Firing on All Cylinders
Dear Sarah 039
February 8, 2025
Dear Nikki,
I skipped over a chapter on drawing a rose because the end result didn't really look like a rose, but I'm sure there's something to be learned in that chapter. Just not right now. Turns out drawing cylinders is very satisfying! Holes --not so much! Therefore I must practice drawing more holes. But not today.
Today I will return to Littleneck Island and write a confrontation scene between Rose and her teenage son, who has arrived home from Seattle more than a little worse for wear! Bad Anton. When I'm writing fiction, it never ceases to astonish me that characters will insist on behaving in ways you had never imagined. I love it!
I'm making split pea soup, and my apartment smells wonderful. It's gray and rainy again--perfect soup weather.
Today I looked at wooden planters for sweetpeas. Can you tell I'm eager for spring to arrive?
February 8, 2025
Dear Sarah,
You may be firing on all cylinders, but I obviously can’t see straight… My poor computer/desk work/reading glasses… they are wonky because they have never fit quite right and I’ve tried to bend/nudge/twist/straighten them into a shape that is snug enough that they don’t fall off my face when I’m concentrating, to no avail. For some reason, when I tried to draw them, the bendiness has become hugely exaggerated - not deliberately! Perhaps if I had been wearing them, things would have gone better. Sigh. Some days I feel as though I’m sliding backwards with this whole drawing thing… you may not believe it, but I actually tried to get them more or less right and, well, you can see the result.
What a fine collection of cylinders, though!! They look legitimately cylindrical!
I’m going to write a bit before I head for bed - I am busy working on the other side of the scene you describe as my character was the cause of Bad Anton’s fall from grace. Very curious to see how we will knit all these shenanigans together at some point.
Sweet peas? Hm. I can only dream - it’s going down to -17C tonight - the roads are awfully icy in the side streets and alleys of Calgary - I know because I slithered around a few of them earlier today. K - off I go back into the world of words.