Keely's Way: 8/12/2024
KimBoo through the years!
Birthday week!!!!! I will be 55 years old on the 15th, which is mind boggling to me. I assure you, I never expected to get here, and sometimes did my best not to. I exist, and am glad about it, so that’s a double-fisted triumph IMHO.
But for a moment, lets look back to where it all began, me and my mother on our birthday, August 15th, 1969:
Here is one of my fave photos of me as a kid, taken in the mid-1970s when I was about seven, I think, on the steamboat at Disneyland (CA):
And here is me, 2024, almost 55 years old, hanging out at Honest Living coffee/tea shop in Tallahassee:
Over a half-century has passed, and it’s been very eventful for all of us! Thanks for joining me on this journey!
And lookee here, if you really want to buy me something for my b-day then I won’t stop ya’! I have a practical stuff wish list and a High Rollers wish list (for those who want to drop some serious coin on me!). Of course, if you love my dog more than you love me (how valid of you!) then Keely’s wish list is here for you!
Weekly Roundup
What’s the Worst that Could Happen? A question I get a lot in podcasts and when I talk to other writers about discovery writing (pantsing) is, “what do I do when I hit a dead-end or write myself into a corner?” This post addresses that with a very simple solution anyone can use!
30 Years Later: My mother died on Sept. 15, 1994. This week marks the 30th anniversary of the last month of her life, which started on our shared birthday, August 15th. This post takes a look at what grief feels like decades after the death.
REMINDER that my book Grieving Futures: Surviving the Deaths of My Parents is available to read for free on my blog, Patience & Fortitude!
The Lost City (Dragon’s Grail Arc 2): Episode 5: “Too Many Questions” is up! (This is being updated weekly!) Astra continues to make questionable decisions!
The Bastards of Yumeng continues! I’m still working on this fanfiction as my “fun escapist hobby” and enjoying it immensely! It is a WIP and is in the 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) / 魔道祖师-墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù fandom. The Bastards of Yunmeng is all about the three kids of the Yunmeng Jiang sect after they get thrown out into the streets as children.
Support KimBoo & Keely!
Rent check cleared! But I’m still not financially solvent, so your support would make a huge difference as I’m still crawling up the financial ladder. There are lots of ways to pitch in:
If you can, buy a subscription to The Scriptorium!
My ‘zon wishlist for dry-goods and household stuff!
Direct financial support can be given via my My GoFundMe campaign, my ko-fi page, or even paypal.
Thank you so much for the support so many of you have already given me!
Writing
This week was marked in a HUGE breakthrough with Transmigrated Teri. Anyone who even tangentially knows me has heard me whining, crying, and complaining about my struggles with the character Teri’s voice.
It finally clicked!
Of course, the solution to my problem was to actually just sit down and let my intuition drive the bus. Even as a die-hard, dedicated pantser who really thrives when I trust in discovery writing as a technique, I sometimes (a lot) get trapped in my own mind, trying to figure things out before I start writing them.
Sometimes, that’s a good thing! As I talked about the July 29th Keely’s Way update, creating a physical map of the locations my characters inhabit helps me drive the plot forward. Without that concrete visualization in place, I just put my characters through the whole 40-years-wandering-in-the-desert thing (“God Needs a Map” is my new band name!).
But other times, I need to lean into the discovery part of the process and let my intuition guide me. When I finally did that the other day, I got to the end of a scene and nearly jumped up and down: I had finally revealed Teri’s true voice!
It’s a Keely-Boo World
Not much to report on Keely! She’s doing well, overall. Still a bit of incontinence so she’s restricted to doggy diapers, which she does not love. At all. It just means she enjoys her walks all the more, since she gets to be diaper-free! Here is a recent action shot, taken during out morning walk. Due to the heat I’ve usually been taking her out before dawn, but this was post-hurricane so it was cool(er) out, even with the sun up.
She really is a muppet, isn’t she? 😍
Thanks for reading Keely’s Way!
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