A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

 Hi, all.  I'm sorry that I don't post on A Certain Point of View much, but between dealing with the ups and downs of an interstate move and  the challenges of writing a first novel, I haven't had the time to write here. It's hard enough to create content for one blog every day; try writing posts for two blogs, working on a novel, and figuring out life in a new state far from where you lived most of your life, then report back to me on how "easy" it is. Anyway, instead of a long-written essay, rant, or review, I thought I'd share some photos of my new surroundings here in Madison. Enjoy!

Photo by the author  Hi, everyone. Well, I’ve been in Madison, New Hampshire for 12 days now, and even though that sounds like a long time, I’m still in the process of getting settled in at my new place of residence. I did hope that after my first week here I’d be ready to begin working on Reunion: Coda after more than a month of not working on it, but I require at least some peace of mind so I can tackle creative writing projects as complex as a novel, and right now, I don’t have that. As of December 27, 2023 I am still trying to adapt to a colder climate than the one I left behind in Florida, dealing with homesickness and the feelings of sadness and even resentment that lurk in my heart, and learning to be patient with the pace of the setting up process, which depends greatly on how much time others have available to assist me.  As a result, my brain is already challenged by “simple” writing projects such as blog posts; I don’t yet feel up to the task of getting in...

 

 I left the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. Arrived in Madison, New Hampshire, on Friday, December 15, 2003. 

      Hi, all.   Just a quick update to say that last night I completed the fourth and final scene of Chapter 11 in Reunion: Coda. Sure, right now it's still in "first draft mode," but I'm just content with the knowledge that after more than a month of trying different approaches to the scene, I finally "cracked the code" - as it were - of how to present this deceptively simple-looking part of the chapter. (It never ceases to amaze me how this scene, which I thought would be easy because it's based on a plot point introduced in Reunion: A Story , took me nearly two months to write.) Here's an excerpt from the scene, which also puts me over both the 50,000-word mark and the 120-page mark in the novel’s manuscript. If Hollywood told my story like a movie, it would go something like this: I’m a smart and nerdy senior at South Miami High School, class of '83. I love history and music, and I have a crush on Marty, the most beautiful girl in the choru...