Once upon a time in America, people (mostly men) could take an afternoon or even a full day off from work with only the declaration (usually scrawled on a strategically placed note) ‘Gone Fishing!’ I don’t know anyone who’s ever ‘Gone Fishing!’ on impulse, dusty Stuckee’s merchandise and Cracker Barrel t-shirts to the contrary.
I missed my Friday post. Consider this my ‘Gone Fishing’ sign, scrawled in magic marker and stuck to the door of this web site.
(Be back on Monday.)
Appealing powerfully and consistently to people’s senses is a hallmark, I’d suggest, of lasting fictions. In the realm of imaginative long form fiction, George R.R. Martin’s descriptions of dishes have inspired fans to acts of culinary alchemy. As a child, I was fascinated by the descriptions of lembas bread in LOTR, and even as an adult who rarely drinks, J.K. Rowling’s butter beer sounds mighty tasty.
Over the past few days, while I’ve been maintaining radio silence on this blog, I’ve been doing nothing. Okay, well, I took one day where I did nothing even slightly productive, but then I followed it up with two days focused on stinking up the place. By which I mean editing the manuscript with a keen eye (and nose, etc) on the sensory clues and cues I’m offering.
Turns out switching from fish people to frog people created an interesting challenge. What, exactly, does a toad smell like?
Fortunately, the Internet always has an answer, even if the source might seem a little half-baked.
I promise daily updates and not a week later I’ve made myself a liar. I don’t reckon many folks are reading this blog yet, so now might not be the worst time to go silent. But I do want my words – my promises – to mean something.
Family was here this week, which early on meant vacuuming, sweeping, and frantically scrubbing down an apartment that looked worse the more we worked and the more we looked. Finishing was a relief, and the visit itself with the folks was a delight.
Tomorrow, I’ll be back.