Well, my goodness, life has been so strange in 2020. It actually started out well, as I had grown accustomed to my new computer, jumping from Windows 7 to Win-10. Because of that, I had been writing steadily, working on a new novel.
Then along came the pandemic. That threw me for a loop, even though I’ve been very cautious, limiting my interaction with others, and all that.
I thought it would be a breeze to go through life with a plague around, as the self-isolation wasn’t much different from my regular hermit-like existence. But being prevented from going and doing, should the fancy strike me, did something weird to my soul. I actually was mourning the loss of that freedom.
I had enough toilet paper, as I never let my supply get very low. I live away from town, and winter snowstorms could prevent me from going to town, so I keep a good stock of food, water, and supplies on hand, just in case. I had the food and water, but there were a couple of essentials I was running low on. After a month, I was able to re-supply, which made me feel much better.
I even ventured a bit into the domestic area of life, and made the occasional pan of this or that. Here’s cornbread.
Looks good, yes? It was very tasty.
Which reminds me of that novel I’ve been writing. The word “tasty” comes up a time or two.
I intended to write a 6,000-word short story, but things got out of hand, with my characters insisting that there was way too much to tell to restrict the story to that length. Thus, it became a novel, with me just taking dictation from those pesky characters.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my characters.
The novel, which became the second longest I’ve ever written, features familiar characters from the Owen Family Universe, thrown together due to unexpected sorrowful circumstances. Don Pedro Chaves has had bit parts in two previous novels, Ride to Raton, and Trail of Storms. The widowed Charity Bingham had a cameo part in Gone for a Soldier, and appeared in a supporting role in Trail of Storms. I never suspected that she had big changes coming into her life.
I think the story is unique, a mashup of several genres and tropes: a marriage of convenience that becomes a multicultural romance in a historical setting, featuring seasoned (mature-age) characters, and just a tiny bit of paranormal activity. Think of a persistent ghost.
Since half of the couple is a Spanish-speaking man, of course I’ve added liberal doses of that language, with, I hope, adequate explanatory text surrounding those passages. I had to do extensive research on various topics, including the Catholic Church in New Mexico Territory in 1867.
Then, in February, when I was almost finished with the book, I encountered an insurmountable plot problem that turned the story into illogical mush. After weeping into my pillow for a couple of nights, I pulled on my big-girl panties, and began what proved to be an extensive re-write. To my great joy, that task went as smoothly as could be, considering that the characters had more to say in this draft than I thought they would. Pushing forward, I re-wrote the unworkable part of the book, which had taken me a year and a half to do, then wrote the ending, all in 4 1/2 months.
Whew!
On June 24, I typed these words:
Surprising Charity was finished! What did I do to celebrate? The next day, I decided to go out on a beautiful, cool afternoon and trim the extraneous branches off the oak tree in my yard, along with other little tasks of yard work. When I had nearly finished, I started to tie up the bag I’d filled with branches, but somehow tripped and fell, giving myself a 1-inch gash above my forehead.
My oh my, that wound bled like there was no tomorrow. I clamped my hand over it, but some blood escaped down my forehead, making me look like I had been in a terrible accident. I won’t harrow up your souls with a photo of that.
When I had been treated by the local EMTs, they advised me to go to the ER to get checked out for the possibility of a bleeding brain. A couple of dear friends took me in, and stayed around (outside) for the four hours it took for medical personnel to clear me of a bleed or a concussion via a CT scan, insert a staple into the top of my head without numbing it first, and pour on super glue to close the rest of the gash. Then I had a lengthy wait on the results of the scan.
In the meantime, I was updating my friends on Facebook on my condition until my phone nearly ran out of juice. Then I was released and went home. The next night, my sweet neighbors took pity on me and brought me a very tasty meal:
Since I’m not supposed to let sunlight hit the wound, this is how I appeared on a subsequent trip to the pharmacy and the post office:
So that’s how I’ve been surviving the plague.
As soon as I get my manuscript back from my beta readers, I’ll make any required edits, begin formatting the book, and once a cover is designed, I’ll bring Surprising Charity into the light of day. That is, I will publish it.
So, how are you doing? Leave me a comment and tell me how you’re faring.
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