This week, despite all of the distractions in my life right now, I did do a bit of writing.  I wrote a short piece about my grandparents and shared it with my writing group.  It was one of those unabashedly sentimental pieces that I frankly hate to read but since it was all true, I couldn’t get around the Pollyannaism.  Writing about my grandparents and their farm is perhaps the easiest subject for me to explore — I just seem to get right into the flow.  So many happy memories to delve into.

Didn’t get much other writing done.  I have been doing some volunteer writing/editing/website work for someone and that has been quite…challenging.  I’ve really enjoyed learning how to put a website together but am also learning how hard it is to balance what I think is the “right” way to do things with what the person I am doing the work for wants to see. When I do freelance editing work, my clients typically trust my judgment on what is correct, and what sounds good — and I can usually give clear reasons as to why I’ve made a certain editing decision.  When it comes to the visual realm, I am not so good at articulating why one photo or one layout is better than another.  This has definitely been a learning experience.

I haven’t had much reading time, although I did read Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, which I loved.  It is a young adult novel about a 15 year old girl who is killed in an accident, and what happens to her in the afterlife.  Sort of a lighter version of The Lovely Bones.  I loved how the main character’s adolescent struggles carried right on over into her life after death.  I also read Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, a novel written in the 50’s about a love affair between two women.  It’s billed as “the novel that inspired Nabokov’s Lolita” and it’s true that there is a similar plot element (a road trip, tailed by a detective).  However, I enjoyed it for the exploration of the relationship between the women, without their homosexuality being pathologized.  And Highsmith’s writing is tight and beautiful.  I also finished the last #1 Ladies Detective Agency novel, so I’m done with that little obsession for a while!

Later this week the kids and I are off to visit my in-laws in Spain (my husband will be joining us later).  Typically I get a lot of reading and writing done when I’m there, due to the lack of domestic responsibilities.  This year I’ll be taking my Kindle instead of half of suitcase of books (although there are a couple of non-Kindle books I’m taking).  Maybe in between stuffing myself on Spanish cuisine and drinking wine and playing on the beach with the kids, I’ll get some writing done too!