A few days ago, I uploaded A Potagerie of Rejects and ordered a proof copy. There may be a few more minor fixes to be had, but I wanted to be sure the formatting was okay, as there are several images in this book and, well, sometimes it’s hard to tell without seeing the actual book. So that should be arriving some time this week–I can hardly wait!
In the interim, I spent all day yesterday outside, consorting with nature. I visited Stonehedge in Tomaqua, PA–beautiful and just what I needed to add to my well… I also foraged and got to try a few things: Autumn Olives, which taste much like pomegranate seeds; Kousa dogwood berries, which taste something like apricots; and seeds from jewel weed–which are sort of nutty tasting, but are just a blast to pop open. Ah, the simple amusements in life! There were quite a few streams, pathways, gardens and ponds to explore. I also found a huge paper hornets’ (?) nest–It was impossible not to think of Winnie-the-Pooh. I was there for ten (Uninterrupted!!!) hours and could have been there for days. I found one little section that I could have spent a lifetime in, writing page upon page. In any case, I did get about seven pages written on my mystics/witches/fantastical story while there. Here I am in what will someday be the Lunar Memorial Garden:
The weather was also gorgeous, and I dressed in one of the ensembles I made to suit me, I was really in my element. (Thank you to my sweetheart for taking this picture, as well as taking me there in the first place and introducing me to foraging!)
So, that story I just mentioned above…This is the one I didn’t want to write–not being all about the whole witches and wizards and faeries and such–but I still feel compelled to create it, thanks to a dream I had too intriguing to just let go. I’m about thirty pages into this one and, thankfully, I have been able to somewhat alter the ending so it’s not identical to that of another story I’m working on. I’m still not sure how that happened, seeing as the story lines are so very, very different! It’s also looking like the ending to this one may not actually be the ending. I can see this being a momentary stopping point and by the time I connect the dots and get to it, there will be much more that follows. At least, enough to really distinguish it from the other story. (I’m hoping at least one of these two gets a title soon. I really rather prefer to call pieces of my work by their names.) So here I have gone off on a bit of a ramble, totally distracted by how much I need to give Louie a combing while she’s hopped up on catnip. More to come later…