In the mania of the day I'm having, I've been all over the map with my writing today. I wrote what might be the very last chapter (Eurydice and hot painter boy hitting the road) and the scene where Eurydice gets her dream job and house (in northeast L.A., for God's sake) and the scene where she gets the call and learns that the Maenads have torn Orpheus limb from limb. I'm going to need an actual medical-type person read that little section and tell me if it comes close to ringing true. To me, it sounds exactly like an episode of ER, which is the extent of my medical training. You see my problem.
Yesterday I wrote the awful scene where Hades blackmails Persephone into staying with him (think Sophie's Choice with a little porn thrown in). The disturbing thing is that last week, writing that scene would have given me stomach cramps, whereas this week it just rolls out of my head and onto the page (the fact that it comes out of my head in the first place is disturbing in and of itself.)
Tonight we are having a little reading with our hosts and two other writers who are in residence here from Minnesota. I was trying to figure out which sections to read, and I think I'll stick to Eurydice's two chapters in Boulder teaching at the Buddhist university. And possibly the first Persephone chapter where she meets Hades and Demeter forgets her at the concert. We'll see. It's one thing to write steamy scenes...it's another thing entirely to read them out loud.
Fascinating Trivia Fact: Letterlady and Freewoman have used an entire ream of paper and two ink cartridges in the two weeks we have been here writing. It's a good thing we're leaving tomorrow or we'd have to hitchhike down to civilization and get us some more.
Note to any students reading this post: Hitchhiking is dangerous and we are using hyperbole here to exaggerate our situation and the relative size of the town we are staying in. We do not hitchhike and neither should you.
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2 comments:
Freewoman and Letterlady, your posts keep making me think of all of these other great books that I should read or reread, most recently _Penelopiad_ by Margaret Atwood, but I think Freewoman's sounds like an even better reworking of classical mythology. I'm excited to read these, eventually... (you'll let me, right?) Oh -- and the title to your post from early on in your writing residency, Letterlady, is obviously a shout-out to TLC fans everywhere (what do I win?). I'd have to say, though, please *don't* stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to -- you ladies are writing great fiction that is challenging you to reach far beyond yourselves!
xoxo, "Mrs. Hanna"
You've always been an inspiration.
One question-- Did you have to buy more paper on the way home?
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