What I’m Blogging

The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world : small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere. - Elrond - The Lord of the Rings - Book II Chapter 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Thirteenth night and the cracks have started to appear in the wall that was, until recently, a very solid case of writer’s block. Flow is moving again, however I find my story falling back and forth through time. At one moment I’m in the present where the story happens only to find myself in the next breath far in the character’s past discovering why he thinks, acts and feels the way he does. It’s a little like a temporal roller coaster.

I’ve given up on he idea of writing in a linear fashion. I can’t seem to get my mind around it. When I sit in front of the keyboard I just start writing what ever comes out. I used to try and force myself to carry on from the point I left off at, but that quickly lead to slowdown and a blockage forming. Now I’m just writing whatever section occurs to me. I will stitch the component parts together in the edit phase, after all isn’t that how Dr. Frankenstein got started with his monster?

One of the things that I really enjoy reading about is fantastical homes. Whether it is the description of Hobbit holes in The Lord of the Rings or the Neverland tree fort from Peter Pan magical homes have cast their spell on my imagination. This book is a fantastic pictorial of homes from around the world that are real and magical at the same time.

Kahn, Lloyd. 2004. Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter. Shelter Publications. ISBN 0936070331.

What I liked about this book: This is an absolutely luscious photo essay on the topic of hand made shelters and homes. The structures span the globe and each has an enchanting magical quality that blends it to the surrounding environment. The photos are warm and inviting and you wish that you could dive into them and live in these buildings if only for a day.

What I didn’t like about this book: Of all things, the binding. It is a softcovered book and I would have preferred a hardcover coffee table style. This was inconsequential, however, because the contents more than make up for it.

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