My dear Abigail, you do know how to lift the heart. Just having my first cup of coffee (it was a late night and a long sleep), when I realized, "It's Friday! @ abigail-dantes' blog will be up." I read through with great interest, then saw my name at the bottom. You cannot know the physical charge that gave me. I always have the sense of being invisible--and that you should recognize me--this will keep me going for a while.
Just read "Another Day with Mr. Bales". It's the kind of story I don't follow quickly by reading another. Powerful and sweet, worthy of the finest short story collection. You carry readers along gently and let us know the narrator and Mr. Bales through a few exquisitely crafted scenes. There's no overt sentimentality, and yet the sentiment evoked is so stirring. Lovely, memorable story. I will savor this one a bit longer before I read another.
Of course I'll take up your challenge, but I can't help wondering, who cares? I'll write for an audience of one, because I know you'll care. And that's enough. After all, as a writer of books that nobody reads, I mostly write for an audience of one.
Thanks you for the honor. I will read the rest of your stories and blogs as this day progresses. Will take my time, because I know they will be worth it.
Be well, Abigail. Be happy. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself. And thanks for being a friend. With great affection and appreciation, I wait for your next blog. 💙 🌼 🌻
@agmoore :)
I am glad to hear you accepted the challenge! But, I am mostly glad to see that you know that I'll care :)
It is wonderful to hear you liked Mr. Bales. I am not a very creative person, and with my short fiction pieces, I find difficult to give depth to my characters. I suppose that all I do is to just explore psychological aspects through them. I like doing that :) The books you wrote are fiction or non-fiction?
I have great ambitions to write a book one day. Except that I just don't know how to go about doing it. I actually discussed this recently with @egotheist, who told me just 'to do it' really!
You are a very, very special person my dear. I know that. Having the impression of being invisible doesn't necessarily mean we are :)
Looking forward to your post!!
Have a wonderful weekend & keep warm!
💙
Response to your blog, continued:
I just finished Cristophe the Cricket. It's 1 AM here, perfect time to read such a story. You really shouldn't bury a gem like this. Children should read it. Parents should read it to their children. Lovely. Message not overplayed, as could have been the case. Gentle, sweet, logical. And the drawing is inspiring!
Keeping a running commentary as I go through the blogs: Finished The Abandoned House. How could you not write fiction? You must have more stories you are squirreling away. Anyone with this imagination must write. This is a perfect story. We are caught in her imagination. I note you never give her a name--that would suggest an objective reality. We are trapped, convincingly, in her reality. Fantasists can decide that she is indeed in a maze, a kind of spatial/temporal loop. Realists can decide that she is mad and has imagined everything. You, the author, leave us with a puzzle--clues and a puzzle. Well done. Well done.
The blogs: What a collection! I only started reading your blogs a few months ago so these were all new to me. The dementia blog was the only one I couldn't finish. As with all your blogs, I started to relate the material to my own life and didn't enjoy contemplating that :). Plus, dementia is one of those things you can tell us about but you can't help us avoid :(
I found the blog on depression brilliant, but it saddened me. It reminded me of stuff I've read about epigenetics. If stress/abuse/deprivations happen early enough, and for a long period, they becomes a lifelong burden, or even a multigenerational legacy.
I loved the blog on the supernatural. You add objective science to the subject, but I agree with you: Your brother's bedroom was definitely haunted!!
The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness had me drawing contrasts with my own life--that's the most wonderful thing about your blogs: They give us tools and insight. I was having a little trouble with the set point, that we are probably born with this and keep reverting to it. My life perspective--my contentment quotient--has undergone a complete transformation from childhood. Objectively considered, my childhood was dreary, chaotic. I was very unhappy. But today I'm peaceful, content, positive. Every morning I get up eager to experience another day. I'd have to put my architecture of happiness at 90% intention and circumstance. My set point, which has been consistent through my life, has been the inclination to contemplate--to be a little more philosophical ("serious") than most people around me.
The best thing about this review of your blogs is it gave me the incentive to look back over your work. So much I have missed--the titles are teases I will revisit (probably not the beer challenge, except for a good laugh). I see now, no need to wait for Friday to read your blog. There's catching up to do!
@agmoore, you make feel very special! Thank you for taking a lot of your time to go through my work and provide me such meaningful feedback! I am overwhelmed by it ❤ I like Christophe too. He is full of prejudice, but he is not bad. He just doesn't know better. He is a being in transformation.
I was fascinated by the way you presented the two perspectives the audience can see the Abandoned Houses' protagonist from. That was something I only realized when I read some of the comments. It was an eye opener for me, as a fiction writer. It is funny, because that same outcome happens in research. Especially in qualitative research.
The observations you made about the post about depression reminded me of a study that analysed changes in dendritic spines seen in animal models, by Mitra and Sapolky (2008), who injected high doses of corticosterone in rats, for one entire day, to represent intense stress. After 12 days they saw that the rats had sprouted more dendrites in their amygdala neurons. This was sufficient to produce long-term anxiety and depressive behaviour.
I read the comment you left me last night to my husband. He was in awe of your words and the wisdom they convey. I am seriously considering to begin to draft something that will either be what I will later call my book, or something that eventually direct me to that path 😊
That makes me happy! And reading your blogs was a valuable way to spend my time:)
Writing books for me was just a reflection of passing time--and defiance. I'm not young. At some point I realized that if I wanted to do something, I'd better hurry up :) At first taking on a book may seem hard--like anything new. Then you realize a book is just a series of chapters. That's all. The idea is big, but the project is entirely manageable. Do it! You're a great writer. And you're very creative. The best writers speak truth to us. That's what you do in your blogs. That's what you do in "Another Day with Mr. Bales".
Don't let perfection be a barrier. The need to be great held me back for long time--not anymore. I can accept a modest outcome--another gift of age.
I'm saving your other pieces for the end of my day, when there are no distractions and I can enjoy them in comfort. Reading is one of the great pleasures in my life, so I treat the experience with respect.
I think a great deal matters to you-- I'm happy to be among those things. You are a gift to this platform and to those of us clever enough to follow your blog.
The best weekend to you, also. Have fun...start that book! With great affection...🎈🎈