Monday, November 12, 2012

When Life Imitates Art: Changes in the Wind



I'm finding it pretty ironic lately that I wrote a novel about a girl who can't wait to get away from her hometown.

Especially since the hometown in said novel - despite the made-up name - basically *is* the town I've lived in for a good chunk of my life. I always thought that, like my main character, Kelsey, I'd jump at the chance to move somewhere more glamorous, someplace a little further from my roots.

Until the opportunity hit. Like a freaking tidal wave.

My husband's company announced last month that they're closing their corporate office in Connecticut and relocating to Georgia.

We knew it was a possibility though, granted, we didn't expect it to happen this soon. I'd always told my husband that if he was offered a position in Georgia, I'd move without question.

I was wrong.

The realization of how alone I will be has been hitting me like a hail storm. My entire family is here, and I'll be down there. By myself. Working from home while my husband goes to the office every day. Granted, I will probably get a ton of writing done this way but...

I can't watch movies with my sister anymore

When my whole family is gathered at my grandmother's house every Sunday for lunch, I won't be there

My little nieces and nephews will barely know me

If I finally have a child, no one from my family will be there to watch him or her grow up. Or help me.

I will literally be ALL. ALONE.

When I wrote LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE, I wrote it with my high school mentality that change was awesome (and yes, it can be). It's escape. It's a new chance, a new start, especially if circumstances haven't been the greatest. And honestly, if I'd been presented with this opportunity when *I* was in high school, I would've jumped just as quickly as Kelsey did.

But while I know this move could be a fantastic thing for myself and my husband, I can't help but marvel at how my adult worries and fears have made my reality so much different from my young adult fantasies.

Funny how things change in the real world, eh?

Have you ever found yourself facing a situation similar to one you'd written? Would you make the same decision as your character? And for the love, can anyone out there tell me some relocation stories with happy endings?






Monday, November 5, 2012

Freak Storms and Freak Outs, Oh My!


So those of you who follow my random rants and rambles on Twitter know that Hurricane Sandy hit Connecticut pretty hard. We were without electricity from Monday afternoon until Friday night - and strangely enough, it happened one year to the day after the Freak October Snow Storm of 2011 that also left us without power for days, which I blogged about here.

Being holed up at my in-laws house for three days left me with a lot of time on my hands, or at least more than I'm used to. And you know what?

I was less productive writing-wise than I would've been if I'd had to lie, cheat, and steal for time like I normally do.

I'd like to blame it on being cold and tired and out of sorts, all of which were factors, but the truth is...

It seriously freaked me out to have time to write.

Some people work better under pressure, and apparently I'm one of them. My words only want to cooperate when they're forbidden fruit, being covertly clicked out between phone calls and purchase orders and cooking meals and scrubbing toilets. Which begs the question - What the hell is wrong with them?

Is it just me, peeps? Or do any of you find that the moments you *can* write are the moments you'd rather do anything but?

On a more serious note, I'm well aware that four days in the dark is nothing compared to what some people faced after the storm. Many homes were destroyed, flooded, or vandalized. Here are some photos taken around my town - my heart goes out to those who lost much more than electricity.


This house is about two miles from mine. The worst damage I saw.



Tree in the power lines

Uprooted tree in front of my old house. I lived here during high school.

Mammoth branch that fell in our backyard - thankfully that was all.