I’ve been writing…

Instead of blogging, you say? Well, you’d be right. I’ve been away since July, I think, and it amazes me how fast the time flew by. In the meantime, I wrote a novella about four women who meet in high school chorus and hold onto the friendships by staying in touch, at least sporadically. Two of them have moved away from south Florida, one to Chicago and the other to College Park, Maryland, while the other two still live in Miami. As they are nearing their fiftieth year, they plan a weekend getaway on Kiawah Island off the coast of Charleston. Time has done what time does–rendered life more complicated by introducing challenges. Once our protagonists arrive at their destination, they begin to relax, and Margo, with a pressing problem, confides her dilemma, willing to risk embarrassment in hopes for guidance from the women who know her best. I think it’s true that as we get older, we are definitely less guarded, more willing to reveal ourselves. Perhaps we begin to realize that everyone has difficult circumstances in life, circumstances involving choices made, consequences that happened as a result of those choices, and actions that were taken to deal with those consequences. We see that we are not so unique after all, and that none of our friends are living the fairy tale existence we once believed in. As it happens, Zan, one of the four women, is less forthcoming about her marriage, and the events surrounding her life are a catalyst for what happens after they return home. The impetus for this tale was born in a movie about a trip some girlfriends took together. I thought the conversations the characters had were contrived, so I decided to write my own reunion of girlfriends, one that I felt reflected more realistic women-speak. So far, the working title is Quartet.