Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Waiting for the Inspiration

I'm still at home. The flu has dug its claws in and refuses to leave without a fight. Heavy artillery fire of Vitamin C should hopefully weaken its defenses, but it has counterattacked with a splintering round of chest congestion and stuffy nose. I sent in a squadron of sleep agents this morning, sleeping until almost noon. But then...then the evil empire struck the stepson with a horrendous sneeze attack, runny nose, and congestion.

But I shall not give up the good fight! As Walter Matthau says to Sophia Lauren on Grumpier Old Men, "Ristorante? Never!!!"

I fully intend to go to work tomorrow. Three days off work is long enough. When you combine that with the two days of the weekend, well, this being sick has got to stop. Will try to get to your blogs today...I'm so tired of sitting on the couch watching movies that I want to scream.

But while I've been sick, I've also been mulling over my next project. I have a lot of ideas, but none has really grabbed me yet. In a sense, you could say I'm waiting for inspiration as to which idea to do. It could be that my brain is just not excited about anything other than sleep and staring mindlessly at the t.v. right now, but it could also be that the right idea has not yet presented itself.

Did anyone watch the Hallmark Channel presentation on Sunday night, The Valley of Light with Chris Klein? I did. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. A very simple story, yet full of human emotion. And I got to thinking...a story doesn't have to be "woman and man try to save the world" to be powerful. Of course I knew that, but since I tend to write WW2 stuff, that sort of scenario naturally presents itself a lot of times. But after watching that movie, that's when I decided to dig a little deeper, look to the human face of war, the very small, miniscule parts that people played in that war. And there are millions of these types of stories that have nothing to do with the major battles of the day. That's what I want to focus on - little-known stories of true heroes that never earned a medal or got their picture in the local paper.

6 comments:

  1. Melissa--hope you feel better soon. I am not great either. Just a cold and a rattly cough. We've all got something! Blah. Get some rest. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you're feeling better soon! I was home sick yesterday. Not horribly sick but I could feel it coming on so I decided to try and nip it in the bud. I slept allll day. It felt wonderful and I feel much better today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you feel well enough for work tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree, Melissa, that the human face of WWII and the stories of the ordinary "little people" are fascinating. That's probably true of every war. I always think of my dad, raised dirt-poor in the Panhandle of Texas during the Depression. I mean, he had nothing but dust! Then WWII changed everything -- suddenly this very young man was swept off to Hawaii (which he didn't handle very well). And then after the war, he met my mother and they had me, a Boomer baby! It amazes me how people were so affected by the big turns of events. They were really reacting back then, as well as creating those profound times.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't believe you're still sick, you poor thing! Wow, I just hate illnesses that dig in for a prolonged siege. I'm glad you're able to think about your writing some -- when I'm that sick, my muse checks out for the duration. :D Get well quickly!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Feel better soon!! Sounds like a pretty nasty flu you have.

    No, I didn't see that movie :-(

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you!

Staying Focused

Friends, sometimes it is exhausting to try and stay focused on goals. Eat healthier. Lose weight. Exercise.  Find a literary agent. Edit the...