Category: Writerly Thoughts (Page 9 of 9)

The Rusty Quilter

June 22, 2014 / laura bruno lilly

Detail of rows 1 & 2 of my quilt WIP

“Hello, my name is Laura and I am a rusty quilter who’s picking up the needle again.”
Geesh, that sounds kind of illegal. No matter, quilting is and has been a very important part of my life since well, forever. Put another way, when the country was re-discovering quilt-art in the 1960’s and 70’s, I was among those who tried my hand at it…and kept my hand in it ever afterwards.
Basic to those early projects was a deep desire to stay true to my own set of ‘quilt values.’ Specifically: recycling used clothing and jeans into quilts and wearables, both utilitarian and artistic. One of my first quilt-based projects used old jeans pockets as squares to make a lounge pillow for my younger brother.
Yes, the times they were a-changin’.* Continue reading

The Dance of the Didgeridoo

June 11, 2014 / laura bruno lilly

Traditional Eucalyptus Didgeridoo (Ilario Vannucchi)

From: Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott*

The voice of the didgeridoo was a call from far away, from centuries back. If you pressed your ear to the ground, Mattie thought, this was the tone the earth would make. The music resonated like an ancient god, or what desert winds must have sounded like to the first ears on earth. She closed her eyes again. She felt doomed, and lumpy, fat and old. She tried to recall the women from church, their triumphant wideness, centered and vigorous, and this helped. Ella clung to her like a baby Koala. Mattie nuzzled her, snorfled her neck. The didgeridoo sounded like an enormous animal panting at the end of its life. Mattie looked up and found Daniel standing before her, lifting her daughter into his arms. He held her in front of his chest, his long hands knitted together effortlessly to make a seat in which round, rosy Ella perched, somewhat worried but curious.
‘Want to dance?’ he asked her. ‘I’m probably the only person you know who can dance to the didgeridoo.’ Ella thought this over, tugging on her chin like an alchemist.
Mattie opened her fingers slowly to she could peek in at the little rubber shoe, as if examining a poker hand. Harry and Al were talking, and Daniel still held Ella in his arms, turning in slow circles. Mattie watched, listened, breathed in deep and slow: if the sound of the didgeridoo was a color, it would be rich and earthy, plant purple, like eggplant with light behind it.

*really didn’t like the book, but this quote was worth the read.

It was only a loaf of bread (poem)

April 23, 2014 / laura bruno lilly

One loaf
out of four.
(baked to imperfection)

My ‘easy’ sourdough bread

One loaf
chosen.
(the one most round; least browned)

Bridging our door
to theirs.
(some 30 steps away)

Three of five
arrive next morning.
(from their door to ours)

Hand-delivering
note of thanks.
(smiling faces all around)

One loaf
out of four.
(baked warmth shared)

A Writer's Process: Kevin Powers Interview as Guidance & Inspiration

March 12, 2014 / laura bruno lilly

‘Every time I open a book or sit down at my desk, I’m hoping for confirmation that it is possible to understand and be understood by my fellow human beings.’ Kevin Powers

I have mentioned before that one of the guiding forces behind my starting this website/blog has been to showcase the vignettes written during our three-year journey between homes. I have been in the process of ordering these vignettes into a completed manuscript for quite some time and continue to come up short. And frustrated. Continue reading

I am being a rebel

November 8, 2013 / laura bruno lilly

Today, Friday the 8^th, starting at 2:45 pm EST, I am being a rebel. In NaNoWriMo lingo this means, among other things, writing a non-fiction WIP for submission in the month long challenge.
In order to get out a blog post, I realized I’d need to write a proper blog posting during my nano time. I got it into my head that in order to keep pace with my writing, I’d then include it in my daily word count for submission in the month long challenge. In the NaNo world, fiction and non-fiction do not mix. Hence, the rebel aspect to my nanoing this year.
What was I thinking? Am I caffeine deprived or just immune to its effects on this 8^th day of writing frantically? Overwhelmed by guilt, I retract my rebel word count plans.
This is my second year of nanoing, but my first year of blogging. I seem to have life’s routine down for the month of NaNo, but not so the rules of blogging.
In the blogger world, it is stressed that the single most important thing for maintaining a ‘following’ apart from delivering quality content, is to stay on a fairly consistent blogging schedule.
So, here I am being a rebel. Well, semi-rebel because I only thought it, but didn’t do it. And I’m finding I’m pretty rotten at it. I’m not convinced this is a quality blog posting, but feel the pressure to post something today as it’s been two weeks since my last posting.
I’ve got to think that God gets a kick out us humans trying to deal with all of the small stuff…and this really is only small stuff. Continue reading

NaNo Prep (or getting it together before the Big Event)

October 26, 2013 / laura bruno lilly

Call me crazy, but I’m actually enjoying NaNo Prep this year. Having one NaNo win under my belt, I’m feeling kinda cocky, I know. But this year, in addition to doing some household planning and work schedule planning, I’ve done some exciting novel planning, as well as special events planning. What’s that? Special events planning? How does one squeeze in special events during NaNoWriMo where all spare moments are focused on the mammoth task of pounding out 1667 words per day for 30 days?

For one thing, Thanksgiving, the major special event of November, comes at the end of the month and I’ve already determined I’d be done with my 50,000 words by then. So that means I’m essentially doing NaNo based upon a 27 day month which tallies up to 1852 words per day. If I get in at least 2000 words a day, I get two days free and clear for a sick day and a special event.

Knowing all of this ahead of time helps me. And here’s where we get to something that’s been nagging at me since working on this website blog over the summer: I’ve let my inner geek out and she’s begun to take over my mindset!

Notice the emphasis on ‘doing the math’ in my NaNo Prep? Relegating a single day for illness or an unforeseen circumstance and another for a special event? I know better and yet, my inner geek insists that’s the way to NaNo Prep Peace. And, get this, for added security my inner geek got herself html text to put that sidebar widget you now see on my Blog Page.

This ‘live’ word count gizmo is directly connected to the NaNoWriMo site. Not only is it cool looking, but it is a type of motivator for me to show off my word count each time it is entered on the NaNo site. We Wrimos keep track of each other’s daily word counts, but out here in the infinite space of the internet on my website blog that has so many visitors (picture a wry grin on my face) well, it makes me vulnerable and more committed to producing impressive daily word counts!

Oh yes, and what exactly is that special event day going to be used for during the month of NaNo?

A horse show. Continue reading

Do You NaNo?

October 18, 2013 / laura bruno lilly

It’s NaNoWriMo time again, folks.

Last year, the challenge in doing my first NaNo was to just do it. This year, it’s to just do it in a different genre. Yep, it’s only my second time around for this event, but I feel like a seasoned pro.

What exactly is NaNoWriMo? The clever acronym stands for: National Novel Writing Month. This extravaganza takes place in November each year and is a wild journey of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1667 words each day. Every day. Of course, in my case that’s the bare minimum as I try to stockpile words to protect my Thanksgiving Holiday from the ravages of NaNo. Since this year’s Turkey Day lands mercifully on the first of the last three days in November…I can finish by then, no problem! Just in time for the kids to come home for the festivities and enjoy our feast in pure turkeyed-out bliss!

Last year’s approach was purely intuitive. Continue reading