25 Days
This morning I came inside to have pancakes with the family and we thought that we would watch "The Monster Calls." I had seen a preview and It looked interesting and appropriate to watch with the family. I was not prepared. I know that there was going to be a 12 year old boy and he would lose his mother to illness. But like most movies, I thought that it would be based on how he overcame the death and adapted to the change in his world. *Spoiler alert* This was about the emotions and challenges that he faces during the prolonged illness. I really don't want to say any more about the movie because if you are interested in a meaningful movie, then you should see it yourself. It was artfully executed and as I have three children around the same age as the main character, I needed the tissues near.
The reason why I mention this, is because it stirred up much of the silt at the bottom of my emotional reservoir. We are all a combination of experiences, bias' and emotions rolled in to our individual skin. My age and the loss of my father, due to a prolonged illness (10 years ago), saw the film through a lens of empathy. I was touched by the boys struggle. This approach on sensitive subjects that many people would not generally avoid was masterful. I like movies like that, artful, interesting and hit the nail truth buttons.
My story that I am writing is not any where near as deep and intentionally emotive as this movie, but I hope that the characters are real to my readers. I want people to feel empathy and connect in some way, even if it is just a little bit. Each character has grown in my mind before they even hit the page for this exciting journey I walk them through, so I want to translate that on to the page. People are giving me there time when they read my work and I don't want to waste it.
Sunday is always a NED (No Electronic Device) Day in our house between lunch and Dinner. We needed this after our movie morning. If you have read the parenting chips blog, I do go in to more detail. It is a good way of reconnecting with the kids and playing. It was a good way to clear the mind after the emotion of the movie. I did an improv' game with the family, My middle child and I were pretending to be vacuum cleaner salesman and we had to walk in to the room and sell a vacuum cleaner that would also complete general housework, including folding all the socks. But, unfortunately, Wild tigers had broken in to the house and the owners were too scared to come into the room and buy the 'Awesome Cleaner 2018'. The tigers were played by my youngest and my husband which was hilarious. Our Son played the part of the audience and had to guess what was happening in the scene. There were other games as well, that was just the one that I chose.
I have sent the first few chapters of my story to my beta readers group and I am currently waiting to see the responses that come in. I have made a small face book group to place all the documents on, and if you are interested in having a look then please let me know. I am on track for the moment. I have very little wriggle room now with only 25 days to go until conference. But I am still here, typing away.
Living the dream.
If you are interested in Joining the Face Book Beta readers group please let me know and I can send you a link.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send them through anytime. I received an amazing response from some of my recent emails and I wanted to say thank you for reading and liking them. You are all wonderful.