Weekend Recaps have been a place for me to recap my recent activities here on Writing Space as well as around the web. Increasingly, contents will also include my writerly activities beyond cyberspace as well. October is a milestone month. It marks the 6 month anniversary of this blog. Many goals and challenges to come. Specific to Weekend Recaps: Look for these to transition into a monthly newsletter available via email.

A bit of blog housekeeping.

Ideally, we are told by the expert bloggers, a serious blogger should “ship” 1-3 posts a week. I have found that to be practical advice. Most followers are overwhelmed with more posts. Post less then I start getting “where the heck are you’s” on FaceBook, Twitter, and the other venues of SoMe.

Warning: Be prepared to be overwhelmed in October.

I did take quite a hunk of time off this summer. In fact, I went dark the entire month of July. Part of this was physical-health related. Part of this was emotional-health related. The Challenges of Summer included the struggle to get a valid ID. My Hawaii State drivers’ license just arrived in the main this week. Yes, it really took that long. I was ID-less for nearly 5 months due to ridiculously red tape.

Documented Identity Crisis: How Do I Prove Myself?

Friend and family dynamics are important in developing 3D characters. To make them believable and to make us care about them and their story, they need to be shown with their imperfections. Story is driven by plot conflict. Plot conflict is driven by characters on the dance floor negotiating the confined space to the beat of their own and society’s drum. Syncopated. Rhythms.

Name That Trip:
Another Fun & Educational Family Game

All fiction is biographical, and all biography is fiction.

I’m sure someone more famous than I came up with a variation of that that is immensely more quotable. Let me know in the comment section if you know one. I collect quotes like a beachcomber collects shells.

Who’s To Blame? Meditations On The Deadly Sins of Memoir

Here I explore a bit about the silence pacts that are involved with child abuse. Really any familial abuse. The energy is put on repairing the rip in the social fabric by often rewarding the abuser because of their power position.

As always, I believe that the most valuable portion of this blog is found in the comments section. If you don’t read those, you miss quite a bit of the blog’s raison d’etre.

Sometimes I have to go back and rework some of my older pieces so they make more sense. This blog is a sketch pad. The feedback I receive in the comments help me tweak these posts, but they also help me refine my voice and develop the themes of my oeuvre, such that it is.

This is not my finest hour.

I am struggling with all of the above which includes the effects of traumatic brain injury and a re-injury to the broken jaw. But as I say, that is but one old injury reawakened by age and with it the associated memories. At 50+ years of age, I have a different context for these life events and a different POV of the characters in the narrative. So despite my diminished abilities, I still believe I’m doing valuable work. If I thought otherwise, I would take off more time to journal.

Challenges to come.

In a wonderful instance of serendipity, my journals and portfolios made their way from Ann Arbor to Honolulu this summer right at the time I was struggling through the thickest of the challenges.

Here’s a lifting fog post or two.

72 Hours In Taipei Circa 1976, Part I & Part II

Before the difficulties are resolved, but as I was starting to recover mojo and some confidence that they would in fact get resolved, I was handed some challenges. Challenges that seemed tailor-made for my circumstances. I love it when that happens!

Janice over at Writing On The Sun posted Cantering on Three Horses about her challenging October. Here is the comment I left her in commiseration.

“My horses of the Apocalyptic October are… Khara’s Uber October, Jane Ann’s a year-a-day memoir challenge (1-25), WIP (goal to finish 1st sh*%ty draft), launch Lara Britt Writes as a local biz. Hoping you achieve your Trifecta with great speed or at least with much enjoyment, Janice.”

Current Work In Progress

Passport In Time Mystery Series:
The Syringa Gulch Survey

To meet the WIP goals, checks the blog posts with the TNBT (The Next Big Thing) tag. The series will be 10 posts, once a month until I am ready to push that publish button. Let’s see if I have a book for you all to buy in 9 months!

Turning Lara Britt Writes into a small business was an idea born in part by the necessities of the challenges (health, ID, etc) of the past few months. I will be spending the month of October tweaking the pages toolbar at the top of the website. Eventually, Up & Coming will be the landing page, and Writing Space will be where to find the blog posts. Linda Hatton & Kasie Whitener are my inspirations here.

So nice to have writerly friends kicking me in the butt all of the time! Seriously, it is.

Khara House at Our Lost Jungle and Jane Ann McLachlan at her eponymous blog welcome folks to join their challenges. Click the links above to find more info. Leave a comment here to tell me what you’ve got planned for this Challenging October. Feed back is much appreciated. A Hui Hou!