Writer/Superwoman

    Life has a funny way of getting in the way. I recall saying that I aimed to be finished with half the book by end of this year...being December 2013. I have four months to produce. Fortunately between my three jobs;  four counting writing, I was able to squeeze in a few hours of writing time last week. Sometimes I sit and wonder, "Am I crazy?!?" Probably.  But thats beside the point. I have found it the most difficult to actually find a decent time when I am not
a) hopelessly exhausted
b) doing one of my other jobs
c) catching some quality time with the Fiance
d) wedding planning
e) making sure my family is keeping up with my life
     How the heck do you manage all of this? Sure it seems simple enough just looking at it once its written down. I even somehow am able to read a book between all of it. Oddly enough I am looking more into how the author uses metaphors and organizes the actual chapters, etc. I currently am catching up on finishing chapter 6. Unlike most writers my largest hurtle is just finding time to write. Writers block has yet to hit me since the beginning of the book. Reminds me of something that happened at work this week. We just hired a new employee to assist me with legal jobs, as I don't have time. Go figure. He being a play writer himself was intrigued about the story behind how I got into writing this book and what it was actually about. Its always a good reminder to kick me in the butt and be inspired. He found it extremely poetic that my Uncles dream was to start his own business in Hawaii and be successful. Whether he would live on a sail boat or beach house I am not sure. But nonetheless, I am here in Hawaii writing in his memory and hope to finish the book before we are to move away. At least he would have gotten to be partially here. I do believe because of him I am able to write so smoothly and almost effortlessly.
     Ultimately I hope to find at least an hour every day to commit to writing; commit to my Uncles memory. I wonder what he would think about me writing about him. Im sure he'd find it comical. I wish I could ditch my other jobs, Legal Manager for downtown company, data entry for my old job, and housewife. Boy could this book be written in a jiffy! Unfortunately the bills have to be paid and I have this innate sense of proving that I can be successful/superwoman. Mychael works 15 hour day, so will I! Gotta hand it to myself though, my hard work does pay off. I am even writing at least once a week now and making freaking biscuits for sunday brunch! Alright Ill stop jabbering, and let you guys know about the chapter, or even better: I think its time for a special "unedited" sneak peak of the book.

         Months, weeks, and days flew by, each being crossed off by the thick black tip of my sharpie marker. July came along with hot dry heat. I joyously crossed off the circled date and dug out my hiking backpack from a pile in my closet. Throwing it on my bed I went over my long list of supplies and clothes. Hours blended together and my bed started to look like a mountain rather than a bed. I had almost everything checked off my list except one thing. Maps. I guess I would have to pick those up on my way out tomorrow. I called Charlie to see how much progress he was making packing. So far everything was a go. My night was sleepless, anxiety to leave morphed into chaotic dreams. Adrenaline pumped through my body as morning emerged. I took a quick shower, ate some oatmeal and wished my parents well and goodbye. My Mother’s reaction was typical. So worried that it embodied her every thought and movement. I wasn’t fazed, freedom was just minutes away. Dad was dropping me off at a gas station on his way to work. I shuffled through the radio stations looking for something to listen to rather than our silence. I skimmed through several stations before NPR caught my attention. “The biggest news of the decade. The Internet was made accessible to the public today. Allowing people to search for anything and everything.” Whoa. The Internet, I pondered what that entailed and all the information I could benefit from. Dad changed the station; Good Vibrations was playing by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I watched as he bobbed his head to the beat. I simply gave up and stared out the window at my future. The sun felt amazing on my back and fueled my soul.

            The door rang as I walked in and the small petite woman stared at me with beady black eyes.

“Where can I find the maps?” I asked, in hopes that she would lose interest.

“They’re back near the beer.” Her pronunciations of near and beer sounded like air at the end of each.

I watched as she thankfully turned away from my direction. Now, to shuffle through the wall of maps. There was everything from New Jersey to Guatemala.  Glancing over what seemed like hundreds, I found a full map of the United States and felt content. I approached the register and realized that her beady black eyes were not so beady after all.  They were like monstrous orbs filled with a black hollow center.

“Hi just this please.” I set the map on the counter.

“That’ll be 1.00 dollar.”

I told her to keep the change (sarcastically) and unfolded my new map outside the store. I stuck the sharpie point to a highway and outlined my intended route. Filled with more desire than my chest could withstand, I stuffed the map into my backpack as I went to the pay phone. Shoving the few quarters I had into the slot, I dialed Charlie.

“Hey.”

“Oh hey man! Whats up?”

“Just calling to let you know that I am heading off now! Ill see you in about a week!”

“Sweet man, I can’t wait. Our trip is going to be epic.”

“Bye”

“Bye”

Hanging up I checked my surroundings and walked to the curb. This trip was going to be epic, and no doubt lingered in my mind. Standing in the heat of mid morning I stuck out my thumb and waited. An older man pulled up and asked which way I was headed.

“Seattle.”

“I reckon I can get ya there. Hop on in son.”

I stepped up into his large pickup truck, hauling my pack by my feet.

             “The name’s Terry Buckford.  Why ya headin’ to Seattle?”

“I just decided to explore this place that we call our Earth. I am so young and sitting behind a desk doing the same thing over and over just doesn’t sound fun to me.”

“That’s highly admirable of you!”

“Thanks.”

            As he felt around for the radio dial I looked him over. His face was sunken and wrinkles fought to emerge. His hair was grey and whispy. I imagined him without his green John Deer hat on; hair standing straight up in all directions. I chuckled inside. The four and a half hour trip was filled with tales of his past. Every now and then he would throw in words of wisdom. He told me how he had always wanted to travel to see the world. He made it a point to remind me that I was young. He urged me that I explore the world and appreciate everything it had to offer. While I still had the body. Feeling rather humble with my decisions I shared my plans about where my destination was and what I was doing.

            Before long we had reached Seattle. Surprisingly the entire trip consisted mainly of us conversing back and forth. Seattle was beautiful with the marvelous green forests and tall buildings on the way in. We passed several highway signs pointing drivers in the right directions. Merging onto interstate 5, Terry drove towards the airport. He pulled off down one of the interstate ramps to fill up the trucks tank with gas.

“I’ll let ya off here bud. I don’t live too far from yonder. Just keep heading down interstate 5 and it’ll shoot ya near interstate 8.”

“Thanks Terry. Thank you for the ride and awesome talk.”

I pulled my pack on as he said, “No, thank ya son. Here take my card. Look me up whenever ya hit town again!”

            “Will do sir,” as I took his card from his fingers.

            He tilted his hat, goodbye.  I waived back a farewell as I walked briskly to the end of the ramp that merged south on I-5. I advertised my thumb and waited.

            The sun had started descending into the majestic mountains. Feeling rather hungry I dug into my pack and pulled a delectable peanut butter and banana sandwich out. Mid bite, my persistence had paid off. A dark green Jeep pulled to the curb. The back windows were tinted, making the passengers virtually impossible to see. The front passenger side window rolled down, sitting in the seat closest to me was a large blonde woman. Her hair was pulled back in a blue scrunchy that matched her loose blouse. She beamed of excitement. Her husband owned the wheel. He clasped it with his hand as if his masculinity would go along with the connection if he removed his hand. His dirty blonde locks bounced on his forehead as he bobbed his head to their music.

“You headin far there young fella?” She withheld an accent from the south.

“I was hoping to head down Interstate 5 until it hits interstate 8.”

“Oh fabulous deary! We are driving that way ourselves! Hop on in sweetheart.” Her tone was overly exuberant.

Peering into the blackened windows I opened the back passenger door. Six sets of eyes stared at me as if they had been drained of all pleasure during their trip. As I sat on the seat I could sense the immediate tension for relief of unplanned entertainment subside. Seated beside me was a boy of about 10 years of age and a girl of roughly 6. The family dog fought with every whim to lick my face from the trunk. 

Hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave me comments about it either below, facebook, text, or email me at jaffa.parach@gmail.com. 

Discipline

Hello Fans.
 
      Time is every writers worst enemy. I sit down to finish chapter 6 and am 9 pages in and realized that 4 hours have gone by. If only I could think and type faster. Coming up with ideas of what to write and how to say them aren't the difficult part. It's actually doing it.
       The common theme between all the blog entries that I have put here is simple. Discipline. Whenever I sit here and start to chug away on a chapter, I find that my eyes start to wonder. Hmm how about some facebooking for a few minutes, get some inspiration. Or, maybe, pick a different song to listen to. Wait, I think my stomach is growling. Well, after finding myself a million distractions, it ends up being that when I go back to writing I find disappointment in that I have only written 1 sentence.
I wonder why, right?!
           Thankfully chapter 6 is going well, already getting into the teens of page numbers. The story line is great, and for those of you who have gotten to glimpse at the first chapter, well you know sort of where its heading.
          Thus far, as you might have guessed. I am back in Honolulu and working again. I am finding that its easier to write here with all the beautiful sunshine. To catch you up on what has been going on, I moved back from NYC and have been working strange hours as a nanny. Which meant being tired 24-7, since working in the heat doesn't usually agree with me. So no energy to even write in my journal. YIKES. Luckily though I have been blessed in finding a great office job in 3 days and start tomorrow! YAY. So a 9-5 job means routine, schedule, and of course weekend time to write, write, write. I have made a goal to finish by the end of the year. So here is to finishing chapter 6 this week and starting chapter 7. 

Time

Well, I am sure as most of you have realized that it has yet again been awhile since you have seen any posts on here. Go figure right? 

My adventures have thus far taken me to New York City, where I am taking classes, living in a dorm, and expanding my knowledge in Judaism.  I know you're probably wondering how on earth does this help you to write and what does it have to do with your book? Lucky for you, my readers, I have that answer. 

Coming to NYC was I suppose an impulsive move, since the decision was made 2 weeks prior. Aside from my hectic schedule in my down time I am able to sit and look over my book thus far and refer to my notes. Time has been taken to expand on chapter 6 and to start chapter 7. Funny enough I have found myself writing chapter 6 and 9 at almost the same time. The only issue with writing the chapters that I have come face to face with is my self-discipline. Boy do I have trouble with it. I am guessing that this is one reason most people dont finish books. They take a long time to write, and you have to really kick yourself in the tushie to stick to it. An advantage to having 20 other girls around at all times is that they fill me up with excitement whenever my book is brought up, which gets me to look at it and write. 

So thank you to my fellow dormies.

I am hoping to at least be half way done with the book by the end of December. That way it will only have taken one and a half years to write the first half.

Until next time!

Adventure Prevails

Whew chapter 8 is done. Now I can rewind back to chapter 6. I was a little nervous about chapter 6, for  a couple of reasons. Again I am not writing from my own perspective and whenever I am not, its extremely nerve wrecking. I worry that with the book being based on people that were real, that I am not pin pointing the person's exact nature or personality.

With being in Seattle for the summer, the ease of time and freedom are wonderful, but unruly. Between babysitting and spending time with friends and family. I am finding that its even more difficult to keep writing when I have a TV and no urge to write. Everyday I sit and tell myself, write, write, write! Even if its not good, just write! At times my inner voice does not prevail.

Today, however, has been great! Sitting at the computer and typing away at Chapter 6 have been good so far. Actually writing this chapter has not proven to be difficult yet. Words melt onto the page as I sit and let my fingers go go go. My uncle is probably sitting next to me whispering what to write and what thrills to add to the chapter. A page has been written and continually adds to the length of my book. It is always exciting to know how far the book has actually come from day one. There are now 50 pages!!

Can you believe it! With this chapter and chapter 7 completed I will be close to completing ten chapters of the book. Which will mark half way done! 

The Unexpected

           Mid July and I am feeling great about finishing chapter 8. You may all be wondering how I got from chapter 6 to 8 without writing a single update on here. Well to answer your question, I skipped chapters  6 and 7. Though chapter 6 has been started I felt as though I should focus on the chapters that I have the most knowledge and research for.
           Chapter 8 was not difficult in the manner of actually writing it, but difficult emotionally. Without giving anything away about the chapter, it was emotionally hard to write. The entire chapter is solely from my memory as a Nine year old and proved that the initial emotions felt at that time, really never go away. We may change as we go year to year on how sensitive we are to our initial emotions about things but as Humans we Never forget.
          Luckily for me, when I feel emotion as I write, I have found that my writing is even better then when I don't. So this may be one of my best chapters thus far.
          I sat down on the bed, plugged in my headphones and went through my notes. I prepared myself to dig deep into my memories and let my fingers flow, as the music I listened to that day 14 years ago, came out of my headphones. 3 hours later I had my chapter completed and quickly edited.

Yahoo!

Chapter 5: Changes

WOAH! Chapter 5. I can't express how happy I am to have finally reached this point.

The last chapter proved that there is a lot to write. It alone (in word) is 10 pages long. Realizing that I basically wrote an essay, I felt extremely accomplished. I remember having to write 8-10 page essays in school and sitting for hours upon hours fighting my brain.

This chapter will be much easier to write as I am not trying to write from a well known persons' perspective. Yet again it is coming from a child's perspective. I sat down this evening and started typing away. I almost wish I had a time machine, most of my time pausing between words is taking myself into the past. It is close to refreshing; having to recall memories that are not a norm in adult life. Sometimes I wish being a child again was an option. No responsibilities, ignorance, and where concerns were only limited to where my favorite toy was.

I predict that this chapter will go easily and I will enjoy every moment of writing it. Thank you to my Parents and Grandparents for giving me the best childhood a child could ask for.

Happy Mother's Day! <3

After a few weeks of writing a sentence here and there, I finished chapter 5! Luck came my way and work allowed me to work from Seattle/Spokane for 3 months. I had the last push to finish the entire chapter on the 5 and a half hour plane trip across the pacific.  The chapter did not prove difficult to write, as I had predicted. I felt as though capturing a 9 year old mind was quite easy. I let my fingers go and ran with whatever was written. It was great to notice that by the end of the chapter I had covered everything that I had wanted on my timeline! How exciting! The strange this was that my chapters (as originally drafted out) were slightly changed without plan. This must always happen?! Either way I looked at it as a good change and a few more chapters to the book are welcomed. With only roughly 20+ chapters more to go, I believe chapter 6 better get started!!

Marking 1 Year

I am excited to announce that Chapter 4 is complete!

It has been a very long journey to this point through thick and thin of this past year.  Since a year has passed that I have started writing and I want to thank all of my fans and personal cheer leaders for sticking with me through this past year. With the year mark here I am looking forward to producing more chapters and blog entries, exciting things are happening within our home after this summer, new apartment, adopting a dog, and writing, writing, writing!!

If you are on facebook feel free to like my page, email me and comment on anything. I love hearing from you all!