What more can we ask of April than the beauty we are beginning to see? We have pink trees, white trees, yellow daffodils, purple/white/yellow crocus's, and new green is shading everything. Lovely. Now children can play outside with gleeful abandon and teachers can get a much needed boost from watching and listening to their laughter, well at least most of the time. Another year is beginning with Covid, yet, if everyone will behave, we might actually have more of a "normal" life either by summer or (please) at least by fall. I feel hope again. Since I had my second vaccine (Pfizer) a mantel of fear has lifted from my burdened shoulders. Seriously. I don't really care if someone doesn't "believe" in Covid or the necessity of the vaccine or masks. What I care about is the burden on me is gone. I cried when my parents were vaccinated and I realized I had been SO worried about them dying from Covid. Yes, I know their time will come, as will mine, but at least not yet, not from this. I don't have much to convey on the writing front at the moment. Next month I will!
Please visit our wonderful co-hosts this month and thank them!
IWSG optional monthly question is:
Are you a risk taker when writing? Do you try something radical, different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?
I see this as two questions and both I would answer yes. I feel I risk whenever I put something in a book someone might read and ask themselves, "Did that happen to this author? Is this a "memoir moment?" and so feel I am a risk taker. I imagine Oprah (yes, dream big, right?!), posing the question, "What made you write about this? Has it happened to you personally?"
The second part of the question is risking to a point but perhaps not as much as someone else might. I have a novel in mind that I have not written yet because for me it would be huge to put it out for other people to read. So I will wait and see what happens. In my novels I've written about abuse, murder, greed, love, killing sadness, lies that break families apart, all things that can be considered risky depending on how you deal with them.
Happy Easter! Happy spring! Enjoy today, it's the only one you have right NOW!
That bit about Oprah was too cute. I agree writing is taking a risk anyway, for you never know how it will be received. Thank you for co-hosting.
ReplyDeleteThat's what it's all about - personal choice and how it makes you feel. Glad the burden is gone for you. My parents also received their shots, so whether I ever take it or not, doesn't matter - they are safe, at least for six months.
ReplyDeleteGood Post! In a way, I guess all writer's are risk takers. Happy Easter. Thank you for co-hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this month, Lisa and for sharing. As, most recently i.e. 10 years, a paranormal author I don't have a lot of people wondering if this happened to me, personally, but in truth, everything we put out there is personal and from the heart. Writing is a passionate adventure of sharing from the soul.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing how everyone interpreted the question a little different.
ReplyDeleteBy my calculations, we'll have herd immunity by June and most should be normal after that.
I hope you write your novel, Lisa. Thank you for co-hosting. I'm glad your parents are safe.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the Oprah dream. I might just have this one sometimes too :)
ReplyDeleteI was super happy when my mom got her shots as well. It was such a worry, constantly nagging in the back of my mind.
Thanks so much for co-hosting!
I know what you mean about the risk of a reader interpreting something as a memoir moment, especially if it is. I think it's a very brave and cathartic thing to do, and it will connect deeply with a reader who has been in a similar position. I need to build up to that. For now I think I'll stick to trying new styles - more travel literature in the making...Happy to Easter to you!
ReplyDeleteI also got my second vaccine last week. It is liberating. I feel the same. I also got teary when I knew my parents were protected from this deadly disease. Now, I know, I can't get it or spread it, and I'm relieved. Take care and continue living bold and writing great stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today!
Mary at Play off the Page
Thanks for co-hosting and your personal musings and confessions. Perhaps the expanded reach of vaccinations will embolden writers to take more risks in writing, coupled with the ability to take more (calculated) risks in daily life... I will be so glad if/when COVID is over and I can write free again - hope!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI understand completely what you mean. There are some things that I haven't written about yet because it exposes me.
Wishing you all the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Hi Lisa - I too hope you get to write your novel ... but perhaps publishing it will be the salient point. Spring thank goodness is here - well should be, except we have some Arctic air around! Whatever we put out there will always be interpreted differently ... all the best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Lisa. Putting stories out there for others to read is a huge risk, and I think every author I've ever met has to be a risk-taker. Glad you're one of them! And glad you're co-hosting today. Great post.
ReplyDeleteMay your Oprah dream come true! Congrats on getting your vax, and thanks for doing your part. Thanks for co-hosting, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting this month and sharing the lovely images. I too felt a weight lifted when I received my vaccine. To dream of an Oprah interview is risky and bold. Don't think I've been dreaming big enough. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI love this time of year. It says hope. So does getting the covid vaccine. Thanks for cohosting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting! I got my first jab recently, but I'll only be happy if lockdown ever ends. It's been ruining my mental health and destroyed my usual daily wordcounts.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lisa. I quite agree with you. It is a two-fold question. Lovely spring pictures. Take care and keep writing.
ReplyDeleteYAY for all the blooming colors April brings with it. I'm so ready for some warmth. Up here in the Northeast, we're usually held up inside our homes for more than half of the calendar year. Covid made that even worse. Very thankful the warm weather is on its way. And Happy Easter to you, too!
ReplyDeleteThank you for co-hosting this month!
Good points about risk! I wonder that sometimes. I am fascinated by some controversial topics and have many ideas to write about them.
ReplyDeleteI think every creative endeavor is a risk, to a degree. We put parts of ourselves out there, in our stories or paintings or songs, and hope someone will like them. Will accept us as we are. There is no pretense, no camouflage in great art. Our soul is on display in our art, for everyone to see and judge.
ReplyDeleteIt never hurts to dream big! Your Oprah moment may be just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa! That is so true-- I wonder that all the time, if readers believe I am somehow the same as my MC or what they go thru, which is rarely the case. When I debuted I worried my parents would think that. lol Anyway, I'm so glad you got your vax and you're feeling relieved. I haven't got mine yet but plan to. Here's hoping this year is healing all around.
ReplyDeleteAh. Spring! Great post. I'm on a waiting list for the vaccine. Travel helps me write, and I've been short of doing both. Hearing brave people dream big is heartening. Thank you for co-hosting. Happy IWSG Day!
ReplyDeleteWith A Fighting Chance, I have had reviewers comment about wondering (and hoping I did not) experience the things my heroine had gone through.
ReplyDeleteI'll be getting my first dose of the vaccine tomorrow. I imagine when I get my second I will feel that weight lift, too.
I think anyone who self-pubs is a risk-taker. Having said that, I do and still called myself NOT a risk-taker. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteAnd more thanks from me, for co-hosting and for your lovely words. I'm waiting for my secodnd jab, and wishing the social distancing with my family would end soon. It's very difficult to be the lava monster and not get too close to your young relatives, I've discovered :O
ReplyDeleteJemima
I suppose we are all risk takers, if it means putting our words out there for people to read and to form opinions on the story, the writing, whatever. Thank you for hosting and thank you for sharing those pictures. I'm behind you here, and so looking forward to the blooming!
ReplyDeleteMy first vaccine appointment just got scheduled and I'm looking forward to the freedom you describe. May it continue!
ReplyDeleteI've had my first vaccine (Moderna) and I felt that same relief of burden you described, even while waiting for the second dose.
ReplyDeleteLove your photos. It is beautiful, green, and in full bloom where I am, as well. I see it as nature's way of saying, "hey, be grateful for the beauty of today. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow will take care of itself."
Thanks for co-hosting today!
I love those pictures of spring and your hopeful words about Covid! We're not quite as green here yet, willow trees have only that sheen of yellow that promises green. Yesterday I spotted the very first (and early) forsythia. But, yes, what a relief for us all. Now, if we can just be disciplined to wear those masks and follow those other guidelines that seem almost routine but useful if they protect us all. I agree with your comments on risk-taking -- and how challenging Oprah's question is: What led you to write this story! So we continue to write, even if we can't always say so easily . . . why we wrote. Thank you for co-hosting and celebrating spring with us all!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that you and your parents have been vaccinated, Lisa! I, too, felt a huge burden lifted from my shoulders when I received my second vaccination. What a year it has been! There are few flowers or blossoms in my neighborhood yet. I went to bed with snow last night and woke up with snow this morning. Thanks for the lovely spring photos! And thanks for co-hosting!
ReplyDeleteBravo to you, Lisa, for being so brave to write about such tough topics. Really, good for you! I LOVE your Easter/spring photos. Truly lovely. Just like you! Thanks for co-hosting! All best to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for co-hosting the IWSG this month, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteYour pics are gorgeous. Love the pink-ness.
I do hope that you get to write that novel.
Lovely photos, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHeavy issues you write in your stories, and ones that need to be addressed and discussed. Thank you.
Thanks for co-hosting! Glad you and your parents are vaccinated!
ReplyDelete