Word count: 1100
My worst fears have come to pass.
I use electronic apps to borrow library books. They are super neat. I have also
recently taken to placing a hold on books that are very popular. I do tend to
read a lot of older stuff because it’s often at a reduced price. So as part of
my book buying, I now check if the library has a copy before I cough up the
cash.
I reserved: The shape of Water by Guillermo
del Toro, Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman, Time Travel by James Gleick, Call me
by your Name by André Aciman and I recently grabbed a physical copy of An
absolutely Remarkable thing by Hank Green when I saw it on the ‘new releases’
shelf. [I know I’ve read the book and the screenplay for Call me by Your name
but this is the audiobook. It’s different, I tell you. Different.]
The app tells you how many copies
the library has, how many people are waiting for each copy, and where your
place is in the queue, along with an estimated date when it will automatically
ping onto your electronic shelf.
I had them all nicely spaced out. One
was meant to come in 2019. But NOOOO… they all came in within the space of two
days. EEK. And I’m doing Nanowrimo!
Goddammit, universe.
What happened? Did a loved one buy
them all a copy? Was there a sale on audiobooks I missed? I used to take pride in
returning a book early but now I worry that maybe I too, am messing up someone’s
carefully spaced library borrowing schedule. Should I wait until it is electronically
‘returned’ from my account? What IS the etiquette on library holds?
Plus, today kid 1 plonked down on the
couch and announced he was going to watch ‘I Claudius’. What? No… I’m trying to
write here!
To expand: I saw the series
decades ago when it was on TV. [it was maybe 1978? Decades… seriously.] It has
always been on my ‘to buy’ list but I had trouble finding it. Then, recently, I
was in my local Target and a lot of things were on sale before a store reorganisation
and I saw a boxed set of British Drama DVDs. It had: I Claudius, The Scarlet
Pimpernel, The first two series of Poldark (the 1970’s one), and Lady
Chatterley (the Sean Bean version) and it was $5. Insane price. I already had
Sean, but it was a no brainer.
So I’m sitting metres away with my
headphones on but I wasn’t listening; really, I wasn’t. I kept shouting “I’m
not listening” occasionally to confirm it. But omg Brian Blessed was so young
(and beardless… it’s just WRONG). And Ian Ogilvy (sighs)… and was that
Inspector Wexford? And gah the ladies…
But this post is about Nanowrimo,
right?
Today, I battled some monsters and
trundled out 1100 words, no problem. But what I realised was I was pantsing it.
I have no plan, and no plot. Besides the fact that I’m still trying to work out
how 4theWords works*, I don’t even know what the heck this story is about. I don’t
even have names for my main characters. With the heatwave, I was watering my plants,
and I suddenly shouted, “Sage!” as I watered my herbs. Is that my heroines’
name? I don’t know. Tonight I might take a couple of hours and scribble it all
out on index cards.
Oooh… what if the hero’s name is Ian?
[Look… they were doing the Roman body scrape thing and he was naked… and I am
weak…] Or Sean? Wait… what was the name of Lady Chatterley’s game keeper?
Oliver.
Ha. That’s it.
*it seems I signed up in May 2016
and I really have no memory of that.
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