Another week of isolation down

So, it’s been a month of working from home and extreme isolation (what better time to pick up a copy of Island of Stone!). I would be remiss if I didn’t mention something about this in these posts, if anything, for posterity’s sake. It’s been quite the experience, and who knows when it will end. The best thing to do is keep busy, stay safe, and try not to fixate on the news. None of it is good and will only drag you into the doldrums.

I’ve focused on work.

The first thing I do in the morning, other than make coffee, is sit down and post something here. This is a new routine for me, but I’ve enjoyed the catharsis it’s brought to my life. I’ve made many journeys, some of them quite profound, but I never took the time to capture them in writing. I really regret that. If anything, I should have kept a detailed journal of my experiences in China. At the time, I probably thought I would never forget, but now, closing in on 40 and that part of my life being a decade and a half ago, I see that was naivete.

I then check on the Island of Stone to see how it’s doing, make any needed course corrections, and follow up on any ideas that sprang to mind over the course of the night. On weekdays, I then move on to my day job activities, such as answering emails, completing projects, and attending meetings. This experiment of working from home was a challenge at first, but for the most part, it is running smoothly. It really is a testament to the evolution of technology in this area. The only thing I miss is meeting with students, but as spring is a slow time for that, it hasn’t been an issue. If this continues into the fall, I guess I will just have to depend on Zoom. On weekends like today, I focus on house projects. Today, there will be some repairs and then painting of our front entranceway.

I then make and have dinner with my wife, and we go for a walk around the neighborhood with our masks.

After all this, I focus on writing. Without a two-hour commute each day, I am trying to use this gift and put words on page. I’m averaging about 4 to 5 hours of writing time a day. I always wondered if I would have enough stamina to write for a living, and I’ve found that, actually, there isn’t enough time in the day! By 8pm, I’m always surprised by the time. It just flies by. I’m doing more editing now, but since Vril is 15 years old, there is actually quite a bit of writing needed to tighten the prose and streamline the plotlines. As I’ve discussed in earlier posts, Vril has had a few renditions, and I am trying to put its best foot forward.

Originally, the book spanned almost 70 years! I’ve reduced the World War II era material to a chapter and focused on the present. Also, Vril was originally quite violent and disturbing in parts. I had reduced that once, for fear it would reflect poorly on me and maybe alienate some readers. This made it very tame and really less impactful. I am being brave and moving forward with the original intention. I don’t condone violence, but the parts in the book that have it need it to stress the brutality of my antagonist (we are talking about Nazis here) as well as provide context for how the power of Vril gains its strength.

After writing, I work on dishes and get ready for bed, but the day is not over yet! I do my best thinking in the hours before I fall asleep. My wife has the gift of falling asleep instantly, but I will lie there thinking for an hour or two before the sandman comes. During those hours, I come up with new ideas and connections, then prepare a mental map of what I need to accomplish the next day.

Sleep, wake, mix, and repeat.

Cheers!