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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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The lost art of letter writing

I’m reading Jane Austen’s Letters and there is something about them that makes me want to grab my fountain pen and some nice thick letter paper and write somebody a chatty letter.

These days, there’s email and Facebook and Twitter to keep people up to date with any news about us, but it’s so much less personal than a letter. Then again, it also takes less time for us to update lots of people. :)

I’m rather torn because I like the convenience of writing one blog post or one Facebook post to tell hundreds of people (or at least the five who read my blog) about anything interesting (or not interesting) that has happened to me.

Then again, what is it about a thick sheaf of creamy paper that’s so enticing? Or the feel of a smooth fountain pen that glides across the page like an ice skater? I wonder if I like the process and tools involved in writing letters more than people actually want to receive them? LOL

Any of you still write letters?
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Anonymous said…
I just blogged about this! (Borrowed the topic from the Love Inspired blog.)
I've read books consisting entirely a person journals and letters, like Jim Elliot's journals. It's scary to think about our Facebook posts and blogs being put into print. ;-D
Mon Jun 11, 05:01:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
Oh my gosh, totally! That's something I hadn't really thought of before!
Mon Jun 11, 11:06:00 PM 2012
Susan F. said…
I used to write letters all of the time. I haven't done as well with that as I used to. I have a beloved cousin and we've been writing back and forth for over 40 years.
Wed Jun 13, 12:01:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
WOW that's awesome!
Wed Jun 13, 04:20:00 PM 2012
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