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So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the one hundred and twentieth edition.
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Happy to come to you on this fine weekend and share a short essay called Muse En Place. It plays with the idea of having certain items on hand to provide inspiration for writing, similar to the way cooks have all their ingredients chopped and lined up in a row, ready to work their magic.
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Speaking of Muses and Greek mythology, I have watched some episodes of Kaos. Then I got caught up in Castle which is a relatively light-hearted police procedural set in NYC. I found it less dark than the mythology adaptation.
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I had the delight today of reading my work in our annual open mic for the River City FWA group. It was very interesting to hear everyone else's written work and to see how many of our themes and references overlapped. Everyone was very kind and encouraging so I believe I did not, after all, make a complete and utter fool of myself.
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I took a chapter or so from the middle of the book (at least, it's in the middle now, before some editor gets hold of it!) and introduced one of my less savory characters. I really feel very fortunate to be welcomed to these groups and share the often treacherous experience of letting you brain spill onto the page. Once I get to the end of the book, I will attempt to introduce some of these characters through this blog as well.
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I did manage to break the 65,000 mark this week on my novel,at 66,680 words total out of an aspirational 100k. That's about 5000 up from two weeks ago.
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I also formatted the manuscript so far, double spacing everything and making chapter breaks as appropriate--although some of my chapters are rather short. I can now keep adding to the manuscript. I still need to figure out how to make paragraph indents. Ugh. Logistics.
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In the course of choosing my reading for the FWA group, I managed to come up with a list of scenes that I have yet to write which are necessary to bring this train into the station. That gives me at least a bit of structure to lean on in the final miles.
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We had a very nice Thanksgiving with the kids all here, and a perfect-sized turkey, so that none of the leftovers survived longer than their sell-by date. I still have cranberry sauce left over, but I believe cranberry sauce would survive the apocolypse.
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Christmas is not far off. We had a nice Luminaria party last weekend, with bags with sand and candles lining the outside of our walk. People ride around the neighborhood on bikes and in cars with Christmas music blaring and lights on every imaginable surface.
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We had a troop of bicyclists come in covered in Christmas lights. I made gluehwein (German hot mulled wine--yum!) and it was just chilly enough to enjoy it by the fire. There was lots of food, of course, which we proceeded to eat over the next week, and we saw people we hadn't seen in a while, which was wonderful.
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For a flash fiction recollection of a Luminaria event long past, experienced on a bicycle, read Riverside Luminaria.
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I was peppered by friends with questions about the novel and recruited a few Beta readers (or Alpha--since they are friends) though I will need more. I guess I have to finish the book now. There's no turning back. I'm committed.
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Hope you have a lovely holiday season and I will try to check in again in a week or two.
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If you know of anyone else who might be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward it to them. They can sign up on my website, linked in the logo above, if they like it! The more the merrier!
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So Close and Yet So Far
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This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
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Drawing
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A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
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Attempt
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A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
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Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
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A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
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Smiles
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This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
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