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Dear Reader,
Karma Gone Bad: How I Learned to Love Mangos, Bollywood and Water Buffalo, by Jenny Feldon. Don't miss it--a memoir about going from life as an Upper West Side newlywed to being an expat housewife in Hyderabad, India. And today, we're lucky to have author Jenny Feldon as our guest columnist. Send a personal email "hello" to Jenny at: jenny@karmacontinued.com
Jenny told me she loves to hear from readers and will enjoy sending everyone a personal reply.
Welcome to the book clubs, Jenny Feldon...
On Writing and Knitting: Second Sock Syndrome
I learned to knit right after college. Everything about knitting appealed to me--the rich colors, the soft feel of the wool between my fingers, the rhythmic click of the needles. I'd sit for hours in my local yarn shop, lost in the process of creating beautiful things one stitch at a time.
Writing and knitting share some of the same qualities. Tiny parts make up a whole. You can start, erase, start again. Go back in and fix what's not working. Weave things together to make something new. Once you get past the fear of starting over, almost anything is possible.
I'm a process person. Sometimes this works out well, like when I'm baking chocolate chip cookies--usually I'm so over the cookies by the time they're done I don't get around to eating them. Sometimes, it's problematic. Kid craft projects languish forlornly and not-quite-finished in random corners of my house. Before the glue has finished drying on a googly-eyed pet rock, I'm on to something new.
In the knitting world, they call this Second Sock Syndrome. Socks are my favorite things to knit. They're interesting but not complicated, portable, and fun to wear. But here's the thing about socks: they come in pairs. And most of the time, I find it almost impossible to knit the second one.
I have one yellow cable-knit sock. There's one blue argyle for my husband and one rainbow-striped toe sock I knit for my daughter two birthdays ago. By the time I've finished the first sock, I'm already moving into a new mental space, itching to find a new creative mountain to climb.
But sometimes, in knitting and in writing and in life--you just need to finish what you've started.
The day I gleefully hit "send" to deliver the first version of my manuscript (I'd already completed four drafts on my own by then), I couldn't wait to jot down notes for my next project. There was only one problem--the 'second sock' wasn't done.
Five more revisions stood between me and the final product. Like it or not, the second socks in my life weren't going anywhere--I needed to figure out how to make peace with them, or my creative process would be forever stuck in the middle.
So I'm finishing the socks. And the manuscripts. And the pet rocks. With creativity comes a certain amount of responsibility--to see things through to the end, to stick with projects long enough to make something great. One stitch, one word, and one rainbow-striped toe sock at a time.
--Jenny Feldon
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
KIDSBUZZ: Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus this week, enter to win a free copy of these books for young children and teens: A VERY, VERY NOISY TRACTOR by Mar Pavon, illustrated by Nivola Uya and SAMMY FERAL'S DIARIES OF WEIRD by Eleanor Hawken. For a chance to win, say hello to the author, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz
AUTHORBUZZ: BONE HORSES (Fiction) by Lesley Poling-Kempes
During an accidental stopover in the Southwest a young woman unearths the details of her mother's forbidden love affair, chilling murder, and courageous last act of redemption.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on BONE HORSES to read more and to email author Lesley Poling-Kempes, you'll get a reply.
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