I Found It!

I found it!  My journal!  It disappeared and then I found it behind an old radiator in this lovely 1912 house we're house sitting in Lexington, MA. It's my Gatsby summer here with the gardens and rolling green lawn. My wonderful generous friend needed house sitters and we're re-doing our master bath which means our house is a construction site, so the timing worked perfectly. 

Perfect, except for one thing. I lost my journal a few days after our arrival here. You journal writers know the dilemma. Do I go nuts searching for the journal I lost, which is half written in, or do I just start a new one?  Starting a new one is like taking your umbrella with you on a day it may rain, to chase the rain away. When you start a new one, suddenly the old one seems to come out of wherever it was hiding, like a cat you thought was lost. 

But I held out and did not start a new journal -- which was just about killing me. I have written in a paper journal, nearly daily, with gaps to be sure, since I was about ... 12 years old. 

And this was a journal my husband bought for me -- not my usual black cover Moleskin plain journal. And it's full of details on these last few weeks of finishing my book, so I didn't want to lose it.  It says "Remember, ideas become things." on the cover.  Another reason I did not want to give up on it. So glad I got it back!

Writing: A Medium of Quiet

I write most mornings.  Today I'm in Connecticut on the shore at South Norwalk.  I'm waking up in my best friend's mom's house, like I did many mornings in junior high school and high school.  We lived in Greenwich then and their house was right on the water by Byram Shore Road. We could walk or swim before school in the early summer months on warm days like today.  Of course the water was freezing, but we were young and foolish.

I'm here for the Book Expo in NYC, a busy noisy place I also used to live in, but now, I crave this quiet sunrise and slightly dewy porch furniture waiting for a new day to start. No hustle and bustle need apply.

No noise here, just so much quiet and as I finish my book, I was thinking about the privacy and quiet neighborhood of a book. It's a place you go to find the thoughtful quiet, reflective musings of another person. I can share the delicate noise of one bird on the porch and the peaceful silence of this shore at sunrise with you in a book and it's hard to find that peace many places these days.

Despite the many ways you can write now (blogging, tweeting, facebooking), a book still has a solid weighty feel like no other.

No surprise there. For goodness' sake, a book is made of trees, like any good neighborhood. The medium has a luxurious quiet and whispers a story person to person, which we share, writer and reader, because as the writer I get up early and carve out the time to take you to the places I see and imagine.

Her house stood in Hurricane Sandy while many to the right and left of her house did not, because it was built in the 1960's by a contractor who already knew how rough Mother Nature could get.  He'd shored it up on a higher level with a rocky undercarriage to keep it out of harm's way, never knowing in 2012 his house would have the last laugh on this street, as his house stood up to the proverbial test of time. That's my idea of a good story with a happy ending.

Getting Back to Normal

After the terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon only week ago and lock down only four days ago, we're all keen on getting back to normal here. People are doing their level best to just get back to normal and from normal, we long for a day that's boring and routine.  We'd savor that.

It's finally spring and we need to let it remind us of how you can rebound after a long dark winter.  You can start over.  You can (sort of) forget, you can (maybe) forgive, move along wiser and stronger and put one day after another behind you until plain old Boston is just our fair city again.

15 Grammar Goofs by Copyblogger

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My Good Advice for Mike Arrington

I'm a mom. Can I sit you down, offer you a cookie, a glass of milk and share two words of good advice?

Shut up.

Let me remind you, dear, that a person can win in court and still lose in the court of public opinion.

If someone has made allegations against you along the lines that you are a threatening person, try not to end a blog post with something that might sound threatening, like this:

I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

You've done many people much good and many favors, but you have also gotten a few people a little pissed off at you.

You're a gifted writer, but it's time to keep all your words to yourself.  Okay, dear?

Top Ten Mistakes of Entrepreneurs by Guy Kawasaki

I think you might like this.  I thought it was awesome.  Guy actually gives you 11 mistakes since he likes to underpromise and over deliver.

Check it out!

Endless Disruptions / Welcome to Saturday

Credit: aliveontheshelves.com

Oy vey!  There are so many forces pulling me in so many directions today.

Okay, here's my mantra.

Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write
Write Write Write Write Write Write Write Write

RIGHT!