Husband and I watched The Hangover last night, a strangely appropriate movie for the way I have been feeling lately - and no, not literally hungover. We are about to step off the cliff into a new way of life - much like getting married, or having a child - we are moving. And not merely down the street as we have done before (and that's been stressful enough) but to the suburbs. To a house with a room for everyone and a lawn and all of it's attendant problems (such as an ancient septic). A house in beautiful Katonah in the Bedford School District where we won't have to grind our teeth about getting-our-kids-into-the-right-school. Where we will have more psychological space to write. Exciting, right?
Well, I am cranky. Like I've been slipped a roofie and can't remember who I am. Like I'm losing my best friend. And to top that off, there's a tiger in my bathroom I have to deal with. Husband and I have to find our own Doug!
I haven't been mentioning our upcoming move to Northern Westchester, about an hour outside of New York City, because it's been so amorphous, and that slipperiness hasn't had much to do with my Lit.Life except for the fact that it's taken me away from my writing time.
I sped up the finishing of the rough draft of my WIP just so I could say I finished it, and be able to give it to a friend for a critique. It is too short rather than too long, and I have since received her notes and am chewing on it with vigor. I've written before that revision is my favorite process. I had been under the impression that novels take about three drafts. Well, that certainly hasn't been my experience. EDGES was about thirteen after all was said and done. Maybe it will be a little less with this WIP, but not by much. Revision is where I can constantly work on my craft and is an immensely satisfying process. I feel like a detective. It's creating the first rough draft that is painful, and tests my faith in so many ways. But the joy of discovery in finding out "what's next" always feels miraculous to me.
So "what's next" in my life? Moving is inevitable - we have to be out of our Upper West Side apartment by June 25th so that new people can move in. What's next is that I keep focusing on my work, and having faith that we'll find Doug in Katonah. He may be sunburned and mad, but he will be authentic, and love us anyway.
He will remind me that we're near the train station, and that the city is a mere 50 minutes away.
What's next also is another CHAPTERS reading from Girls Write Now at the Center for Fiction this Friday night at 6PM. My awesome mentee Meg and I will be finally reading from a piece we co-wrote together entitled: THE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR INHABITING TWO-LEGGED ANIMALS. It's quirky and fun!
