Making Progress in the World of Words

The Storytellers, Nacogdoches, Texas

Carl Sandburg, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner in Literature, once said, “I’m an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.” I find this an optimistic view about doing. Sometimes we have to start doing. In my previous blog post (“Spring Resolutions: Reading, Writing, & Blogs”), I made a few ambitious resolutions and am trying my best to keep up with them, to get on my way even when I’m not sure where I’m going. Perhaps, that’s true for you, too. So, here is some of what I’ve been doing.

Reading

I have finished reading The View from Saturday, winner of the 1997 Newbery Medal, by E. L. Konigsburg. It is the story of four sixth graders, three boys and a girl, whose lives intertwine through a parental divorce, the marriage of grandparents, a bed-and-breakfast, a shared homeroom, and a teacher who chooses them for her competitive academic team. The team, who call themselves The Souls, form a strong connection and become unbeatable.  At first, I was bothered by the recurrence of so many coincidences in the story but eventually came to see that these unlikely developments added an element of mysticism necessary to the storyline—or that is how I see it. I found the book to be rich in character, theme, and joy.  

Writing

I continue to write, a labor of love but still a labor. Last week I completed a project I’ve been working on for quite some time and am feeling a sense of accomplishment. It has lain heavy on my shoulders for a bit. I also completed Education Guides for my books and sent them to my Publisher for their purposes.

I always have works-in-progress, as I am sure is also true for those of you who are writers. Even if many of those works end up smoldering in a desk drawer, they’re, at least, on their way somewhere. I simply feel the need to write.

Blogs

So far so good. I am writing another blog post only a few days after the last one. Additionally, I am adding my past “Literary Texas” blog posts, written over the past three years, to my other Author Website. It is simply titled Brenda Ethridge Ferguson, Author, and is at brendaethridgeferguson.com These posts will also remain on this Story Mill Ranch website as well, but I thought it would be nice to have them all together on the other site. The “Literary Texas” blog posts are scattered about on Story Mill Ranch.  On the new site, they will be together but in no particular order. Right now I have added four of the posts: Literary Texas: Larry McMurtry; Literary Texas: Larry McMurtry, Part 2; Literary Texas: Dorothy Scarborough; and Literary Texas: Dorothy Scarborough, Part 2.

I will be adding others soon. Please check out my Brenda Ethridge Ferguson, Author, website blog as well as other areas of Story Mill Ranch (See Menu).

What I’m Reading Now

Invincible Louisa

The story of the author of Little Women

1934 Winner of the Newbery Medal

Little Brown and Company, 210 pp.