Kentucky Mountain Girl News by Henrietta Asher Handy

The past few weeks have been exceptionally hard on this arthritic body of mine.  The temps have been everywhere!  One day it was 74°F and that night it dropped down to 16°F!  Arthr had a field day, well, more like a week.  The one thing keeping me going, besides God and The Husband, of course, is Callie and the rest of the dogs.

Callie doesn’t stop too often.  I had forgotten what life with a young puppy was like.  Training isn’t going great because she is so young, but the few things I have been able to teach her need to be reinforced and refreshed often.  This doesn’t surprise me:  She has just now passed the 13-week point.

Today it is cold, but bright and sunny.  I needed the sunshine.  I needed it to remind me it isn’t always going to be cold, gray, and dreary.

In writing news, The Sleeper is progressing nicely and the first notebook will be filled soon.  When I begin the second one I will begin typing the first into the computer.  Not stopping to type in the story once each chapter or writing day comes to a close has really helped me to keep the story flowing.  The enjoyment of writing is also fresh and a steady stream.  Other stories will require other ways of telling it initially.

The bullet journal for the book is indispensable!  I would be completely lost without it some days; others I rarely even glance inside.  One of the main reasons this particular bullet journal is so useful is keeping a list of all resource material read and quotes taken from here and there.  I know what quotation was used, in what chapter, and under what context and connotation if there is any.  I can’t say enough good about bullet journals when writing.

Besides rain, gray skies, and cold temperatures, the bridge leading to our house was nearly washed away in a big tide!  Brush got caught underneath the bridge which took out the concrete supports.  Luckily the steel supports are still there and The Husband can take our vehicle out and back, but it does need repairing.  Still, we are not stranded.  Thank God!

Off to the ink mines!

Have a good day everyone!

Today is cold – not as cold as it has been – and rainy.  It looked miserable outside most of the day.  It is the perfect day to delve into the mind of a killer, thinks I.

The new piece I’m working on is tentatively titled The Sleeper and is a thriller as a serial killer tells us his story.  The ONLY way this story is coming forth is pen and paper.  Actually, it’s pen and composition book.  Maybe my brain needed to be nostalgic since this is the first “brand new” piece begun here in the house.  It has been a number of years since I’ve written anything in this house.  Living here, much less writing here is still taking some getting used to.

The Sleeper’s dad is a bit odd.  Yep, definitely odd.  Can’t tell anything about his mom yet.

I have never attempted anything like this project before.  I am looking forward to hearing comments from people who do the readings in the future when this is finished.  Some things I know are going down perfectly, but others leave me a little unsure.  Like,  was the trigger for the murderous intent to solidify into action too hidden?  Is this happening, too soon?

The Sleeper isn’t shy.  O!  No!  No shyness whatsoever.  He is quite enjoying telling me his story.

Should I be concerned for myself?  Sometimes I wonder.

Arthrr Arthritis has been pestering me all week.  He wouldn’t let me knit.  He wouldn’t let me play video games, and he didn’t want me to read, but I thwarted him!  There is now a Kindle app on the laptop, which means I can read almost hands-free now.  “Take that! Bainbridge scholars!”

Yesterday and last night Arthrr tried his best to make life unbearable, but he didn’t succeed!  For a while there I felt like the pressure was just going to squeeze me flat like a boobytrapped lost temple trap, but this morning some of the pressure has risen and I’ve felt well enough to write on the new story and play with the new pup.

There is just a dusting of snow on the ground, but its falling has made me a much happier person.  Because by changing from ran to snow, the low pressure has shifted up a bit!  Yay!

Recently I discovered some wonderful new music.  Currently, Lenka is one of my favorite musicians I’ve discovered recently.

I have been trying to figure out how to write this blog post for a number of days now, and I still don’t have it figured out completely, but decided it was best to just begin and see how it all flows out.  I am afraid if I don’t just begin writing something somewhere the words are going to go away.

There is no other way to say this, so:  I think I am finally beginning to recover from the destruction of my entire world.

Yes, the move was bad.  The circumstances surrounding the move were horrible, and I was able to pretend for a very long time I was OK and handling it well, but, when the holidays began approaching, I fell apart.  I fell apart hard.  I fell so far as to think sending my husband away would be better for him because I couldn’t see a future for myself at all, much less us together.

He stuck with me though.  He even helped by listening when I finally reached a point to where I could talk about everything and how I was feeling.  The Husband did exactly what a husband should do and I look at him now with a different respect and can relax some.

In the depths of this misery I submitted Faery’s Kiss and it has since been rejected.  However, instead of just a plain form email saying the company “doesn’t have a place” for my story in their company, etc., the “rejector” actually gave me some advice and pointed out some errors and many positive things about the piece.  The only problem is I am going to have to do a complete overhaul of the story to effect some of the changes suggested.  Part of me wants to rant and rave because I worked so hard on Faery’s Kiss and it was super important to me as it is, but the truth is – they are right.  I don’t want to admit it, but they are right.

Since the story is Faery’s Kiss is complete, I am going to turn my attention to a different story and give the fantasy a break for a couple of weeks or months and go back afterwards and see about getting a better story out of it.  Normally I would just give up on a story once rejected, but I am not this time.  This time I can actually see a future for the piece and want to give it the chance to be read by others who might also enjoy what I so loved writing and creating.

My ‘world’ hasn’t returned to ‘normal’ because what was normal is no longer possible.  I let myself grieve for its passing, and now can take a deep breath again and can move forward, one step at a time.  I don’t know what this phase of my life holds, but, I think, I can finally look up and move forward.

One thing is for certain:  I couldn’t have pulled out of this downward spiral without The Husband, “Sister4” and her family; and most importantly God, because there had to be some divine intervention to get what pieces of Me remained and in some sort of proper order where I could/can function.

Hi all!  Been really busy here on the creek.  Doing a lot of writing, housework and crafting for the holidays and a soon-to-come Etsy store!  Life is advancing at a quick pace and I am finally beginning to enjoy it because the stress has lessened on me quite a bit.

I have also been playing Warframe and said Warframe has a new place to explore!  Squee!  And the opening song for the new dlc is awesome and thus easy to share.  This is the extended version.  You don’t have to listen all the way to the end, of course, just the first time through.  I find it to be quite epic.  It fits the world, people, dwarves, and the game perfectly.  Enjoy.