Blogging the midnight oil

Seems like I always end up posting on here somewhere between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Back when I first started taking my writing seriously, I spent this time working on my first manuscript...which is languishing at the halfway mark in a file somewhere. Then, I worked on my second one late, late at night as well. Hmm, which is languishing at the end of a first draft in a file somewhere.

With this third manuscript and the privilege of being able write "full time" for the most part, I've gotten into the habit of mostly writing during the day. It was a difficult transition for this night owl, but I think it's pretty engrained finally. My writing has benefited, I think, although I sometimes miss those late night sessions where my brain just seemed to float completely into the story and it was almost like being in a trance or something. There have been some scenes I've written for LOTH where I really needed to be in that mode and so I did still write late at night, and I'm guessing that will never change completely. But, for the most part, it feels really good at the end of business hours to see I have accomplished small writing goals.

Yet, I haven't been able to change my biological tendency toward being a night owl in the extreme so far. So, I tend to find myself giving into my inner writer and posting on my blogs or posting comments on others or emailing friends late, late at night.

I'm not sure why I felt it was important to tell you that. I must have fallen into a trance. ;-)

I finished reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen last week. Wowsers. I see now what all the fuss was about. I've meant to read it for several years now...since it came out, actually...but had been unable to locate a copy at the library and wasn't ready to part with the moolah. Got a copy for Christmas from my wonderful in-laws, though, and finally arrived at this book in my to-be-read pile last week after sprinting through The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Well, if that book was a series of sprints, Water for Elephants was a marathon. I couldn't put it down. I have my reading spaces in the house which I won't divulge in detail here for pride's sake, but Thursday evening, I carried it with me everywhere, finally sinking into my couch around 8 p.m. to finish it while everyone was doing their usual post-dinner, pre-bedtime stuff. My husband laughed at me because I'm not sure he's seen me quite that immersed. I seriously couldn't put it down. Anyway, I can't quite put a finger on what made this book so "unputdownable." You'll just have to read it for yourself, I guess.

Now I'm close to finishing Breaking the Silence, by Diane Chamberlain, one of my favorite writer bloggers. I'm racing through it, too.

All three of these recent reads have the gripping combination of historical setting interspersed with current day (flashback, really, although less so in Memory Keeper's Daughter), conflict specifically tied to those settings, and engrossing characters that I love. As an aspiring writer, I should probably listen to that.