Walla Walla, WA, ten days into spring. Temperatures are moderating to highs in the 50s to 70s and there’s not much rain in the extended forecast. In just six weeks, it will be our average last frost date- -time to plant seedlings!
They’re still pretty little, the ones you started two weeks ago.
Seedlings of the literal variety- -future eggplants and peppers!
But now that they’re up they’ll take off, fast, and look at the germination rate, 9! These are eggplants and bell peppers in the making. Today, we start the tomatoes and marigolds:
Seedlings to be, still in their packets.
So far we’ve talked about literal seedlings but this week we are dealing with metaphorical seedlings, too.
Enlighten us, please?
Gladly, Lily. Last Friday I reached a temporary stopping point on a project I’ve been working on for months. That’s when the current draft of Justice in Big-G City was mailed to the fifth of five beta readers. I’ve given these kind folks two months to read the manuscript and return their comments to me. In the short term this leaves a lot of space in my weekly writing schedule. And so- –
You’re growing literary seedlings?
Exactly! First and foremost, I am working on my new Living History script for Sister Catherine of the Sisters of Providence. In addition to the actual writing, I’m engaged in lots of correspondence with various archives and experts, and doing plenty of research reading.
Literary seedlings, including research. A fine local wine doesn’t hurt the process. . .
I am also taking advantage of the Big-G break to reconnect with a project I started in 2005. It’s a futuristic detective story (dystopian, natch) starring a female bass player/undercover agent who is summoned from her Blues gig on Mars to investigate the murder of someone she knew on Earth. The victim is the music department chair at the bass player’s alma mater, a close friend and mentor until she was caught in a compromising embrace with the bass player’s boyfriend.
I hope they don’t kiss and stuff?
No kisses yet, 9, but only a few pages have been drafted. It’s cool to look back at the world I’d started to build, the details of environment, technology and the Martian legal system. The tone is noir-ish, like a mid-twentieth century detective novel.
Literary seedlings: excavating old book projects.
Along with the meager amount of draft there’s the full plot, outlined in descriptive paragraphs. Also a few pages of notes, mostly about half-formed ideas that need follow-up. It’s a time travel experience, journeying back to something I worked on two decades ago and contemplating how and if to carry it forward. My plan is to draft some more scenes to see if the story still has traction for me. If I commit to finishing it I might play with a different format, releasing it in installments with “drop” dates at regular intervals.
Interesting.
I think so, too, Lily. I’m really in the mood for something different right now. Speaking of which, EV 140 Writing for Wineries sprouts next Tuesday! We’ve already received our first assignment: completing four “getting to know you” questions and posting them at the class site, plus writing a substantive comment about another student’s Q & A for full credit. We have until midnight, April 1, to complete the assignment. A few students have posted so far. I’ll read these today and add my comments to the growing digital conversation.
A garden. A presentation. A potential new novel. A writing class. Seedlings actual and metaphorical are springing up all over.
Appropriate, it being spring.
