December 31, 2011
My Every Day Companion
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You might have heard that the life of a writer is the loneliest job in the world. This is true. 99% of the time I sit at my computer staring at words I have just written, half the time deleting the whole thing. No one is there to help. No one except Sophie.
Some time ago she moved from under my desk, to my lap, and from there she decided she wanted to sit on top of the desk where she has a good view of all I write. On occasion she drapes her head over the screen. Sometimes I read out loud to her. Silly, I know. We writers are weird.
I do know this ... she appreciates a good love story. Some time ago she fell in love with a Shar-Pei down the street. Bear. All I had to do is say, "Sophie here comes Bear!" She'd stop dead in her tracks and sit waiting for him. He's been gone two years now and still, if I accidentially mention his name ... she is up at the window...watching and waiting.
Really, I think she'd waiting for me to write another love story. Oh boy.
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 31, 2011 at 3:39 PM
in Interesting Readings and fans |
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December 26, 2011
The day(s) after Christmas..........
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The grown kids want money, I don't care what their age may be. The grandkids want electronics ... ipads, video games and the like. The grandparents find that although they love seeing both of these groups, all they really want is peace ... in their house.
My husband said, "They are cute and all. But the noise, commotion, and tears. Oh boy. One year to rest up."
I smiled. "And they'll be older."
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 26, 2011 at 2:49 PM
in Aging |
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December 23, 2011
Best (unexpected) Christmas card
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I have often teased my mother about her choice of cards for my birthday, Christmas, and other special occasions. They are flowery, sweet, and sentimental. These are never my choice for her. My selections are always humorous and irreverent, even though she knows how much I love and cherish her. Last Christmas her selection was especially sugary. I kidded her about it for months afterward, often lapsing into verbatim quotes.
This morning I received her Christmas card. On the front Santa is seated and looking over a very long list. It read: SANTA IS CHECKING HIS LIST TO SEE WHO HAS BEEN NAUGHTY AND WHO HAS BEEN NICE............
Inside it read: WITH ANY LUCK, HE'LL GET YOU MIXED UP WITH SOMEONE ELSE!
I had to congratulate her. I laughed as much from the surprise of her sending it, as I did from the message.
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours! NR
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 23, 2011 at 10:33 AM
in I Get Mail |
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December 20, 2011
Words of Wisdom from an Army Chaplain
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We've all heard that love is the most important thing in life. Without it, our lives feel empty, or unfulfilled. I certainly always thought that this was a truism.
Not too long ago at one of my readings there was a gentleman seated near the front. He smiled during my entire presentation and grasped the book in his hands. When I had finished, he raised his hand and asked me if I could say what my book was about in one word. I thought for a bit and then said, "It's about love."
He shook his head and then told the audience that he was a retired chaplain. "In my experience of some of the most horrific circumstances I have to say that the most important human emotion is hope. If you think about it, really nothing else can happen without it."
We had a good discussion among us. Then he added, "Nancy...the word that best describes your book is hope. People will read this story and that's what they'll come away with...hope. It's never too late to find love...you can always have hope that love will return or... come at all."
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 20, 2011 at 10:35 AM
in Life |
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December 19, 2011
Are you tired of all the hype about celebs?
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I guess the fascination with the rich and famous starts when you're young. Teen idols. I don't think that persona is the one that stays with us, but I still find myself reading the headlines at the grocery checkout stand: DEMI FINDS A NEW GUY, DEREK'S DATING CRITERIA, KATIE COURIC ENDS LOVE AFFAIR WITH YOUNGER GUY, etc.
My Atlanta cousins were rich. Not famous, but rich. Whenever my mother took us to Georgia I dreamed of what it would be like to live like they did, instead of doing farm chores and having one ordinary car that the whole family used. In a way my cousins were celebs.
In a way, I feel sorry for the rich and famous celebrities. They may have lots of cash, fancy cars and clothes but they have no life. No privacy. Yuck. They can't run out for a burger or dash to the store for milk without cameras and/or fans. I know I don't want that kind of life. And, as much as I now get that I don't want it, I do read the headlines...as much as I am SO tired of all the attention.
If I stop reading the headlines at the checkout, will that change things? I doubt it.
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 19, 2011 at 9:55 AM
in Celebrities |
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December 16, 2011
Do You Peek?
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When I was a kid I would search the entire house looking for Christmas gifts. If I found wrapped boxes, I would carefully unwrap, inspect, and then rewrap. This went unnoticed for several years, but Mom wasn't stupid. As soon as she discovered messed up ends, she started stashing things at our neighbor's and my gig was up.
I jokingly revealed this pitiful behavior to my husband some years ago and he nodded, "Doesn't surprise me a bit."
"But I'm so over that," I said. "Really."
"Nancy, once a snoop...always a snoop. Besides, the surprise is half the fun. I'm not taking a chance."
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 16, 2011 at 8:42 AM
in Gifts |
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December 13, 2011
All I Want for Christmas
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I was telling my husband all the great things I have wished for in the past decades... starting with the baby doll that wet her pants, a membership to the Mickey Mouse Club, later the mohair sweater, later a Hi-Fi... and then my memory is fuzzy. We had some laughs as, I think, he started to worry about his purchases for me.
"What would you really like?" he said somewhat timidly. "And assuming I have the power to give it to you, make it happen."
I had to think, kinda like you do when you consider what you would do if you won the lottery.
"Well, I'd like to see the Cleveland Indians win the World Series. I'd like to never be sick again. I'd hope that there would never be any more family arguments," I said and sat back.
"Gees, couldn't you think of something just a bit easier?" he said. " Like build a bridge to Hawaii?"
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 13, 2011 at 11:21 PM
in Gifts |
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December 10, 2011
What People Imagine Writers to be Like
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I must put myself in the category of "what people imagine writers to be." When I was a reader and finished a book I enjoyed, I'd close it and sit back... thinking about how the writer came up with the words, where they were when they wrote, how long it took, and how they felt when the book was finished. I didn't meet a writer until 1997. Anne LaMott. She'd written Bird by Bird, somewhat of a writing handbook, but I'd never heard of her even though she was quite famous at the time and still to this day.. My good friend, Joy, suggested we attend her lecture in Boston. Anne's words changed my direction that day. I knew then I wanted to write and get behind the books learn the craft like an NBA player learns finesse, strategy, plays, not to mention the skill of scoring baskets. Because I had read for years and felt I knew when something worked, it seemed like a fairly straight forward process.
Now it is 2011. After 11 years of studying the craft, publishing my first book and the second due out in 2012, I still don't know if I have learned any more about writing than I did when I was a reader. It's one of those things that the more I learn, the less I know. One thing is true, writers don't hold the mystique they did years ago, that's for sure. Dorothy Allison, one of my favorite authors and teachers, once said that wanting to meet an author because you like her work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate.
Funny and maybe true. But it does make me happy when someone says, "It's so nice to meet you. I loved your book."
Just call me a duck!
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Posted by Nancy Rossman
on December 10, 2011 at 3:36 PM
in Writers and Real People |
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