Memories

Just finished reading Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson, about a woman who wakes up each morning not knowing who she is, remembering nothing from her life. Although she can keep the memories of the day intact as long as she is awake, she loses even those memories each night when she goes to sleep. If you can't remember anything or anyone, who do you trust?

It left me thinking about memories. How much of what we are is governed by memories? How different would we become if our memories were erased?

A good example of this is the William Monk series by Anne Perry. Monk is a policeman who has lost a large slice of his memories. He can carry on with his work and forms new memories with no problem, unlike the character in Before I Go To Sleep, but Monk has to forge a life with no knowledge of, for example, how he alienated so many people.

A different problem is shown by the Ian Rutledge character in the Charles Todd books. Rutledge remembers all too well, and one memory in particular haunts him. How different would his life be if just that one memory could be excised?

It is scary to think about waking up and not knowing who you are and remembering nothing about your life. But it is also scary to think about how much of our vision of who we are is influenced by memories of who we have been.

Back Again .... Again

Almost two years since my last post. This has been an arid time for me but I'm hoping to get back on track. Had a lovely trip in May. Visited Ireland with my dear niece and then on to Sweden and England where I visited friends I haven't seen for many years. Reminded me of one of the many, many wonderful things about friends: distance doesn't diminish friendship.

Back Again

I haven't written anything in the blog for a long while. Partly I've been away a fair bit -- visits to Montreal, Peterborough and Ottawa --but I have also been working. I'm almost through with my first revision of the new book.
Haven't seen anything recently to comment on except the Inspector Lewis series on PBS. It is
really a wonderful series. Wish there were more of them.

Oh, Well ....

Today ... or last night ... or sometime, my freezer went kaput. Have had to toss over two thirds of the food in it but should be happy about the third I've managed to save.

On a happier note, my tomatoes are doing pretty well though they will soon be gone.

And on a happier note still, I've finally finished the first draft of book 3. Not sure what will come of it as my publisher has been sold, but let's hope they will want it when the time comes.

Time Passing

It's been a while since I posted but I've been very busy. Lovely outings with friends (among other things a lunch cruise on the Grand River, a trip to wine country, and a swim and wok lesson at a friend's house), enjoying the yard on nice afternoons (far too few of those this rainy summer) and reading.
But mostly I've been very busy writing. Finally. If I can just keep the momentum going, I may be able to report a first draft by early next month.

Characters and Gardens

As I continue with my Alan Rickman movies (I've recently seen What the Lord Made, Michael Collins and am now working through The Barchester Chronicles where he plays a wonderfully repulsive Slope) I'm trying to figure out how he becomes each character and not just Alan Rickman playing at being the character, which is how it seems with a lot of actors. Johnny Depp and Robert Duval also have the knack of becoming the characters they portray. It's wonderful to watch.

Rickman's voice is quite distinctive, he has certain gestures, mannerisms, eye and mouth movements that seem to show up in each role yet, somehow, they become part of the character.

It makes me think about how writers create characters, for really, a character is nothing more than black marks on a white page (assuming the story is printed in black and white) yet those marks can conjure up characters in the mind that stay there for years. Some writers have mastered the art, though I suspect it is a new challenge with each story.

My outdoor garden is doing pretty well. I cooked some mustard greens the other day, the yellow squash plants are doing well and there are quite a few small, green tomatoes doing their best to grow and ripen.

As to the other 'garden', it is not growing a well as I would like, but it is growing.

Alan Rickman, Strawberries and Gardens

My Alan Rickman marathon continues. I recently saw Dogma, Galaxy Quest, Close My Eyes, and Blow Dry. Of these four, Blow Dry was my favorite, a sad, serious but very funny movie. As always, Rickman was great, but there were also wonderful performances by Bill Nighy and Warren Clarke. More coming soon ...

Yesterday I went strawberry picking. Fresh, local strawberries. Mmmm. Good.

My outdoor garden continues to do well. Tomatoes growing beautifully. I've even spotted an occasional flower. Unfortunately the southern vegetables aren't doing as well. A few of the butterbean seed germinated and a couple only of the okra, but no sign of the pink eyed peas. I suspect it was a combination of old seed and the cool, wet weather that came after I planted them.

The inside 'garden' is coming along. Not as much progress as I'd like, but some progress all the same. I'm beginning to think (hope, anyway) that a first draft might be ready by late summer or mid fall.