Loot

I'm back from my swim competition and thought I should post a quick follow-up on the awesome time I had. Actually, racing 60 lengths of the pool is not at all awesome while the swimming is taking place. But a few minutes after, I thought it was the BEST event to do. I received a BRONZE medal for my efforts.

Many thanks to my new friend, Karen, where we enjoyed her hospitality all weekend. Great food and conversation.

And I much enjoyed sleeping under her pool table (I must clarify here, there was no alcohol involved, it was just the darkest and most cozy place to pull up a sleeping bag.)

And then, to top off a great couple of days - I had these wonderful books waiting for me when I got home. They arrived in the mail all sparkly, fresh-smelling and waiting to be enjoyed. I think I deserve an afternoon on the couch with some sweet tea. Now, which one to read first...

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

The Boy who Spoke Dog by Clay Morgan

Listen by Stephanie Tolan

The Earth, My Butt, and other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Gone by Michael Grant

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Izzy and Lenore by Jon Katz

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Revisions coming along

"We swim because we are too sexy for a sport that requires clothes."
Unknown

This is my friend Jackie, the powerhouse flyer, who has talked me into swimming with her at the Provincial Swim Competition in London. I thought that was a fine idea back in January. Now it's less than two weeks away and I'm wishing I had remembered that I'm not very fast. Which is why I'm doing the 1500 metre this year. (as well as all the backstroke races) Slow and steady.

I need to remember that when I get anxious about the time it takes to revise a manuscript. I've just sent off, I think, the last big round of edits for Dogsled Dreams.

How does Stephen King whip out those novels so fast?

confession

I feel the need to confess here that I went to a little store called Chapters yesterday with a $10 coupon and went slightly crazy. When I thumped them down at the cash, I was informed my coupon expired two days ago. But I couldn't put any of them back after I had carried them around, envisioning myself by the fire reading them. So I took them all. Shamelessly decadent. I have now banned myself from going again - at least until I've read these.

And while I'm confessing, I have now missed two weeks of swimming practice. You know that commercial with the woman who wakes up with a cold but takes Tylenol and goes to the pool anyway? That's not me.

I know this has nothing to do with outdoor adventure, but is there interest in a short review of any of these books after I've read them?

On writing, swimming and other uphill battles

This is a photo of me. (In my own little make believe mind.) Flickr cc

It’s that time of year. In preparing for the Provincial Masters Swimming Competition next spring, I’ve begun pool training again. It’s been a while and I’d forgotten how much I love to swim. And so I’ll be posting updates of my progress - though it’s not an outdoor adventure. (Since I live on a lake you are probably thinking, why isn’t it an outdoor adventure? That, my friends involves a tragic and embarrassing turtle phobia of which I may tell you about later)

While doing basic drills today, it occurred to me that swimming was a little like writing. So many techniques to remember. Body roll on the long axis. Relaxed, high elbow arm recovery. Kick from the hips. REACH for the catch. Stroke count. Streamline off the wall. If I try to remember them all swimming one length, my stroke becomes choppy, unpretty and fun-less.

When writing, if I concentrate too much on technique, it also becomes unpretty and fun-less. Show don’t tell. Move that plot with dialogue. Watch those tags. GOOD GOD my mc needs a disabling quirk!

The 400 meters of drills I did were certainly needed. But it was the 1000m of back and free style, slicing through the water like a dolphin, that was pure joy. It’s what ensures that I go back on Thursday to do it again. And sometimes, I begin a story with scene description. Just for fun. I’m that much of a rebel.