Blog Archives
How a reckless driver gave me back my writing mojo
I was in a car accident earlier this week.
It was after work, and I was in the parking lot, getting ready to back out of my space. I checked both ways behind me before pulling out—physically, which means I turned around and actually looked—and then slowly crawled out. I had barely gone a couple of inches when suddenly? WHACK!
I thought for a second perhaps I’d struck the light pole I was parked next to, but then I turned around and saw a black Jeep Cherokee sitting several feet past me—he’d been passing me. Not head on, just driving by in the driving lane.
Shit. Where the hell had he come from? He had to be going pretty fast to just show up out of nowhere, and because he was past me, he either didn’t stop at first or it took him a while to stop his vehicle. All of this pointed, at least in my mind, to unreasonable speed. In addition, it was a straight away. I definitely would’ve seen him coming.
This was what I saw just before I backed out of my space, which is to the right of the photo.
The driver, a kid who would later prove to be in his mid-20s, leapt from his car, phone in hand, screaming “I’m so sorry! Are you hurt! Are you hurt?”
Well, at least he asked the right question.
He had some damage to his driver’s side door. Mine was a different story—it was pretty severe, probably more damage once it got opened up at the shop than could be seen with the naked eye. We agreed to exchange information, but I wanted to call the police. He was very uncomfortable with the idea, but I’m a Gen-X adult who knows better than to not call. I wanted the cop to see us both walking around and breathing, mostly so that this kid couldn’t invent terrible injuries later. He wasn’t acting like a jerk—in fact, he was polite, just totally confused and didn’t know what to do because he said it was his first accident—but his discomfort with getting the police involved signaled he couldn’t be trusted.
He hedged around the parking lot, pacing, calling his mom and his wife. Then, he asked, “Can you call back and find out when they’re going to get here? I have to go to a Mets game tonight.” Read the rest of this entry
THIS WRITING LIFE EPISODE 13: HOW TO WRITE ON VACATION
My sister and I enjoying a beer at Eeyore’s Birthday Party.
Four deadlines, a trip to Austin (and a trip to Disney after that). How did I get any writing done? Watch and find out in This Writing Life Episode 13: How to Write on Vacation.
Who would I cast to play Skeletons’ Cora? Find out in Kindle Mojo’s interview
Kindle Mojo’s interview with me, in which I discuss my picks for who I’d cast to play Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole’s main characters and other fun stuff, is up! You can check it out here:
http://www.kindlemojo.com/2012/07/03/author-interview-kristi-petersen-schoonover/
And yes, Skeletons is available on Kindle! You can get it here: http://amzn.to/SkeletonsKindle
“The Absence of Things” in Clarion Writer’s Craft
Two weeks ago, I was contacted by Lynda Williams, editor of the Clarion Writer’s Craft. The Writer’s Craft is the official blog of the Clarion Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Posts cover a wide range of topics, from art and craft to business and more.
Lynda had read the page on my website, “About the Bird,” which discusses the dead bird that was found in our chimney and its ensuing impact on my writing; she invited me to write a piece about sadness and its importance in the craft as well as its connection to ghost stories.
An invitation I was honored to accept. What’s funny is that I had literally, the night before, had just gone through a very interesting experience which illustrated exactly what I wanted to say.
The piece, “The Absence of Things” was published Monday, June 25, as Writer’s Craft #78. Here is the link: http://clarionfoundation.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/writers-craft-78-the-absence-of-things/
I encourage anyone who writes out there to sign up and follow the Clarion Writer’s Craft. I’ve been reading it for awhile now, and it always features an eye-opening and inspirational gem.
