Hen Scratches
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Reminder of move
Just thought I'd put one more note that Henscratches has moved to WordPress. Now you can find me here. Please check it out, and follow me there.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Moving Time
In harmony with popular demand, I'm moving my blog to WordPress. You can now find me here. I'd love to see you there! I'm even launching two new features this week - the first one was introduced today.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
“Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax”
...Actually, that should be “Viruses and Surgery
and Writing”
I’m back! There have some hindrances lately to my
blog posting. First there were the terrible viruses. Both kinds: the kind that
infected me, and then the kind that infected my computer. I’ve been pretty
lucky in that I’d never had a computer virus before, but a few weeks ago I got
a doozey. After much frustration, I was finally able to get rid of it. And save
my data. I’m very relieved, and, I admit, kind of proud of myself.
Then, I had a surgery on my hand, which hampered
my writing for a bit. It’s well on the road to being mended now, although I
still wince when I move my fingers too quickly or a certain way. I just try to
not move them that way, except as therapy. Luckily, typing is possible again,
as long as I have frequent breaks to stretch my hand properly, so my
work-in-progress is finally coming along.
Speaking of work in progress, this book is fiction,
and it’s a whole ’nother creature. With LittleLodges, there was so much research, but the writing was easy: I just had to
relate the facts. Now, there’s not any fieldwork (darn! I loved those research
trip!), but I have to imagine the entire thing out myself. And while I can
write my main scenes with relatively little trouble, other aspects are trickier.
Like transitions, and giving enough, but not too much, detail, and making sure the
scenes all follow one another cohesively—especially since it’s a double-protagonist
story. I’m also experimenting with different ways of working with various POVs
to see what works best for this particular story. So, it’s coming along, but
not as quickly as I’d like. Then again, does anything ever? Anyway, I’ll share
more about this story soon—barring any further impediments.
For now, I need to go take care of hubby. It’s his
turn with the virus.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Today in History Trivia
On this day
in 1934, a female aviator set one of her many records, this one as the first
American woman to fly solo over the Andes. Who was she?
Before I
reveal the answer, note other records this aviatrix set:
- First flight around South America
- Longest solo flight made by a woman (17,000 miles)
- First solo flight from North America to South America by a woman
- 741 consecutive barrel rolls and 930 consecutive loops
- First female to fly nonstop New York to Los Angeles, and fastest flight LA to NY.
Do you know
who she was?
Hint: It wasn’t Amelia Earhart.
It was Laura
Ingalls.
Not that
Laura Ingalls. Not Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote the Little
House books, and about whom I usually write. This Laura Ingalls is
completely unrelated.
This Laura
Ingalls was born around the turn of the
century (she always gave her date of birth as 1901, but records indicate it was
likely some years before that). She learned to fly in 1928, and was setting
records within two years. When questioned about her life choices, she
remarked that she had the good fortune to be raised by a mother who instilled
in her “the ability to hurdle
difficulties and achieve the reputedly impossible.”
She was friends with Amelia Earhart, breaking some of the latter’s
records, and Howard Hughes. So why has almost no one heard of her?
Probably because in 1942 she was charged with being an “unregistered
German Agent,” that is, a spy for Germany. This charge stemmed from her
involvement with America First, a pacifist organization that existed before the
Second World War. The group disbanded within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor,
and it is questionable how many members actually recognized the organization as
pro-Nazi, but anyone who had been a member was suspect. Ingalls was especially
on the government’s radar since she had flown over the Capital in 1939 and
dropped a load of anti-war pamphlets.
Although she denied the charge or any affiliation with Nazism, Ingalls
was found guilty, and that was the end of her aviation-record-setting career.
She spent twenty months in a prison in West Virginia, and not much was heard of
her after that, until her death in California in 1966.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Who Killed Bob Ewell?
Yep,
I finally read To Kill a Mockingbird.
I know, most folks read it at some point in school, but somehow I missed it.
Better late than never, right?
There is much to appreciate in this book. Foremost, of course, is what’s generally believed to be the primary moral, which is the harm caused by the pre-judging of others. It is a blistering critique of not only the prejudicial systems of the South, but also the unrecognized hypocrisy which allows its justification.
I
find it interesting that the title of the book reflects not that, but another
of the many lessons contained within the writing: before deciding how or even
whether to act, consider whether any particular course of action is likely to
have any beneficial outcome. If not, why choose the action? Many recent news
stories bring this thought to mind, proving the timelessness of Mockingbird.
Despite
the many morals, the book is not at all preachy, and I quite admire Lee’s
ability to pull this off. I don’t believe she would have been able to do so had
she not told the story from Scout’s perspective; the child’s voice as she
observes the often confusing actions of the adults around her keeps the reader
in a questioning mood, rather than a defensive one.
I
was pretty surprised at Atticus’ reaction to the climactic event. I felt that
he was a bit too perfect through the rest of the book, which made his immediate
accusation against Jem out of character. Although I understand that we readers
are supposed to think this is another example of Atticus’ fairness (“no special
treatment for Jem”), to me it was a jarring injustice. Well, we all bring our
own experiences to our readings, and I’ve been unjustly accused of too many
things, I guess. Plus, I never had a doubt as to who killed Bob Ewell (hint: not Jem), and I was surprised to find,
when reading others’ thoughts on the book, that this is a point of debate. What
do you think? Was Bob killed by Jem, Boo, or an accident?
Edited to add:
Speaking of Harper Lee, I just looked up her
forthcoming book, and am a bit confused by the description. Here’s part of
it:
“Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters
from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to
Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues both
personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town
that shaped her.
Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird
are adjusting to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set
a Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic.”
Is it just me, or does this sound like a sequel? Phrases
such as “twenty years later,” “returning home,” and “the characters...are
adjusting” strongly imply a story that follows the original. Why is this
confusing? Because the description also states that this is “the earliest known
work from Harper Lee” which was “submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird.”
I had heard something about
a controversy surrounding this new book, but thought it was more about whether
Lee was really the author and/or whether she really wanted it published. Obviously
there’s more to the story. I’ll have to dig out the details at some point, but
I just don’t have the time right now. Anybody know about this?
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