I compose in Word (although I might be trying something new soon) and I keep the current book on my desktop in a single folder, with all the multiple drafts contained therein. Eventually, I move that folder off the desktop into my document file, where it’s no longer visible.
I did that today with LIFE SENTENCES. The new book, the work-in-progress, now has the desktop to itself. This annual ritual feels almost Oedipal, or at the very least a case of sibling rivalry. Time for you to shuffle off, LS, and take your place with the others. (For the record, only five novels, one novella and a folder full of short stories, as I had a major computer crash while writing To the Power of Three and didn’t transfer all the files. I do, however, own every computer I have ever owned, with the exception of one laptop. I even own the Mac Classic II on which I wrote my first three books.)
I felt a little sad, putting LIFE SENTENCES away. It is, I think, my favorite of my books to date. Certainly the most personal, a book where I clearly didn’t worry what anyone was going to think. But there is a new book in town and even as the tour continues — Los Angeles Thursday, San Mateo Saturday, Sydney all next week — it’s time to place it with the others.
Anyone else have work-related rituals that make them feel a little melancholy? Or, conversely, joyful? Household rituals? You know the drill.
Laura,
Speaking of retaining laptops, crashing computers, etc., would you participate in a brief survey that I am taking of people who use their laptops heavily:
MAC or PC?
Thanks,
Diane
(Anyone else is welcome to participate as well–my only criteria is that I am looking for info from people who heavily use, travel with, etc. their laptops.)
Say – I don’t mean to veer off too much – but this article IMMEDIATELY spun me off into thinking “Life Sentences”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30704907/
money quote:
>>”Do you remember those rumors of being switched at birth?” she asked, and went on to provide the update.
“Does this mean I’m not invited to the family reunion?” Shafer joked. Qualls, Bobby Reed and one of their sisters met Shafer at a Kennewick, Wash., clinic last month for DNA testing. A week later, Qualls got the results, learning her likely probability of being related to her brother and sister was zero.
“I cried,” she said. “I wanted to be a Reed � my life wasn’t my life.”
<<
I work off a Mac laptop that’s about 8 years old, a gift from an amazing friend who said “you need this more than I”. I have the world’s most amazing support guy, who works remotely from home and has come over 3 times for hardware fixes.
I don’t have rituals, but I hold on to stuff often waaaaay longer than needed because “someone might need it.” Putting planning materials away, filing away notes on program for a convention I’ve worked on which should be dumped or at least put in those archival boxes? Years. The worst was my notes from my Master’s thesis. Notes, on 3×5 cards. (this is pre-computer/word processing folks.) I think I hold on to that stuff because of the work they represent, so I have a reminder. The cards followed me in a little plastic box for years and years and years. I never used them, never followed the career path I’d hoped with that degree, never needed them for NUTTIN. But it took ages to dump them.
Your ritual is gigantic by comparison Laura, considering it also is indicative of what is going on inside your head and heart, but we do have something in our family which is at least reminiscent of the ritual of change. In our early married days we lived in rat hole rentals with our little ones and I would seasonally paint ugly walls with very basic holiday decorations or educational stuff like the scene at Plymouth Rock and then paint them out with cheap paint and do something else. This evolved as our homes changed to houses into always having a space for such expressions. My favorite being a cinderblock building on ten acres in Arkansas that my husband would spray paint a mural on several times per year of whatever inspired him (duck hunting, the trip to the alps, Halloween) just to keep me from knocking down the ugly storage building. Painting them out was always rough. I have pictures and memories of that odd creative ritual of ours.
When I finish a magazine article (not a book, certainly, but an 8000 word, three-month long haul) I go clothes shopping. Or, at least, I did in the old economy. Now I think I will go window shopping.
we’ve only had DVR (aka tivo) for a few months now, and I quickly noted that one has to be brutal about deleting things that have been watched – or which have been neglected for long enough that – face it – we’re never going to watch!
It’s funny – one expends almost no effort to capture this or that show, and then – it almost exerts a little sense of obligation upon you; I almost feel remorse (to overstate it) eliminating shows that haven’t been watched.
But also – there is a slight sense of relief (akin to when one finishes running the weed whip along the fence)
I used to buy earrings when I finished a book, but back in 2002 — my first year as a fulltime writer — I purchased the first pair of “nice” earrings, certainly the first bit of nice jewelry for myself while on book tour and I now wear those every day.
Now, when I finish a book, I usually have a big household project to attack.
Come to think of it, I have some mini-rituals at work.
For example, if I have a real slog to get through, then I’ll hold off getting another icy cold Diet Coke until I hit a particular point (if not the end!) – which ALWAYS makes the drink all the more refreshing.
Taking Brian’s response as a cue, it is neither joyful or melancholy but mandatory for my sanity. When I get to work each day, I have to go to the Ladie’s and rinse out my tea mug (that says “Meet the world’s greatest detective…and her husband, Sherlock Holmes.” and come back to my desk and make a careful choice of what will be my first cuppa of the day, either PG Tips or Comstant Comment or Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast or whatever is in my stash. I then drink the tea and enjoy the moment of civilization in a world of craziness that is my work life.
(Now, when Tess Monaghan gets her own tea mug, I will be happy to add it to a rotation of mugs!)
–Marjorie (who goes to Myers of Keswick in New York City once every few months just to get real English tea. And sometimes some Turkish Delight candy bars. Or Lovehearts or even Jelly Babies.)
At work, after finishing a project I’ll treat myself to a few minutes on the internet and a look at Cakewrecks and List of the Day, as well as the Memory Project. Totally off topic, since I looked at this earlier today I’ve been humming “Good Morning, Baltimore”! Hopefully you all have the ear worm now too!
“Good Morning, Baltimore” is the ringtone on my cell phone.
Off-topic for this thread, but not for “Life Sentences”, Craig Ferguson has been pushing his upcoming memoir very hard on his show this week. (Available for pre-order on Amazon and being published on Sept. 14, he gleefully tells us.) This could make for a very interesting topic of conversation with Laura tomorrow!
karen,
It just finished here (where it doesn’t start until 1:05 am). First of all, Craig, regardng tonight’s emails, it’s Nor-wich. No silent W. This is Connecticut, not the UK!! And we aren’t all stuffy Greenwich country club types! Connecticut is mostly working class down to earth folk. Whew. What a tired stereotype of Connecticut!
I loved that Craig displayed the “Life Sentences” so nicely and admitted so freely that he hadn’t read it (yet). I loved that he ripped up the blue cards when Laura came out. (Always a good sign that he feels comfortable just talking to the guest.) I thought they had a great conversation even if it wasn’t about the book as much as I would have liked.
And Iloved finding out that Laura and her SO had their marriage officiated by……..Oh I won’t give it away for those who haven’t seen it yet!
Marjorie-
I wondered if those two things would get under your craw re: connecticut…and i, too, liked the waving of the book in front of the camera and displaying of it on the desk [leno also usually displays books and cd's rather well-- not everyone does] so that it, too, got some face time–particularly since it was not discussed very much in the interview itself.
no spoiler here, but i enjoyed that bit of balimoriana (??) as well… and also i was glad that LL did get more than a 60-second, closing music in the background, interview. it seemed comfortable and fun and bi-directional.
thanks again for posting the reminder–i am glad that i saw it–and got to root for her in the privacy of my home!
BTW, also owe you a thanks for the Wallandar–and wanted to tell you that KB was interviewed on both Charlie Rose and WSJ in the last week.
i spent a mercury retrograde day with a pernicious malware infestation and restoring of things on my laptop, so was glad to have this ‘treat’ at the end of it.
g’night, you princess of new england…:)
//karen
I felt bad, giving up that “secret,” but the Baltimore Sun had outed us two years ago, so what the heck. Plus, given that he brought the subject up twice, he clearly wanted me to spill.
Laura on CRAIG FERGUSON!!! you were spectacular, it deserves a post, so we can talk about your interactions. Although I counted the seconds until Howie Mandel was gone.
Check out CBS.com, they usually have reruns, it may take a download to see it.
I had never watched the CF show before. What an odd man. I kept checking the clock and hitting the info button on the remote to make sure I had the right night. It was so great seeing LL on screen and a closeup of the book! I thought Howie Mandel would never shut up.
Marjorie-
I don’t know about you, but it has never seemed to take so long to get to the guests…bring out Laura! The hell with Howie. and no more ‘we’ve really got a bad show tonight, but please continue to watch.’ arrgghh..
//karen