Plot Points #19 💌
Daily collects, anonymous secrets, and getting older
Hi friends and happy Friday!
This week I’ve been busy with my novel edits. Changing one of my narrators from an adult woman to a twelve-year-old girl has been a challenge, but I’m enjoying it. I have all of my journals from that period of my life, so they’ve been helpful for getting back into a middle-grade frame of mind. (So many emotions! So much drama!) I also have an almost-ten-year-old daughter, so I’ve got real-time language and attitude to inspire me 😜. Hopefully, I’ll have the edits finished by Christmas and after that it will be back to querying agents.
A big thanks to
for supporting my work with a coffee this week!One of the spiritual disciplines I’ve implemented recently has been to write collects—or prayers—for ordinary occasions, a practice I first tried after reading this lovely book. In the Anglican church, we follow the liturgical year and read a new collect each week from The Book of Common Prayer followed by daily Scripture readings. I love how these prayers provide a connection to both my Father in Heaven and millions of other believers, and so I wrote one this week in light of my recent work on the novel. I hope it’s a blessing and encouragement to all of you who take the risk of putting your words onto a page, for those of you who tell a story because you believe it matters. (Plot twist: it does.)
Collect: For Those Sitting Down to Write
Heavenly Father, Who made the universe with just a word, grant us the courage to write as ourselves and no other, using the words you’ve placed on our hearts, that life and joy may be found in the making and receiving of our work to the glory of Your holy name, through Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfector of our faith, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Blessings to you, friends, as you begin your weekend! Thanks for sharing some of your time with me today.
Point #1: Thrift stores are magic.
This piece about a woman who bought from her local Savers what turned out to be a rare painting by a famous 20th-century illustrator is basically my thrifting dream come true. I would settle for a Gunne Sax dress, though, if anyone is listening…
Point #2: Your secrets are safe with Frank Warren.
I used to be a regular visitor of the site PostSecret, where anonymous secrets sent in on postcards from all over the world are shared every week. What began as a short project for founder Frank Warren eventually became a cultural phenomenon and I was happy to be reminded of it this week. (Fun fact: I once mailed in my own secret! No, I won’t tell you what it is…)
Point #3: “When we keep living a spiritual life, we have nothing to be afraid of.”
This timeless piece from beloved Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen challenges our notions of what it means to be fulfilled and offers encouragement for the driven among us, namely that what we really want—and what we really need—is not to be successful in the worldly sense, but to bear fruit wherever we are.
Point #4: You can find me belting Olivia Rodrigo in my car.
A friend sent me this post and I CAN CONFIRM. This is 38, I guess. It’s fine, everything’s fine.
Bonus Point: The dude can heel-toe with the best of them.
Videos like this are the only reason I miss Instagram.
Reading In The Nook
I’m on book three of the American Royals series, Rivals, and I’m sort of running out of steam here. I’ve been reading in fits and starts, but I don’t know if that’s because I’m bored with the plot or just bored in general. (I’m not depressed anymore, so maybe I just need a fresh genre.) I try not to DNF unless I really hate a book, so I’ll keep going and let you know how it turns out…
Lucy has been really into the I Survived book series lately, and we’ve had some great—and tough—conversations about historical events. Most recently, it was 9/11, but we’ve also talked about the Great War and WWII. Those are two of my favorite eras to read about, so I picked up The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott at the library the other day. It’s been too long since I’ve read a war-based historical novel, so I have high hopes for this one!
What have you been reading lately? 👇🏼
“Our life is frittered away by detail—simplify, simplify.”
—Henry David Thoreau—
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