September 6, 2016: Online book launch of The Spawning Grounds
- Thread starter Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- Start date
We have a little cabin, a former playhouse we call the Dylan Thomas cabin which has a desk, a bed and a window. No phone. No internet. Gary calls it the Tax Haven as it's where he goes to do his taxes because his desk is too cluttered to lay out the receipts. I always go there when I want to work with no distraction.
For us, the emotional connection to a song doesn't usually last long because they don't take as long to write as a novel. Often times when you have to play tunes you wrote that you're not connected with, the performance suffers because your emotional connection to it is lost. Musicians almost need to purposefully reconnect with a tune--the feeling, the emotional climate, the message, etc.--to feel like you are genuinely performing it for an audience.
I am experimenting with what I need in order to write - I like silence and being alone to get deeply into something. But I also like to steal some time when I ought to be doing something else. Finally, I am discovering that if I try to work on something else, when it gets hard, then I am happy to go back to the novel.
Then there are those big fears that stop us from finishing or perhaps even starting a novel: what will mom think? Or am I “allowed” to find inspiration in the stories of others, or other cultures? In short, do I have the right to tell this story? I wrestled over this question for years as I wrote this novel, and put my final thoughts into this blog.
Perhaps “wrestled” isn’t a strong enough word. As Mitch would tell you, I agonized over this question, as so many of us do. So when I received this review by Metis writer and editor Dene Moore, I actually wept I felt such relief.
Perhaps “wrestled” isn’t a strong enough word. As Mitch would tell you, I agonized over this question, as so many of us do. So when I received this review by Metis writer and editor Dene Moore, I actually wept I felt such relief.