A Reprise

"This is all your fault, you wretched creature." My stepmother's eyes flared at me, hot as flames in her haggard, tear-stained face. It was not in me to look at her with anything but sorrow in my heavy heart. Though she and I had much different ways of loving, still we had both loved him. It was my fault. I knew what she meant. She had been driven to impetuosity, endangering my father's life in bad weather, by jealousy over a love in him that my presence had kept alive, a love that was unacceptable to her. Or perhaps it was his fault. He had never been able to get over loving my mother, and Regina knew that he knew, and was able to play him like a marionette, taking advantage of his guilt feelings. However, I said the most sensible thing. "'Twas your stupid bonnet! You and your stupid vanity! You knew he would do anything for you, wasn't that enough? Couldn't I have had his attention for just one evening?" It still rained. The same rain that

On my sixteenth birthday my father gave me a locket which contained a miniature of my mother, whom I had never known. It had been a breast-pin of his that he had sent to a jeweler to have done up fabulously. Encrusted with diamonds and aquamarines the color of water, it glimmered like a sea jewel in my hand, which it filled entirely. I caressed the locket lovingly and threw my arms around him. "Just remember, my child, she is with you still. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her." I met his eyes, which were misty. He spoke in a hushed whisper, and I knew intuitively that this was a secret time, words that my stepmother must never hear, nor must she know about this gift. It was not something that I needed other people to see. To keep this sweet secret locket was enough for me. As I pressed it against my breast I felt for a moment that my family circle was complete. "I can feel her, father," I whispered, holding him close, as my heart warmed wi

This morning I am contemplating the gray world around me in my bathrobe with a new Christmas coffee blend. This weekend, I desire two things, To buy an American Girl for the toy drive To watch the Bee Movie

"His hair was the color of dead wood. His eyes, like the green heart of a tender leaf. I was still and silent as I looked at him for the first time, and he looked at me." Not much to build a story around, I'm afraid. I have always wanted to put these two together, and now that I have done it, I don't know what to do with them. Like fighting hard for a hopeless love, eloping together, and having no idea what to do now. I have a new, powerful spin on Lind's protege Germaine, formerly Hildegarde, described thus, "She looked back into the parlor, which seemed extremely warm and from the balcony, where candles flickered softly and a fire burned behind the glass hearth doors. A young woman entered the room, all in white, with blue ribbons on her gown and in her hair, signifying the dress of a fashionable ingenue, but her face, though youthful and soft, was like nothing like Lind had seen before. Her mouth was large and red; her face was dead-white, with heavil

My annotations in italics. Notes on text in regular format. Writing with Passion Self-publishing is a viable alternative. Creating a masterpiece. Confront truth on chapter 1, page 1. What is the truth about Madeleine? Can she possibly form a masterpiece? Is she a deep enough character, or is she shallow? Her whining about her dreams and her forgotten past doesn’t cut it. It has to be more than that—an expression of her deepest yearning. That is why putting her together with Hildegarde is tempting. To see Madeleine’s hunger for connection, for belonging, at odds with a porcelain doll of a girl who has never wanted for anything. What do I believe is important in life? What do I hate? What do I love? Where do I stand? What would I be willing to die for? What can I bring to a work that shows the world in a unique light? What would be my gift to other humans? I believe it’s important to get this damn novel finished! I hate the indifference between human beings. I love beauty. I love se