Portals

[mallorys_camera]

I read approximately 2 million pages of tax code yesterday. Only 998 million pages to go!

Truth be told, I don't want to read tax code! I don't want to do anything but sit on my fainting couch with my eyes slightly unfocused, thinking strange, dreamy thoughts. It's not as though this coming week is real time anyway, right? The week between Christmas and New Year's is an interstice, kinda like the one between the last chime of midnight & the beginning of a new calendar day. A portal, in other words.

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Also, played a bit with the Work in Progress. I am writing now about a hospital during the COVID pandemic. I wasn't a nurse during the COVID pandemic, so this is something I know very little about. My imagination is getting a workout. And it's flabby!

Simultaneously, I'm trying to sneak in the Jesus cult. And when I say "sneak," I mean position it under the radar so that when Grazia joins, the reader is surprised—even though all the evidence is there.

Next scene is a telephone call between Neal & Grazia. Of course, they have to banter amusingly. It's surprisingly difficult to write amusing banter off the top of one's head. The call has to include some Mimi backstory, too. Mimi's narrative is breadcrumbs strewn throughout the rest of the novel; she is not one of the main characters. But in the third part of the book (Flavia's POV), Mimi is going to try to kill herself, and that needs to be set up.

Comments

[suzannareads]

I very much look forward to reading the cult chapter! I am continually fascinated by how spiritual seekers are captured and held by high demand religious groups. It’s like they are crew of small boats—literally, in the case of something like SeaOrg. So in the early COVID days, it seemed the world might be

[mallorys_camera]

I don't think she's going to actually join. Cults are totally fascinating—and I've had some experience with them 😀—but the book is actually about the effect that one man's death (Neal) has on three women. So writing extensively would be a detour—an interesting detour, but a detour.

I think she's going to spend 10 days hanging out with them & then Neal is going to forcibly rescue her.

[suzannareads]

A very interesting detour. I just noticed I didn’t finish typing my earlier comment. I meant to write something about the (apparent) end of the world.

[smokingboot]

We are definitely in liminal space now. The portal is right there. Looking forward to the next scene!

[mallorys_camera]

Yah, this is Liminal Time, for sure. I'd love to be able to go through that portal.