Surviving the Riots

Once a year, at the end of May, my partner (and partner in crime) Jollin heads to Kentucky.  At the Kentucky Horse Park, her farm participates in the Egyptian Event (which really is called just that).  It’s a very, very big deal in the Arabian horse world.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on this one event, where the Arabian elite gather to network, buy, sell, and of course, to show.

What it means for our family is that she’s gone for a week and a half.  She left this morning at 3am to travel to the barn and ride with the crew up to Kentucky (15 hour drive) and get set up.  This leaves myself and our other poor roommate, Abby, to handle four miniature dachshunds, four cats, two ferrets, and a 55 gallon fish tank.  We can handle it, sure.   We do it every year.  We’re just not used to it, so inevitably there’s some adjustment as we get up earlier, change our schedules, and compensate.

I think I forgot to feed the cats this morning.

I fear their retaliation will be swift and violent. 

UPDATE 5/31:  Abby fed the cats.  I may, however, have killed the betta in the big fishtank.  And one of the female guppies is pregnant.  I fed the fish frozen ice cubes o brine shrimp and bloodworms this morning…the things I do for love.

Wars and Witnesses

I've always had a lot of trouble writing conflict.  Not emotional conflict.  I can handle inter-personal drama, heartbreak, grief...I'm a terribly emotional person, so these things come naturally for me (*coughhack*).  When I say conflict, I mean...a real fight.  Physical combat.  Attacks from unseen enemies.

Wars.

Which of course is pretty ridiculous, since I'm writing about a war right now.  That's why my revisions are taking so long; I finished the first draft a LONG time ago.  Unfortunately, I put a lot of time into the characters, and not a lot into what was going on around them.  Hence, serious plotholes.  The bulk of what I'm having to fix is the darker side of the book- the pressure on those characters that causes 'stuff' to happen. 

I always worry about reasonableness.  Does it make sense for this to happen, in the way I've written it?  I've never been in a war, so I don't know how certain things affect the people around them.  I answer that by trying to write as a civilian, from civilian POV's when I'm able.  I know how I would feel of someone came into my city and burned it down around my ears.  I know how I would feel if my brother were dying and the only way to save his life was if I moved fast enough.  Panic, fear, determination, shock...those are all easy to write.

I suppose in the end, writing conflict isn't about the conflict itself.  A conflict is bigger than the action of an enemy ramming your gates.  A conflict is all bout the people inside of it, the ones fighting to get out...or in.