Friday, June 3, 2011

The Writing Life: Cat and Mouse, plus Novel Destinations


When I’m working on this blog, my website, or some writing project in which access to the printer in our office isn’t necessary, I sometimes take my laptop downstairs and sit in an oversized recliner in the family room of our home. Having never become comfortable using the little laptop pad for moving the cursor around the screen with my finger, I use a mouse, shifting it around the surface of the extra wide seat cushion beside me.  Many times our cat Midnight also takes a place beside me as I work. She sometimes poses there like the Great Sphinx of Giza, her head up and her front legs parallel and pointing forward as she purrs and squints her eyes closed in what I think of as fake sleep. I enjoy her warmth and calm demeanor beside me. But a problem erupts when she sprawls on her side across the cushion and her black, furry legs and paws stretch out and hinder the movement of my arm and hand whenever I need to move the mouse. This then becomes a true-to-life game of cat and mouse, yet still one of those many simple pleasures of the writing life.

What moments do you enjoy about the writing life?

While you’re thinking, here are a few great writing-related events happening in the North Idaho area.

The Coeur d’Alene Public Library has sent out the following information about a summer reading program  called Novel Destinations.


‘Novel Destinations’ is Summer Reading for grownups

COEUR d’ALENE – The Coeur d’Alene Public Library is participating with other area libraries to provide Summer Reading for adults.

Coeur d’Alene at the libraries of the Community Library Network are offering “Novel Destinations” for their adult patrons. Each time you visit a participating library and check out a book or other item you can enter two win a Sunday brunch for two at the Dockside at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

The Coeur d’Alene library has also scheduled travelogue and history programs during the summer months. These free programs begin at 7 p.m. on these days:

Wednesday, June 8: “Travel With Bob: Savannah to the Everglades” – Regional historian Robert Singletary will discuss the historic sites along the Gulf Coast from Georgia to the Everglades dating back the to Colonial Period. He will share his photos from trips to the region.

Thursday, June 23: Author John C. Jackson will discuss his book, “By Honor and Right,” the story of Capt. John McClallen, the first U.S. Army officer to lead an expedition to the West after the return of Lewis and Clark.

Wednesday, July 6: “The Mullan Road, 150th Anniversary” Singletary will discuss Capt. John Mullan and the impact of the road he built from Fort Benton, Mont., to Walla Walla, Wash., in the mid-19th Century. The route he surveyed still serves the region as its main transportation core. Participants will have the opportunity to sign up for a field trip to the Mullan Tree and a portion of the Mullan Road (the field trip is not part of the library program).

Wednesday, Aug. 6: “Leonardo D’Vinci and the Italian Renaissance” – Singletary will lecture on this incredible figure and times in which he lived. Participants will have the opportunity to sign up for a field trip to be led by Singletary to the exhibit at the Museum of Art and Culture in Spokane (the field trip is not part of the library program).

Singletary’s lectures are made possible by a grant from the Friends of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

The library is scheduling programs by area residents who have photos and information on trips they have taken. If you have a travelogue to share, contact David Townsend, Communications Coordinator, 208-769-2315 Ext. 426 or e-mail dtownsend@cdalibrary.org.


There are also several other events happening in the North Idaho area in the coming days and weeks.

Tomorrow, June 4, make plans to visit the Rathdrum Farmers’ Market in Rathdrum’s City Park where North Idaho author B. J. Campbell will sign copies of her book, Close Calls: The True Tales of Cougar Bob. Campbell will also read from the book in the Gazebo at 12:45 between sets of Bluegrass music by the North Idaho Hat Band.


For details on this and other upcoming events, check out the Events page on this blog.


Have a great weekend!


2 comments:

Jennifer Rova said...

Midnight is a beautiful cat! My favorite time of writing is when I have an idea in my head and I sit to write the first draft. It is downhill the rest of the way. And, I always think my first draft is perfect . . . until I go back and read it.

Norm de Ploom said...

My favorite part of writing is doing the research. I am always surprised at the amount of material I find. Sometimes the research takes my article in another direction.