I stumbled upon this article in Wikipedia. I feel like there's a really good horror story in here somewhere. Someone write this into their book so I can read it and be thoroughly horrified. (Because this article isn't horrifying enough??!) Eating a confection made out of honey and human bodies. Um. No.

Mellified manFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Mellified Man (artistic impression)A mellified man, or a human mummy confection, was a legendary medicinal substance created by steeping a human cadaver in honey. The concoction is detailed in Chinese medical sources, most significantly the Bencao Gangmu of the 16th-century Chinese medical doctor and pharmacologist Li Shizhen. Relying on a second-hand account, Li reports a story that some elderly men in Arabia, nearing the end of their lives, would submit themselves to a process of mummification in honey to create a healing confection.[1]
This process differed from a simple body donation because of the aspect of self-sacrifice; the mellification process would ideally start before death. The donor would stop eating any food other than honey, going as far as to bathe in the substance. Shortly, his feces (and even his sweat, according to legend) would consist of honey. When this diet finally proved fatal, the donor's body would be placed in a stone coffin filled with honey.[2]
After a century or so, the contents would have turned into a sort of confection reputedly capable of healing broken limbs and other ailments. This confection would then be sold in street markets as a hard to find item with a hefty price.

(Also, it's my late father's 87th birthday today. Happy birthday dad, I sure miss you!)

Last year at this time I didn't specifically set out to write every day in 2018. I actually just set out to finish my WIP. Write every day until it was finished. I finished a first draft by May/June. By that time, I'd written every day so I decided to continue. And today I officially can say that I wrote every single day in the year 2018. 

Not every day was spent writing on a WIP. There were some days where I wrote down my thoughts - some journaling if you will - to work some things out in my head. I journaled after losing a friend to suicide. I journaled during some tough times on familial relationships. To show for 365 days of writing, I have first drafts of two manuscripts, a detailed outline of another project and a couple of short stories started.

I've typed over 150,000 words this year, which works out to a little over 400 words a day!

​Now on to editing!

It's coming up on that time of year again. (although I'm sure it's that time of year everyday for a lot of writers) I like Nanowrimo because it's really the one time of year I seem to be able to give myself permission to turn off my inner editor and write with abandon. Sometimes the final product turns out good (like I Am Evan which was my 2013 Nanowrimo project) and sometimes it doesn't (those shall remain nameless and buried away somewhere in the long-abandoned basement of my computer.)

This year I'm going to do something I've never done before - I'm going to write an outline before I start. The last time I checked, it was allowed as long as you don't actually start writing the story. I'm doing this in hopes that it will turn out to be more than just a month-long writing exercise.

If you want to friend me on Nanowrimo, my name is marlabowie. (Also, I'm still deactivated on Facebook, so if you get a friend request from me, it's bogus. I do check in to make sure my account is staying secure.)

I wanted to share a few pictures from my trip to South Dakota. It's a beautiful state (at least the parts of it I saw) and I hope to go back there again and see more of it. Mt. Rushmore was so cool and worth dealing with hordes of people to see it. Actually, the people watching was interesting too. The Badlands stirred my writers imagination. Eerie beauty.
There was a lot of open space driving through Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, and when I got back to Oregon, driving along a tree lined freeway made me feel a little claustrophobic for a couple days until I acclimated again. 

This last picture is one I took at Wall Drug in SD. There's all sorts of historical pictures, prescriptions, etc on the wall (sort of a mix of museum, stores, food, with an old west feel). I took the picture because it looks like a prescription written for someone with my last name. Right in the center....can you see it?

I had a very busy summer, which I'd like to share with you. First off, I'm celebrating two granddaughters born only a few weeks apart, one in July and one in August. I'm now the proud grandparent of a total of four grandchildren!

After all the fanfare of having my first book published in May, followed by a book launch event, I turned my attention to a whole bunch of things I had planned over the summer. This was the summer of family, that's for sure.

In June I flew to California to visit family that I haven't seen in a while. I got to catch up, go see some fun stuff in Arnold, CA and visit the resting place of another very cherished family member. It can be easy to forget how much family means when distance and time separates you. Also in June (and July) I got to see my daughter perform in Portland's Funniest Person competition. She made it all the way to finals! I'm proud beyond words of her. Toward the end of June, I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon and ended the month with a baby shower for my other daughter.

July started off with a bang (did you see what I did there...bang, 4th....not funny...okay...anyway...) I flew to Denver, CO where I met up with some California family. We visited with my high school friend Anne who is the Curator of Raptors at the Raptor Education Foundation, a wild life sanctuary for raptors. She showed us all her beautiful and interesting birds of prey, which was a real treat. Here is the website if you want to know more about what they do or donate to them. ​https://www.usaref.org/

 We also went to the Denver Botanic Gardens. If you find yourself in Denver, this is a lovely place to visit (even though it was a very hot day.) I didn't get a lot of pictures, but really enjoyed looking at all the different ecosystems and plants. And there were little bunnies running around wild! I'll post a few more pics on my pics page. Also, I'm not a great photographer.

After a couple of days in Denver, we drove to Deadwood, South Dakota, going up through Nebraska, and met up with family from Oregon, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Arizona. We stayed in a big cabin in Lead, SD. I'll post more about that next week. Expect pictures of the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore, and the countryside in general.

After the family reunion, we drove back to Denver by way of Wyoming, and flew back to Portland. The next day I was working the silent auction at the 49th Annual Willamette Writers Conference. Did I mention trying to solicit for the auction while doing all this traveling? That was a challenge. I've been doing that for over 10 years and this year seemed like one of the best WW conferences I've been to. 

After the WW conference, I got to rest for a minute. Then took a road trip around Oregon for Labor Day weekend. I really like Maupin, Oregon. It's on the Deschutes and a fun place to visit (you can rent boats and go rafting down the rapids!) I also enjoyed seeing the John Day fossil beds. I'll post pictures of all that on my pics page.

Last but not least, my birthday is coming up and I'll be eating at one of my favorite restaurants in Portland - The Melting Pot. Then I'm going to try to stay home for a little while and concentrate on writing, reading, and self care - until December, when I'll fly out to N. Carolina and see my son and his family (and one of my new grandbabies!) 

Believe it or not - I have still met my goal of writing every single day this year!! Sometimes its only a hundred words and sometimes it's thousands. But I've paid attention to it for 252 days in a row. Currently, I've transitioned from writing on my phone, using the Werdsmith app, to organizing my nearly finished manuscript on Scrivener. All I had to do was import the app writing to my email, then copy and paste it to Scrivener. Now I'm revising and hoping to get it "query ready" by the end of October (or sooner.) Just in time to do Nanowrimo.

(also, currently my Facebook is deactivated. I needed a break. I'm still available on FB messenger)

Living in the moment,
Marla

Not developing a writing habit has by far been my biggest barrier to becoming published. You can't submit blank pages or unfinished manuscripts. I've tried many times in the past to develop a routine but I could never make it stick. There are lots of "techniques" writers have to develop these habits but none worked for me. I finally developed my own techniques and so far I've written every single day since January 1st and it hasn't been a struggle. (I didn't make a New Years resolution - that's not me.) But I did really want to have another book written by the time I am Evan came out (May 18th). I really, really wanted it.

So here's what I did:

I bought an inspirational calendar from the Dollar Tree, along with a variety of stickers. I wrote out a legend that shows what sticker I get rewarded with for what amount of words I write. a star for 300 words, a heart for 500 words, etc. For January my minimum was 300 words. I figured that would be doable. I didn't want to set myself up for failure. (Notice the frowny face on January 27th. Didn't meet my goal, but I did write something!) I also set a weekly goal of 3000 words (which I didn't always meet, but close.) This month I upped it to 500 words a day - not too difficult if I divide it up. I figured it was only 200 more than my January daily goal. Also, if I'm not near my calendar, I can text myself the daily word count to log later.
(I was inspired by this post: http://www.lainitaylor.com/2013/10/word-count-calendar-of-cuteness.html )

RThe other thing I did, and this really made all the difference for me, was to get the Werdsmith app on my phone. I don't waste any time on pulling out my laptop or sitting at my desk. I can use speech to text, or I can type on my phone like I'm texting. Then, I export my writing to my email. I can write on my break at work, I can write in bed, on the couch, in my car, at someone else's house, waiting for a dr appointment, you get the idea. This app makes it absolutely effortless to get some writing in each day.

Now, if I could get into the habit of blogging every day. Baby steps....

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of listening to John Doan, master of the twenty string harp guitar, play at a going away party for my cousin at my aunt's house. No one knew he was going to gift us with an impromptu concert! I've never heard of a harp guitar before that night. It was lovely - ethereal. I feel lucky to have been blessed with seeing and hearing him play only a few feet away from me. Truly an artist. If you haven't heard of John Doan, you absolutely need to check out his website and see videos of him playing. It's magical! He has a variety of CDs for sale as well. From Celtic to anxiety management, a good variety. Isn't that a beautiful instrument!