Introduction

I have been informed that my talking about Sewing Words Together without actually sharing any of it is quite indeed a tease ... I admit, I don't mind being a tease, but for the whole 2 of you who read this here goes nothing ...

THE INTRODUCTION OF SEWING WORDS TOGETHER

INTRODUCTION:
She stands against the wall, her hands behind her bottom between the dirty glass and the pretty dress, just like mummy told her to. She’s nearly six and today is daddy’s birthday so they have come again to visit. The room is small and there aren’t enough seats and so she stands against the wall and waits. Her coins are all ready, in her sticky hands, and her jacket with the pockets and her doll and her drawing for daddy are all tucked away safely in the locker. She looks around at the other visitors and worries if the locker will really be tough enough. It’s not right for dolly to be locked away in a cold dark room all by herself. Sunshine knows that the picture for daddy will keep dolly company but she frets over her one eyed dirty mould of plastic.
Mummy is sitting between two other women. They are all talking, but mummy keeps looking over at the small girl. She is too small for her age, fragile and delicate looking, which makes people treat her much younger then she thought she should be.
Sunshine stays quiet and smiles only a little at mummy when their eyes catch each others. Mummy is big in the tummy with her baby brother or sister. She hopes for a baby brother, the girls at school are horrible and she doesn’t want one of them. Her baby brother would be so loved and played with; Sunshine was already learning how to make bottles up. The lady at the hospital last week showed Sunshine how to make sure the milk is warm enough, while Mummy was outside having a ciggie.
At last they start letting the people in, but as always it’s a long and slow journey. They check everyone’s clothing and run the thing over their outline, that doesn’t actually touch you. And then you know it’s all okay when they give your hands a wash so you don’t give any germs to daddy and his friends. People all around Mummy and Sunshine are talking, but Sunshine still stays quiet, she learnt that was best. She interlocks her fingers with Mummy’s once her hands have been washed and they walk along the line toward where daddy is waiting. She hears someone yelling at the men with the hand washing cloth but she closes her eyes and squeezes mummy’s hand tighter. Mummy squeezes back and they continue to follow the yellow painted line.
It’s the last time she will see her daddy, but of course she doesn’t know that. At first she is shy and nervous. All of daddy’s friends look at her weird and she doesn’t like it. She hates having to visit daddy here and only here. He is bigger in the tummy, just like mummy but she crawls up onto his lap, wraps her arms around his chubby neck and rubs her face in his bristly beard.
Daddy laughs and is playing with her and bouncing her on his knee. She laughs and he tickles her so much that she gasps for air between the giggles. Mummy stops them, but Sunshine is ok with that, because daddy’s friends are finished looking at them and are all too busy with their own visitors.
“I drew you a picture, but it’s in the locker. You can get it later.” She beams at him, her daddy.
“Oh that’s lovely of you Sunshine. Why don’t you tell me all about it? What’s the picture of?”
And she describes it in detail, and he asks question after question about her life and her drawing and she feels warmed from the inside out. His little Sunshine.
The questions start to peter out and she knows that soon it will be the grown up time to talk and kiss. Daddy goes and gets her a can of purple fizzy and a chocolate bar. She likes it when her teacher calls them candy, everything is candy to her. Lollies and chocolate, it’s all candy. She likes candy. So while she pretends not to listen to her parents talking she enjoys her purple and her candy and hears again how sorry daddy is. That’s why she doesn’t understand why he can’t come home yet. He’s said sorry, like a hundred times. Every time she is there he says it to mummy and she bets he says it when mummy visits without her as well.

Sickness delays the writer

I've been terribly sick almost consistently for the last coming on 7 weeks now and it's been hard to even think about writing, but today I managed a little more of my version 2.1 of Sewing Words Together. Although I haven't been able to put full sentences down, I have been thinking a lot about the progression that I am taking with this story. I'm a little in love with it. I think this may be come a problem, but that's when I call in my lovely writing guru's to scan over it.

Sewing Words Together 2.1: 3127

Research adventures

I have discovered that there are two major research adventures I feel in desperate need of persuing in order to truly give Sewing Words Together the detail and beauty and grit that it deserves.

Adventure 1: A road trip from Brisbane down to Melbourne ... This requires me to finally get my license.

Adventure 2: A day spent in the book cafe I have semi used as a place for a large aspect of Sunshine's existence ... this requires a day off during the week and may take a lot of fenangiling with the Director at work

I like having goals.

Clean Slate

I have started to write my second draft of Sewing Words Together. It was a big decision to make, and I ummed and ahed about it for over two weeks before I finally took the big step.
The reason it was such a hard task to begin, was because while the major theme and characters have mostly retained their integrity and unshininess, a few have changed and so has the perspective. I am now writing the current timeframe in first person and Sunshine's past snapshots in the third.
It's feeling a lot more genuine to her journey ... here's hoping it pans out.

Sewing Words Together

Sewing Words Together: Word Count 18608

Coming Together

It is so utterly coming together. I love it ... I can feel myself wanting to edit and criticise but I'm forcing myself out of bad stop habits ... It's feeling wonderful ...

Sewing Words Together: Word count 10008

New Beginnings

Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Today was my first official day of unemployment. I had an interview this afternoon and OMG I really want to get this job. It would be so fantastic and if I get it they already know just how bubbly and nuts I am :-)

I have been really wanting to put some more effort into my writing and found out that Olvar Woods is running this Masterclass Series to help push writers and it would be fantastic but there is no way I can justify it without having a job, but instead of getting upset I am going to simply push myself. It's harder but seeing as I've been pushing myself already so much lately with truly grasping the beauty of life, I know I can do it.

I got this beautiful journal and pen from work colleagues when I left and I'm going to start using it for journalistic means. Not like the journals I always started and never wrote in more than a few times. It's a whatever I want it to be journal. Random scraps of life that mean living to me.