Gina L. Kimber

When I had surgery, I may have gone a little mad. It only took one week, ONE WEEK, of TV / iPad / Netflix before I was over technology.

The meds made my attention span short and my coherence too…incoherent, so writing was out.

I couldn’t even read a book; anything longer than a magazine article and my eyes glazed over.  I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling gibbering over a sippy-cup of broth.

Enter a friend who wanted to learn to crochet together. “Perfect!” I thought. She grabbed some yarn for me, I googled a pattern or two, we practiced a few stitches, and in lurches of distracted time-passing effort made a hat.

“Perfect!” I thought again. The mindless repetitive motion took nearly no effort yet helped pass the time.

It was perfect.

For about a week, maybe two.

If that.

Once my ability to think came back, it was much too tedious. Like awaking from a dream, I stared at the yarn in horror. This wasn’t me! What was I thinking?!?

Hundreds of rows, thousands of stitches, 2 hats, one scarf, and 3/4 of a diaper bag later, I’m sitting in my living room staring at a canvas bag stuffed in the corner full of yarn, crochet hooks, 2 pattern books, and 3/4s of a diaper bag that hasn’t been touched since my mind came back.

Which, for reference, was 6 months ago. Yet, I can’t bring myself to throw it away since I put so much work into it. Could you?

Sigh.

Anyone want some crochet supplies, and/or want a do-it-yourself green/pink/blue diaper bag? Give me a ring.

As a popular author and TV show often says (you may have heard of it…) WINTER IS COMING. And with it, the end of my beloved summer. The summer which fills the days with outdoor fun in the sun, in the yard, on the bike, in the hills,on the water.

The fun in the sun…that keeps me from writing.

Let’s be honest. When the sun is shining…when the air is fresh…when the outdoors beckons so powerfully…I simply cannot bring myself to sit at a computer. (Especially not after a week of sitting at a computer at the 9-5er.)

It’s something I’ve finally come to accept. I write prolifically in the dark of winter only to hit pause in the summer. In the past I always saw it as a disappointment, a failure, a lack of commitment, proof I wasn’t really a writer. I’d struggle with the competing needs, berating myself when, inevitably, I chose summer.

But now, it’s just how I roll with the seasons.

I keep a running list of ideas, and occasionally my fingers itch to put them into words.  As the mornings get cooler, I find myself thinking more and more about the stories building in my subconscious, so when the weather turns I’ll be back at it. Nonstop. Like bunnies. Perhaps. And it’s a healthy break; I’ll be refreshed and ready.

Winter is coming, and it’s coming too soon.

Or is it coming just soon enough?

A friend sent me a link to this story – trying to keep me inspired and motivated I think, since I tend to doubt my ability – about a woman who became a writer after an already amazing life.

The story was surprising – to me – in a number of ways.

1. After the Air Force and NASA, I would think she had had her fill of excitement. Not so…
2. With such a history, is her writing a biography of an amazing life? No, not really…
3. Is her book a work of fiction about NASA or space or the Air Force? No, not really…
4. Was her inspiration from her experiences in the Air Force or NASA? No, not wholly…
5. The greatest surprise? The book is a romance!
6. The second greatest surprise? Instead of what I expected, she was inspired – to a great extent – by the Twilight series!

The lessons?

1. Anyone can be a writer – regardless of your experiences, regardless of whether you think of them exciting or not, regardless of your preconceived notions.
2. Don’t doubt yourself – or, if you do, just go for it anyway and see what happens!
3. Anything that inspires you, whether life experience or another author or the soup you had for lunch – take it and run!