Evergreen

You have been pulled back into the past by a wrecking ball slamming into your side, spilling blood as it goes along its path of the destruction of someone else’s helpfulness. But we have also been thrust into the future against our wills. The two collide as you consider the way the wooden planks meet on the floor below you before all is dust, flannel and conifers. Your life, whatever there is left of it here, is evergreen. For this reason you squeeze your eyes closed as you wait for the end to come and expect me to join you, though I do not. 

You wish you could tell me that there is so much more love than you expected, still flannel and conifers but freedom under the bluest sky you’ve ever seen. Your life, whatever there will be in the future is evergreen. 

I am saved by a lover, but you question what exactly I have been saved for. If he loves me, doesn’t he want me to stay out of the dark and scary nights, away from the blood and hopelessness? To wait in a lonely room and wish I could have joined you when I had the chance? Your love for me is evergreen, and the last thought I have every night before I go to sleep is how glorious it will be to walk with you beneath those skies and hold your hand, no needles falling, no clouds to bring the rain. 

One Year Of…

Completed wrimos! I’ve reached my goal of winning twelve wrimos in a row, creating an entire year of my life that I’ve dedicated to writing months, aka wrimos. For some reason, this month seemed to go very slowly and I was a little concerned about not finishing on time. But I approached it one writing session at a time and it worked out. 

Next vines JuNoWriMo and I’m so happy and humbled to be on the crew this year. I’ll be handling social media for the group, so when you see more about JuNo on Twitter and Facebook, that’s me! 

I wish every writer would try Juno because it’s truly unlike any other wrimo I have ever joined. Because it’s still a small group, there’s a level of intimacy and community that one simply does not find during NaNoWriMo. It’s great that it’s huge, that’s what makes it what it is. But I craved a closer relationship with my fellow writers and JuNoWriMo provides exactly that. If you would like to join me three in roughly five weeks, please go to the JuNoWriMo site and also visit JuNoWriMo’s Facebook page to learn more. 

April Again!

Is it just me or has the year already started to pass all too quickly? Today was the beginning of the April session of Camp NaNoWriMo, which marks a very special milestone for me. It’s my twelfth writing month, meaning I’ve spent a cumulative year participating in them! I’ll never forget my first wrimo back in November 2005. I hadn’t written anything 50,000 words long in my life and I didn’t begin to know how to approach the challenge. So I merely dove in and hoped for the best, somehow managing to surpass my goal despite starting a full week late because I wasn’t convinced that I had the courage to try! I nearly missed verifying my word count at the end because of a blizzard induced power outage. But the most important thing that occurred as a result of my first challenge was the newfound proof that I could indeed write something that long! 

I didn’t participate again for several years, but when I came back to it in 2012, the goal didn’t seem much less daunting than in the first year, but I decided to start and keep going. This time, my daily quota of between 2000-3000 words became easier as the month wore on. It just kept going as more opportunities opened up, such as the relatively new Camp sessions, as well as JuNoWriMo. Each session encouraged me to try another. Before I knew it, I was counting down to the twelfth time! 

As you know from my first session, it’s never too late to start, so if you’re interested, visit the Camp NaNoWriMo page and begin your writing adventures!