Good morning! As we prepare for another visit to our future hometown, we are also in the midst of listing our Houston house for sale. This morning the photographer comes, so the house is eerily tidy. The new house deal remains alive at this time — yay! Yeah, I’ve made peace with whatever happens, as I mentioned yesterday, but I won’t kid you. It’s a cool house, and I really hope it works out. We’ll see!
This coming weekend is my birthday weekend (Sunday is the day!), and I’ve given myself the present of taking a yoga workshop with the legendary Angela Farmer. Angela, now over 70, has been a dynamic force in expanding “feminine” yoga, yoga that expands on ancient traditions taught primarily by males for males. I took a class from her back in 2004 during a conference, and I treasure several moments from that class. I also thought it would be a great way to meet some people in the community in an intimate setting.
By the way, if you like yoga and haven’t seen the Yogawoman DVD, I highly recommend it. Angela Farmer appears in this video as one of many female yoga pioneers.
In books, this past week I finished The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder by Marleen Dotterer. The shipbuilder refers to Thomas Andrews, who oversaw the building of the Titanic. In this captivating tale, Sam Altair, a scientist experimenting with time travel, accidentally sends himself back to 19o6. Worse, he unwittingly takes with him Casey Wilson, a university student. I won’t go into how they connect to Andrews, but I will tell you that Dotterer handles time travel in a way I haven’t seen before. Altair and Wilson, rather than trying to avoid changing history, actively work to do so. The tension builds gradually to a powerful climax, and there’s a sweet love story, too! I loved it, and I hope you will, too.
Here’s another treat for you: The Art of an Improbable Life, a blog by Becky Green Aaronson and her husband, Jeffrey, who have created for themselves a unique, rich life that spans the globe. In this blog, you’ll find gorgeous photos and interesting essays. This week’s post shares the story of Lori Robinson, “Africa’s Beautiful Bag Lady,” and it’s a good one. Check it out if you get a chance.
I’m going to suspend Friday Fiction for now, but it will return sometime after the holiday season. I’m currently revising Blood and Loam and will start posting it once I feel that it’s ready for viewing. Unfortunately, it’s been taking me longer than I expected! This has been a difficult, challenging novel to write, requiring more research than what I’m used to and punching all my personal buttons. If I can pull it off, it will be a fascinating book, but it’s demanding more of me as a writer than anything I’ve ever done.
Have a great weekend! Next week I’ll be sharing adventures from Washington State — I’ll try to include plenty of pics.
I am so glad everything is still going good with the house and the move etc! I am actually looking forward to seeing you in that house too now that IVE gotten to se it in the pics. When you DO for sure get it you should definitely put the pics up for everyone to see. Also interesting that you mentioned the Shipbuilder by Marlene today because my mom has just ate that book up! I got it for her bday because she LOVES any story involving time travel and she said she couldnt put it down and that hasnt… Read more »
This novel is interesting in that I’ve been trying to write it for nearly twenty years! Last year during NaNoWriMo I rewrote it in an entirely different genre, and it’s finally starting to work — but it is complex and far more political than I ever intended it to be. I’ve resisted the story for a long time, but it just insists on being told in a particular way. I wrote The Foreign Language of Friends in part to work on something else, anything else for a while!
Nadine,
Oh my goodness, what a nice surprise! Thank you for mentioning my blog and pointing your readers to my story about Lori. I appreciate your generosity.
And Happy Birthday to you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
My pleasure, Becky! And thanks for the b-day wishes. I’m excited!
Great news that the house deal is still alive and kicking. My fingers are crossed for you.
Thanks for the shout-out about my book. I get a little giddy when I hear that people like it, and I’m thrilled that you’re telling people about it.
Have a great birthday! They only come once a year, so give it all you’ve got!
Nadine, I am giving you this blog award. Come check it out!
http://healnowandforever.net/2011/12/01/today-it-is-all-about-me/
Thanks, Jodi!
[…] big thanks to Nadine Feldman for mentioning Shipbuilder in her blog post. Nadine writes fiction for and about women – all the rough-and-tumble of living and growing […]
Thank you for the referral to Angela Farmer. I have not heard of her, so I will have to check her out. I am a yoga fan.
Tina, the workshop was wonderful! Wow. I had taken a three-hour class with her back in ’04, and it was a pleasure to work with her for two full days. I’ll write more about it, I’m sure.
Nadine, I hope your birthday weekend is spectacular! I can’t think of a better gift than a yoga workshop! Just the other day I was thinking how the cold really affects my joints and rids me of any flexibility. I took yoga classes two years ago and I can still remember how relaxed I felt after each session. I hope you enjoy your special day! 🙂
Thanks, Bella! I’m having a great time — and I still have my b-day dinner coming this evening! This yoga workshop was a great way to get to know some of the local ladies, so I feel like I have friends even before moving here. Yoga has been part of my life for more than 25 years now…it really helps keep me limber and strong. When I worked in the corporate world, I taught two yoga classes per week on the job, and it was great fun!