Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles

I want to throw out some of my thoughts today.  These are things I’ve been thinking about of late and things going on that I’d like to get some feedback on, if you will.

I said this and the next two or three posts would be to “wrap up” last November’s Andrews Family Memories Tour of 2009.  This is obviously not one of them.  Question:  There are still some funny stories ahead in the trip as we tried to end it – which almost didn’t happen.  Would you like for me to finish them – and the trip – up before I go on?  Or just move on without sharing the last several stories?  I throw the vote to you.  Were you enjoying the trip enough to hear the rest.  (There are, actually, some of the funniest moments ahead, now that I sit here and think about it.  I’m just wishy-washy at the moment.)

Of course, it’s my decision in the end.  If I can get my mind together.  It’s  just that while I’ve had every intention to do so, March so far has been “Doctor” month so far, with me having already seen four of my specialists, with a couple more still to come.  We started off the month with my birthday/our anniversary, I’ve had several other out-of-town appointments lined up, and then there was the fun visit last Friday over in the Gulfport airport to meet Patrick Mead and Les Ferguson, afterward having dinner with friends.

There have been some other things going on as well that I cannot freely discuss.  Let’s just say that my life has been a bit frazzled!!  Just a BIT!!

Frazzled is a great word, isn’t it?  I could have said stressed, but frazzled sounds a little lighter than stressed, and I need all of the lightness in my life I can get.

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I’m thinking once again of writing a book and would like your input on this, too.  I’ve wanted to write a book (and have written several small ones – self-published – along with some published articles and lots of newspaper columns and stories) since I was 21 years old.  The great American novel.  I’ve even had the title and the basic outline for it in my head since 21.  That’s a long time to ruminate on something, but not do it.  Over the years I always wrote, no matter what else I was doing.  I am a writer.

My style actually grew to be what they call “New Journalism,” which is writing non-fiction work about whatever your subject is with great creativity, interjecting/immersing yourself into the “story” as an observer.  Much New Journalism is very witty, satirical, humorous and the kind of reading you can’t put down once you’ve started it.  Hunter S. Thompson.  Tom Wolfe.  Joan Didion.  Gay Talese.  Truman Capote.  Those are some of the masters.

Okay – if I do that, it would have to be the great American New Journalism book, instead of the great American novel.  So . . . my questions are:

(1)  Do you think I should go for it?  Do you think I write well enough and/or in that style for anyone to want to buy my book to read?

(2)  What subject(s) would you like to see me tackle?

Actually, I could (and have thought about this at length over the years, as well) put together a group of my short non-fiction stories to form a book.  An anthology.  That would work well with some of the stories I’ve done here on my blog (i.e., the Arkansas Memories tour doctored up, comes to mind), including the three I had y’all read and vote on a couple of years ago for the local writer’s group contest.  If you remember, I won first place with one of my stories, all three placed and all three were published in the Anthology that year.  (Go to my sidebar and look under Wind Vane stories to find them.  Or email me here or comment if you want me to post the links back to them.  I’m lazy at the moment.  Haven’t gotten used to the time change yet this week.  I’m struggling.  How about you?)

I could (started it, actually) call the book “Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles.”  You like that?  Or no?

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Time to go.  Tom will be home for lunch in a few minutes, so I need to (want to) go start working on preparing him a good lunch so it will be ready when he gets home.  That way, he can sit and read his book while eating at our kitchen table and watching the birds eating at their feeder out on the back deck.  I sit with him and we talk.  He then lies in his recliner to rest a bit, maybe read a bit more, before going back to work.  It’s a nice break for him during the day, one which he loves much more than he realized he would before we moved out here.

God has richly blessed us with this lovely place we live here on the wooded hill above the creek.  Hardwoods fill our lot, unlike most of the landscape around here which is covered with scrawny pines.  We have dozens of magnolia trees, which are lovely – always filled with their waxy green leaves.  Only a few, though, are female trees that have magnificent blooms come May and June.

Comment and help me out here today.  Like I say, I’ve had a sluggish, but busy week and cannot get my mind together.  (Plus, I had my eyes dilated yesterday when I saw the retinologist and still cannot see worth a flip.  I’m having to put my face up close to the screen here to see to write because my vision is so blurry and my pupils so extended.)

Many blessings to each of you today!!  Dee