W R I T E R
Short writer, long story. ⚖️ Sometimes, early in mapping out a storyline, I stand on my chair to take in all the plotty Post-its at once. (The kids find this hilaaarious.) Writerfriends, am I alone here?
#writinglife #writeon #fictionwriting #screenwriting #getcreative #staycreative #abbeyclelandlopez
Every August 1st, I'm as tan as I get, as social as I get, as round as I get, as restless as I get. I've consumed big bowls of ripe watermelon -- the kind of bowls intended to sit on Mormons' dining tables, not my lap as I watch Absolutely Fabulous at 3am, descending from the writing high.
Since April, I've watched the men run around the bases. By August, aren't they tired? They look tired. Who isn't tired?
Come August, the chlorinated, coconut-oiled, cut-grass nostalgia runs dry, and I'm ready for the social parade to slow then stall then dissipate.
A chorus of sensible moms in denim and Clinique, the moms from my childhood, say, sagely, "You've been out long enough."
When I go out anyway, because I do what I want -- I, too, am a sensible mom just in pleather and Urban Decay -- I jog alone, now to Green Day, not Betty Who.
I pass a red, white, and blue streamer caught in the underbelly of a bush. It's no longer lingering evidence of summer fun; it's litter. I really should come out with a bag and pick all that shit up.
(See, Abbey? You HAVE become a mom. The children made you Mother. These impulses make you Mom.)
When I return home, I don't search for the cocktail recipe you mentioned. I watch another video on composting.
Come August, I want to find value in every scrap and scrape. Come August, I want be rich and fertile and beautiful on the inside.
I want to eat stew and think, in serious terms, about art and health and connection. I'm glad you had a lovely vacation, but that was July chatter. Now I want to hear, concretely, what helps you stay sane, kind, productive, alive.
Deliver me your best Wise Human Cliff Notes, ranked and bullet-pointed.
By August, I'm ready for tights, shawls, cardigans -- this is to say, garments that conceal. I want to wear too much mascara and not enough blush. I want to again see how beautiful we all are by the fire.
Most of all, I want to see what beauty remains when it's all not so sunkissed, lush, obvious.
Summer is a magazine cover. A glossy tease. By August, I want the feature. I want to see truth.
#dorothyparker #abfab #greenday #urbandecay #motherhood #momswhowrite #abbeyclelandlopez #writeeveryday
Packed most of the house nary a pause/thought/reflection, until this moment, in sacred #fionaapple sweats, blasting #daisythegreat , removing titles from shelves. Heart juuust caught up to mind/body/calendar. Wild.
(And don't worry, babies. You're all coming along. 📚📚📚)
#bookstagram #booksy #shelfie #fortheloveofbooks #writersofig #writeon #writerwoman #abbeyclelandlopez #fictionwriting #blondeambition #dropeverythingandread
Make no mistake, my creative dears: True passion projects are fucking ruthless.
If you don't feed them, they'll eat you.
#writinglife #writeon #writeearly #writelate #midnightoil #stayhungry #stayfocused #staytuned #makeart #abbeyclelandlopez #inthemargins
How is everyone? Do I know anyone else who is still home ALL the time, as if it's late March or April or May or June or July or August or September? As if a pandemic is still raging? Oh, please don't answer that. I may be in what some could call "a mood," and feel salty about some particular answers, and that's honestly not me, not my style, not good for anyone, not what's in my heart. 🧡 We, my family, have very good reasons to stay put all the time, so we do. Every every every day. 🧡 I did, however, do something very out of the usual today. I picked up a gown from the tailor. I had dropped it off on March 3rd for an early April wedding that would never be. My adored tailor has been stranded in Thailand, while I've been firmly rooted 4 miles from the shop. None of this matters, except that she did an excellent job, and when this era comes to a close, which it will -- no doubt -- I'm wearing that gown (sooo yummy: a floor-length, colorblocked, structured, strappy-backed, secondhand designer stunner) as soon and often as possible. 🧡 So. Carry on. I love you. I feel you. We really are in this together. (Unless we're not, and then please feel free to kindly + temporarily eff off. (Told you. Salty! 💋💋) xx Real Human Experiencing Real Things #abbeyclelandlopez
Chatty 24 hours in Abbeyland. Some very good updates from three of my dearest people, and a happy email I've been waiting on, hoping for.... Note to Self: Stop forgetting, even momentarily, that things can get better, easier, lighter.
(Also, if you really truly prefer Veronica over Betty unfollow me now on the grounds that you're a scary/gravely confused individual. 😏😳😆)
#abbeyclelandlopez
