http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs?/reflecting_jenn en jll3@calvin.edu 2009-11-06T02:03:35+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/november-is-for-happy-endings/ Everything that had happened had begun between the pages of this book.—Cornelia Funke Can I introduce you to the recent love of my life? This is Draft Three!! I finished it Tuesday night, but I’m still feeling a bit dazed ... and brain-sore. It took a pretty intense Monday and Tuesday—I cranked out 14,000+ words in two days to make it. Whew! I guess it sounds a little crazy, turning my mind and fingers to mush when no one’s demanding I have it done before Wednesday. But I’d reached this point when Draft Three had to be done. Had to be. So I raced and pushed and completely exhausted my vocabulary… but it’s done! So that novel gets a two-week break while I turn my attention to Nanowrimo and another “just-for-fun” manuscript idea. I’m a little behind with Nano—okay, a lot behind—but I’m not too concerned. (Yet.) It feels a bit like finals week, when you’ve finished your hardest, nastiest final, and you still have a lighter project still to do. You’ll get there, but ... you’re not too worried about taking your time. (Though I never guessed Nanowrimo would one day be my lighter project!) After my Nano “break,” I’ll go back to Draft Three and read it straight through once or twice. And then we’ll put our heads together and start daydreaming Draft Four… oooh. It’s going to be good. I can just tell. this is my revision face. and that’s ... wow. that’s a huge draft. P.S.: My month of being sick—my old friend Pneumonia come for a visit—is now over. I am thrilled to be more like myself! It also made it a lot easier to dance around the house Tuesday night, shrieking about being done. Hard to shriek when you can’t take deep breaths. So, yes. It’s good to be healthy.—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-11-06T02:03:35+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/note/ It’s one thing to be sick for six days. But after two and a half weeks, it just isn’t cute anymore.—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-10-27T05:06:53+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/why-being-sick-is-good-for-my-health/ People do not die of little trifling colds.—Jane Austen So. Day Six of a strange, low-grade, feels-like-a-cold-but-isn’t sort of illness. I’d really like it to leave, but at the moment, anything that’s not swine flu sounds like a real blessing. Besides, isn’t it sort of cozy to be sick when it’s grey and rainy outside? After all, these are the days when we’d all like permission to sleep really late, stay propped up in bed with a stack of novels, and drink soup all afternoon… Still, after nearly a week of low energy, I am reminded of the biggest reason why a little illness can be a very good thing: it seems to be a “reset” button for my life. Not only does it break up my routine, but a lack of energy highlights all the things I wish I were doing. Do you get the same way? Jenn Langefeld 2009-10-13T22:47:44+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/there-and-back-again/ And so I was in Florida last week, road tripping with my mom. There’s amazing scenery between St. Louis and Tampa, and I took hundreds of pictures. It was wonderful to soak up time with my little sister and her family, and to wonder at the burnt-out state of Florida. (A midwestern girl am I, through and through.) So, I’m finding my place again, in my writing, my reading, my knitting, my life. Catching up on sleep again. Moving around my bookshelves (a sack of new books and all the old order is undone!). Getting excited for the last bits of my draft. Contemplating Nanowrimo ... for a completely new project. (Whaaaat?) All this and more…—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-10-06T03:14:03+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/wishing-you-crisp-apples-and-cooler-air/ I like autumn. The drama of it; the golden lion roaring through the back door of the year, shaking its mane of leaves.—Joanne Harris I have to admit: it was the loveliest summer (weather-wise) that I can remember. I’ve never witnessed so many gorgeous days in normally-suffocating St. Louis. I had a blast hanging out with my older sister—painting out on our new deck, photo shoots in St. Louis, my first experience with bubble tea (jury’s still out)... It’s been fun and wonderful, but now… Now it’s apple cider season. OH. SO. EXCITED. I’m already daydreaming about orange leaves and apple pies, homemade caramels and pumpkin cookies. Roasted chicken with apples and raisins. Cinnamon scented candles. That bite in the air that I’ve always always loved… Oh yes, this is my favorite season, no mistakes. It’s time to reread Jane Eyre, and to rewatch The Village, to take pictures as the trees change daily. Maybe I’ll carve a pumpkin this year? ... It’s been awhile. S’mores and last year’s afghans. Warm slippers. Sweaters with hoods. Ack! I’d better go or I’ll just collapse with happiness on this keyboard… But one last little announcement: I’m starting something new, something wonderfully exciting, and it’s the perfect season for it!! Click over to my other blog to hear all about it. And then go celebrate autumn!!—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-09-23T17:47:43+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/a-cheering-epilogue/ Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.—Louis Pasteur What a difference a week can make! After that last (somewhat depressed) post, I had two brilliant days of work. There’s a lot to be said for stranding yourself at a coffee shop for hours on end. The log jams in my brain began to move, and out fell two new characters, another with a new motive and new voice, a better setting for half of Part Four… In short, so many disparate elements of this last part of the book began to interweave. It feels like narrative again! Reminds me of my recipe for pie crust: the dough will gather itself into a ball… Well. Part Four gathered into a ball, and it will make a lovely pie, I have no doubts… Which is a wonderful place to be, after the start of last week! Writing teaches me this same lesson, over and over again: Get your time in, Jenn. Get your time in. Don’t listen to the wind and the waves, just keep your head down and work, and things will shake out. Hooray! So maybe I’ll live to see the end of Draft #3 after all?—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-09-16T00:51:34+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/postcard-from-a-lapsed-wordsmith/ One day soon I’ll remember that I’m actually a writer, regardless of what else is tearing through my life at the moment. (When is “it’s been hectic” a good excuse for anything??) And I’ll scoop up my thoughts, brush and comb them, and then spin them into words. And then I’ll knit some paragraphs with them, and add more rows to my insanely, miserably long (eternal!) novel… with some thoughts left over for a fine blog entry or two. But not tonight, I’m afraid. Soon, though. I’ll write more soon.—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-09-08T05:35:53+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/i-used-to-have-a-locker/ And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.—Rainer Maria Rilke I was always the kid who began missing long division sometime around August. Long division and cool white paper and the smell of erasers. The afternoons would grow longer, and the cicadas buzzed louder and louder. I wanted again the strange sanity of seven classes in a day. Even the challenge of homework looked appealing. (That appeal never lasted a month into school, though.) So what do I do now? No school in my future (that I can tell), but the buses have been trundling past today, and my cousins and friends are all heading back to one school or another. Graduate classes, teaching classes, off to college for the first time, off to high school for the last… Meanwhile I flick on my computer and stare down this novel that has decided to outlive me. ... No, it won’t do. I need to find some way to quench the back-to-school urge. Some way that doesn’t cost… Um, or take time… Maybe I’ll just have to get over it. Maybe I’ll just write my brains out, and within a week, I’ll forget all about long division and clean folders and backpacks that still smell like the store… Or maybe it will just rain, and I’ll bury myself in a Victorian mystery with a cup of coffee. And forget all about August and September and the way things were…—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-08-17T19:33:34+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/renovation-photo-album/ Let’s see if we have more photo success today… A bit of paint: . And after the floor and bookshelves were installed, we had some sorting of books to do… . Ooooh. That just makes my heart happy. . . You see? Don’t you want to come visit now?—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-08-06T22:41:00+00:00 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/reflecting_jenn/the-story-of-july/ I said “one o’clock” as though I could see it, and “Monday” as though I could find it on the map.—Peter S. Beagle Once upon a time, there was a blogger with very fine intentions, who encountered a hectic July… oh, wait: you already know how this one turns out, don’t you? Yes, I was blindsided by a crazy summer. Here’s what happened, after Bermuda: Home renovation, on a grand scale! As a family, we have long adored bookstores and coffee shops. (Shocking!) And after a bit of planning, that’s what our dining room and living room now resemble. Maple built-in bookcases (not quite enough for my parents’ collection, but nearly), hardwood floors, bistro table… It looks gorgeous, a dream come true, but for some reason, my camera and this blogsite are at odds… I’ll try to counsel both and post pictures later. For now, you’ll have to imagine… At the same time, we also replaced our crumbling deck for something larger and sturdier… and then hosted a family reunion in our new place! Hooray for relatives, my grandma’s 80th birthday, and enormous quantities of Mexican food. And crepes… there were also crepes. After the reunion, I crashed into bed and have been sleeping a LOT. But am almost back to equilibrium. Whew! ... So that was July. And now? Now is the countdown to the birth of my very first niece! Hooray! And helping my younger sister’s family move to Florida… Then making plans for an inspiring and creative fall. Hopefully a complete reinvigoration of my writing routine… August! The end of summer… The cicadas are singing about it…—jl Jenn Langefeld 2009-08-04T21:35:00+00:00