I finished my next chapters. Whew. Now I have time to catch up on my teaching and drinking, worrying about the world in general and my shower curtain in particular. It fell down last week and I can’t seem to get it to stay in place. I’ve tried and tried. The curtain rod seems like it’s going to fit, and then it doesn’t. I am at my wits’ end. I’ve had to take baths instead of showering. Baths! I know!
2020, am I right? SUCH inconvenience.
The new section of the book involves a dream sequence, which is not usually my favorite part of a story. But Cody’s dream leads later in the chapter to a – well – metaphysical place, which is the part of a story I do enjoy.
I was raised a strict atheist, but I have reacted against my upbringing, as one does, and have a real soft spot for characters and situations that are not of this world. Several (most? all?) of my books have at least a suggestion of my spiritual life.
I don’t Stephen King it. I really can’t do horror convincingly. I don't Dali up the dream (though that picture is totally cool). My apparitions pop up helpfully or surprisingly. They play the same kinds of roles as Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio or Kramer in Seinfeld. The undead character in my zombie story is more reminiscent of Eeyore than anything in the Walking Dead.
The metaphysical moment I just handed over to Melanie deals with the issue of Cody’s mom. I want Mom in the story, and momentarily important, but I do not want her to take up too much space. Problem solved – for now.
But metaphysics can pop up at any time.