Progress Report

Honestly, I haven’t been writing much since the depression hit. I’ve been revising the first chapters of Whose Hearts are Mountains to incorporate some ideas that Richard (my long-suffering husband) suggested, but revising  — “Oh, let’s change this verb to be more descriptive!” — doesn’t feel like writing.

Yesterday, I finally dug out Prodigies to write on it a bit when I had some downtime between classes and meetings.  That book is only half-done, and I had written it as far as the first of the BIG plot points. This next part is crucial and a bit of a challenge because I have to document how four prodigies make the change from being hunted to being — well, proactive.

I haven’t been able to put much time in on either, because it’s also seedling season in my basement. I have a grow room, and if that makes you think of Cannabis sativa, you’ll be greatly disappointed. At the moment it contains a moringa tree sprouting from its roots, seedlings of two tomato varieties, two eggplant varieties, and two pepper varieties, one of which is “Peter pepper”. Look it up. Better yet:

Use a little imagination and you’ll see it.

I also have a couple experiments — cardoon (which I’ve never been able to grow before, but — bam! — I have an army of cardoon. Other experiments are perilla (a Japanese/Korean/Southeast Asian herb), and a Southeast Asian vegetable whose shoots are eaten in curry. I don’t have much hope for the latter; the seeds looked like they were firing blanks when I soaked them. There will be many more seeds — unusual herbs, edible flowers, and flamboyant beans — by the time the garden is put in.

I think the garden helps, rather than hinders, the writing. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before — taking breaks refreshes my mind, and I hear my characters’ voices again when I go back to write.