What's Up Wednesday- April 23rd


Butterfly Orchids, Frakenmonster Manuscript & Why I've Been Stealing Extra Chopsticks


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.


WHAT I'M READING
Since I'm no longer grounded from books, I finally got to crack the cover of DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS. A lot of people have been commenting on the heft of the hardback. (It clocks in at over 600 pages) Me, I love a long book. It's like a dessert that never ends. A brownie the size of Texas with an ice cream sundae you can do the back stroke in. ;)


WHAT I'M WRITING


Real progress this week. Tangible, verifiable progress. (Yay!) 

I've managed to complete a few of my Spring Writing Bootcamp goals. One of which was posting an excerpt of LOVE AND OTHER CURIOSITIES on my current projects page. If you're remotely curious, you can read it Here. (scroll to the bottom)

I'm just shy of 47K on LOC. (shorthand, because seriously long title anyone?) My goal for the end of May is 50K, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. However, it's a Frankenmonster. I've written it in pieces, so stitching the whole mess into a cohesive whole is going to be "fright-night" scary. (Bwhahaha... *sigh*)



WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO 

Why I've been stealing extra chopsticks...Exhibit A: 

I have a thing for sunburst mirrors. What I don't have a thing for is the $300-500 price tag that comes with them. (because, seriously?!) (I need to stop saying "seriously". I blame too many Grey's Anatomy reruns) I'm the kind of person that looks at something like that and goes "I could make that". Turns out I can, and for about $5 bucks. Because I pretty much stole extra chopsticks every time I went out for Chinese food. *grin* (What's the statute of limitations on that, because I just admitted to it) Add some chrome silver paint and some craft store mirrors and voila! I like it. It's hanging above my fireplace mantel and makes cool light patterns dance around the walls when the light hits it. Reminds me of snowflakes and diatoms.
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WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW 

The Butterfly Orchids are in bloom along the river. We wait all year for this. Pale cascades of native blooms, dotted in purple with pink throats, dangling from the oak trees. Gorgeous little epiphytes that burst forth en masse from nondescript little lumps into loveliness overnight. They smell just like Welch's Grape Soda to me.

There is a lesson in Butterfly Orchids. Never was there a more boring, nondescript, overlooked plant. It's a green lump. Barely recognizable as a plant. This is true of most orchids. Some, like Ghost Orchids, don't even have leaves. They are just a tangle of roots. But wait until they BLOOM. Orchidaceae is the most diverse plant family on the planet. Millions of blossoms, heart breakingly beautiful, strange in construction. A million different scents. Chocolate. Musk. And yes, Welch's Grape Soda.

You are an orchid. (Yes, I'm talking about you.) You are virtually alone in your virtual world constructing all these words. Wondering if anyone will ever read them. And if they do, what they will see in them. You are not dormant. Your metamorphosis is underway, just beneath the skin. A fury of activity and imagination that is going to explode into something unique. Something amazing. A million different colors. A million different scents. Someone is going to stop. Someone is going to notice this beauty you created and be flabbergasted at the improbability that your words will live in their brain, if for just a moment. 

Go be an orchid.
(We'll wait)


Ghost Orchid


8 comments:

  1. What inspires us right now...you.

    You are most definitely an orchid.


    Steve

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  2. Glad to hear you're on top of your goals! I'm starting on Dreams of Gods and Monsters now, and really looking forward to getting into it.

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  3. Those orchids are gorgeous! And I love how your sunburst mirror came out. :)

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  4. Such beautiful flowers! Wow :D

    Congrats with all your boot camp progress. That's fantastic!

    Have an amazing week ^_^

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  5. I love your sunburst mirror, Kris! I think much the same way you do: Why would I pay this much for something I could make myself?! It also means that I hang onto stuff I should part with because I instantly start thinking of all the things I could repurpose it into. O_o Your mirror turned out wonderfully!

    I hear you on the Frankenmonster story. I've had way too many of those. My current WiP is the worst sort of Frankenmonster, so you're not alone! Awesome that you had such a productive week writing-wise. I think that alone is the push needed to keep on going and tackling the "fright night scary" stuff. ;-)

    Have a wonderful week, Kris!

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  6. I love it when you post pictures of your DIY home decor, it always looks amazing. That chopstick steeling was clearly put to good use. Your many talents never cease to amaze me. Have a great week!

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  7. I need a mirror like that to entertain my cats. I can see my Maine Coon sitting for hours, analyzing the light patterns it made :)

    LOC sounds awesome! And this line has me all kinds of curious:

    "a sadistic monkey with at least one unmentionable fetish"

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  8. Okay, your story excerpt is amazing, and the premise is so unique! Please keep stitching this Franken-novel together, because I want to buy it off a bookstore shelf someday. Sounds like you're well on your way to meeting your 50k goal!

    The mirror you made is very cool, and I love that you built it out of chopsticks! I never would've thought of that. I only use chopsticks for eating and sticking my hair in a bun (not at the same time, of course). Now you can snicker at all the people who actually handed over $500 to buy one.

    And thanks for the orchid speech. Needed that one today. Have an incredible week full of beautiful words and orchids! :)

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