftertaste of Crest lingering on my tongue, I realize that with Maddie, even the most ordinary moments are transformed into something extraordinary.

I’m doing my best to be a gentleman, and to focus on the task at hand, but the mirror keeps catching me off guard. It’s hard not to notice Maddie’s reflection, the way her bathrobe threatens to slip with each movement. I sneak glances, each one leaving me more captivated by the subtle reveal of skin against the soft fabric.

In Closing….

I don’t have much in the way of news, and I haven’t felt the urge to write the kind of posts – mostly reviews or “memoir pieces” – that I used to write when I lived in Florida. I haven’t had many opportunities to go out into Madison or North Conway except to go shopping for food and other necessities or apply for New Hampshire state assistance. So…I haven’t met anyone besides my housemate Stuart and some of his local buddies. I’d like to make friends of my own, and maybe even date someone new (I’ve been single for a while now, and I’d still like to not be single, y’know?), but it’s not easy to do that in rural areas.

That’s why my blog tends to focus almost exclusively on my writer’s journey as I write my first novel. Reunion: Coda dominates almost every aspect of my life beyond the basics of everyday life – such as eating, sleeping, and whatnot. Like all serious writers, when I’m not working on the novel, I’m constantly thinking about it. How it’s developing. How it is working. How it sounds. How readers might receive it – or not. And, of course, I worry about whether this project isn’t just a colossal waste of time and energy, all things being equal.

Maybe that explains the decline in readers, likes, and comments on A Certain Point of View, Too.  Not everyone, after all, is a reader of fiction or cares about the concerns of a relatively obscure writer in rural New Hampshire, so if all I’m writing is about how Reunion: Coda is progressing, of course, I’m going to have fewer readers.

Part of me is concerned about that, of course. I wouldn’t mind if my blog were more popular than it is. After all, healthy blog stats are good for both the soul (ego) and the pocketbook (ad revenue).

The rest of me, though, thinks that A Certain Point of View, Too is my personal space here on the Internet, and if the only topic that I feel comfortable writing about is my novel and my efforts to finish it on time for a 2024 release…well, that’s what I’m going to write about.

Anyway, it’s almost time for my midday break, so I’ll just close for now. My mind right now is a contrast between happy thoughts about how well my writing days have been this week and less happy thoughts about everything else; I don’t think the latter are of any interest to you, so….

Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.