Musings & Thoughts for Wednesday, May 8, 2024, or: Notes on a Gray, Rainy Hump Day in May

Late Morning, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining A Certain Point of View, Too on this Hump Day. It is a gloomy and rainy spring day here in my part of New England. Right now, the temperature is 55° F (13° C) and we are getting some light rain. With humidity at 65% and the wind blowing from the northeast at 5 MPH (7 Km/H). it feels like 59°F (15°C). The forecast for today calls for light rain throughout the daytime hours. The high will be 55°F (13°C). Tonight, we can expect scattered light showers. The low will be 47°F (8°C).

I got up super early again today. I don’t know why; I don’t have to get up before 7 AM; my schedule is fairly regular and manageable as long as I don’t sleep in, but I have no external commitments here. Aside from being a self-employed writer, I have no job that involves reporting to a boss or interacting with the public. And I have no social life; I haven’t made many friends yet, nor have I found a woman I’d like to date (or even hook up with).

I could have slept in past 6 AM. But I didn’t.

I feel a little tired now, but I don’t expect this to have a major impact on my workday. I’ve been producing a lot of writing in the last two days, and if I stick to my daily schedule with care and attention I think today will be as fruitful as the previous two days were.  

On Writing & Storytelling: Reunion: Coda’s Chapter 16 is Still Moving Forward (One Scene at a Time)

I had another productive day yesterday here in the Eidelweiss District of Madison. I kept up the good work from Monday and finished a scene for The Breathless Hush of Evening, Chapter Sixteen of my novel. Maybe it’s because this part of Reunion: Coda has been on my mind for a while, or maybe because it’s a short scene – only three pages long and 649 words – but “Evening’s Embrace” didn’t give me much trouble to write.

The screen fades to black, and the final words of The English Patient linger in the air, a soft echo in the quiet room: “We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves.” Maddie’s soft snuffling breaks the silence, a tender sound of shared emotions and a well-spent night.

Under the blanket, our fingers are entwined, the warmth of her hand a gentle contrast to the cool leather of the loveseat. The Margherita pizza from Patzeria Perfect Pizza, now reduced to just two slices, bears witness to our shared indulgence. Each bite we savored was a blend of tangy tomato, creamy mozzarella, and fragrant basil—a symphony of flavors that only added to the night’s delights. The pizza box sits almost forgotten on the coffee table, a testament to our contented distraction. Nearby, the bottle of red Chianti, now less full, catches the light, its ruby contents reflecting the flicker of the TV’s standby light, a silent partner to our evening’s enjoyment.

“Why haven’t you had more than one glass?” Maddie asks, her voice a playful murmur against my shoulder.

I smile, feeling the slight weight of the wine in my head. “Well, I’ve always been wary of red wine. Sometimes it gives me a headache,” I confess, then add with a wry grin, “Besides, as Shakespeare said, ‘It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.’”

I’m not sure how much I’ll write for the third scene of this chapter. I don’t plan ahead, and I like to go with the flow. I do know that Scene Three will be hard; Jim and Maddie will get closer than ever, which means it will be hot.

Stay tuned for further updates!

So that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into the romantic adventures of Jim and Maddie. Writing a steamy love scene is not my forte, but I’ll try to make it worth your while. And if you can’t wait to find out more about these characters or their backstory, why not check out Reunion: A Story, the first half of my duology that sets the stage for their story? It’s available in paperback or Kindle e-book, and you can also order it through your favorite bookseller if they partner with Amazon. Don’t forget to read the free sample of the Kindle edition below this post. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more updates on my work in progress!