Some people imagine a writer’s life as a series of beautiful days in which the writer and her muse loll about together on a sofa with brilliant pages of prose slipping seductively onto the floor. This fantasy continues in spite of the books we write, gritty books about our characters’ or our own lives. As writers we crack the fantasy open again and again with the stories we tell, and the ways in which we talk about writing. The fact is though, there are more difficult things to do for a living. I remember this every time I pass a road-paving crew on a hot summer day in North Carolina. And I remember it every time life takes me away from my writing.
You may have noticed that the heading of this blog mentions scribblings and illuminations in the margins of two writers’ lives, yet so far only one is posting.
That is because my blog partner, Karen McElmurray is temporarily taken away from her writing by care for her husband who ended up in the ICU last week. They are home now, and I believe all will be well, but this only reminds me that while writers who get writing done always have to prioritize their work over a million other things, there are times when another priority makes itself clear.
We would not be decent writers without the emotion of love, and all the other emotions that can and sometimes do come along with that. My prayers are with Karen and John now, and I am looking forward to her energy on this blog, when it comes, in due time.
