Brief Hiatus

Hi All!!

Just wanted to drop a quick note that as of tomorrow, I will be in Africa for two weeks. So no blogging for a bit!!! Nonbinary Review still has not released “Frankenstein” yet, so at least you won’t miss that. I will make sure you have a copy as soon as I do!!!

I’ll be back 10/13 (happy X-files day, those who still ‘want to believe’), so I will resume blogging that week, complete with adventures to tell from my trip!

Be good to yourselves while I’m gone.

Love,

Laura

My “Breaking AIDS” Ride: Guest Post by Victoria Rae Sook

Hello Everyone,

We are STILL waiting on “Frankenstein”‘s publication from Nonbinary Review!They keep saying any day now…it’s going to be so worth waiting for!!!! I myself am giddy about seeing the full issue. I can’t wait to read the other work inspired by my idol Mary Shelley!! So, this week I have a SPECIAL treat for you!!! My sister, Victoria Rae, rode over 300 miles on her bike to raise money for people living with AIDS. She is an amazing lady and I am in awe of her! She wanted to share her story, so I thought I’d share it with you!!!

Victoria says,

I joined the Braking Aids Ride not because I know anyone who is HIV positive or because I am a cyclist but because I saw a problem and I wanted to help make the solution.  I do, however, know what it is like to lose someone.  I lost my best friend to ovarian cancer 4 years ago and no matter how you lose someone, it sucks.  It sucks a lot.  And I want to live in a world with less suck- so I joined the Braking Aids Ride.

The night before I was nervous and afraid and felt shy for the first time in my life.  I felt like I didn’t belong and like I didn’t deserve to be a part of this amazing group.  I was scared and anxious and just wanted to fit in, let alone make the miles.  Within minutes I felt more relieved with a smile here and a hello there.

During the ride my life was changed.  I pushed my body to do something I never believed possible and made friends who I will never forget.  From the crew smiling at me to the riders nicknaming me “Super Pink” and all of the cheers.  Then Chris, the caboose for Day 2, got me through.  We sang show tunes and fought like hell to make it work.  And we made it.  Another rider gave me gloves and crew members filled up my water and helped me make speedy Oasis stops so I could finish the whole ride.  I started the ride to let people fighting AIDS know that I was on their team and I ended it knowing that they were all on mine!  I pushed myself to do things I have never done before so that we can make a change that has never happened before.  I have no idea how I am going to do it again, but I also have no idea how I could not do it again.

Amazing story, huh? I am SO proud of her!!! She makes me want to get off my butt and do something GREAT 🙂 If you are inspired to help her meet her fundraising goals, you can do so here: http://fundraising.housingworks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=1711 Even $10 makes a big difference! I’d like to be able to use my assets (which is YOU, my wonderful readers) to help her out! Her “goal” is set by the race, not her. And if she doesn’t meet it, she has to pay out of her own pocket. I know everyone is asking for money, and I totally understand if you can’t help, but I would be ever so grateful. In fact, I will MATCH donated funds!!

See you next week, dear readers! Cross your fingers that I will have FRANKENSTEIN for you next week!!!

-Laura

Quick Update–But Get Pumped for “Frankenstein”!

Good morning everyone!!

I’m posting super-early (for my usual Thursday time) but I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget about y’all in the midst of WRITING LOCKDOWN WEEK. For those of you who I’m facebook friends with, you may have noticed the absence of my glittering presence on that site this week. That’s because due to various things (some good, some bad) I had not been writing a lot recently. I said to myself–enough’s enough! I am going to finish this novel ONCE AND FOR ALL (this is the 7th draft) by Saturday night! So I’ve battened all the hatches, barred the doors, unplugged the phone, and chained myself to my desk. It is time to get down to business.

I always write with my bathrobe on. Even if I’m fully dressed and it’s summer, I am usually clad in the red monstrosity that is my fleece robe. It just helps me think better 🙂 I wrote out every page number on a big sheet of paper, and I cross out each page as it’s revised. I try to focus on the X’s I’ve made and not the vast quantities of numbers that aren’t crossed out. I’m mostly successful. 🙂

It’s been really hard (but good) work. I am slogging away, doing 20-25 pages a day, which is at least twice my normal output on a good day. It’s a breakneck pace, but it forces me to ignore the voice in my head which tells me I’m not a good writer–there’s just no time for it. So that’s good. Writing for hours a day is really grueling. I’m used to writing for a bit, then reading or researching, maybe a little volunteering in the afternoon. Just writing sunup to sundown (or more) is very tough. But fun. It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love, right? Or is that parenting? The Army? I don’t know.

I think what I’m writing is good. I don’t know. I have no idea. Sometimes I hate every word of the book. Sometimes the beauty of it almost makes me cry. Generally it just makes me want to barf. So that’s probably pretty par for the course, 7 drafts and three years in 🙂

The “Frankenstein” issue of Nonbinary Review should be out any day now! If you have an ipad, go download the Zoetic Press app right now to get ready. It’s free! You can see the whole issue, which is bound to be gorgeous (it’s illustrated and really artfully woven together. I was so impressed with their Grimm’s fairy tale issue!). If you don’t have an iPad, I’ve gotten permission to post the story here after the issue’s out, so you will get to read at least my story. I will have that up as soon as it’s available, so come back soon!

It’s National Suicide Prevention week, so if you know someone who needs help, please reach out. There are lots of resources available (like imalive.org, the group I volunteer with). On this anniversary of 9/11 (has it really been 13 years?), let’s all be kinder to each other than usual. Let’s see if we can make a dent in the nasty karma that is this day, fight the evil back with good. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones that day.

See you next week!!

Laura