Writing, Death, and the Globe Theater

It is raining outside and I heard thunder not so long ago. I sit here at my computer contemplating life. I've heard it said that death is a part of life. And it is true, in the last four months nine people that I or my family have known have left this world. The most tragic is my sister's nephew in his 20's that passed away today in the early morning hours in a car accident.

Maybe that is why reading and writing are so wonderful. You can watch life and death and feel the emotions of the story but it doesn't actually touch your life. Perhaps we are to look for beauty and wonders of this world at all times in order to keep the shadows and the sadness at bay.

Above and to the side are Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The first burned down as did the second. This one was built using a corner wall and descriptions from that time. Interestingly the stage does not have a curtain. So when the play was over all the actors would dance a jig, letting the audience know the play was at an end. The plays used the sun as lighting so all performances were during the day. You can see the grass growing on the roof above the balcony seats. The boxes behind the stage were for the nobles. Although they could not see the play, they could be seen. On the day we went to the Globe Theater, we also toured Churchill's War Rooms. It was wonderful. We could have spent more time there as there was so much to see.  The actual rooms are still the way they were then and all the other displays were interactive. A truly wonderful place to relive such a historical time in England and the world.

Writing and Denver

This week, I decided to mix up my writing a bit. I have mentioned before that I've written five books. Four are in the Regency period and one is a modern mystery set here in Denver and in Burlington about three hours away. I know I should concentrate on just one at a time. But I'm working on four simultaneously. Yesterday I spent four hours writing and it was so much fun. Each story is so different that I kept hopping from one to the other.

For my son's birthday last week, we went downtown. I took pictures like a tourist. 

Above-- The Denver Capitol is on the left and the view from the capitol steps are on the right.

I'm on the left and the ampitheater of Civic Center Park is down below. With the Art museum right behind it.

My son-in-law ran down to the stage and yelled. "It's Sunday, April 12th." We cheered. A homeless man said, "Good show, I wasn't sure what today was. It's Sunday.Good to know." and he also clapped.  

Thames, Shard and London's landscape

Going through my email, I found more pictures from my sister's and my trip to London. I had forgotten that my camera's battery had died half-way through one day and when we went to the hotel that evening she e-mailed me the pictures she took.

      

It was so wonderful to see even more shots of the places we had been. I had wondered why I had only one picture of the Thames. And that one was blurry with rain falling on the bus's window.

 All of these are taken from the Tower Bridge. Above you can see the construction that is going on in London. St. Paul's Cathedral stands majestically in the midst of it all seemingly unconcerned. For centuries she's watched the city. What's change to her?

The Shard is below.

Writing, writing, writing. Every waking moment I am in the midst of writing. If I don't have pen and paper or if the computer is not near, I am working out a scene. It seems so easy to plot it in my mind. But then when I transfer it to paper, it seems to change. I think it is because with my mind, I see the setting, all the colors are vibrant. I can feel the moods and the stuggles of the characters. But on paper they are just words without soul or purpose. I'm getting there. Little by little I will get there.

                         

Writing about London

The adage write about what you know, is true. I've always loved England and London imparticularly. But all I have had in the past was books to glean my knowledge from. Now after having been in London it feels more authentic to write about the places I've seen. Charles Dickens and Keats were said to have frequented the pub below. We had lunch there. The entrance still has the same brickwork that Dickens and Keats walked on.

                                 The picture below was a shop in Covent Garden that has been kept as it was in the 18th century. In my mind's eye, I can see horses out front as the owners went inside this shop.  The pastries are from the cafeteria at the Tower of London.

I love the old building to the left. And the right is a view from Berkeley Square with it's sign below.

I'm still re-working my first novel - chapter by chapter.
And then writing the 1,000-2,000 words a day on another one. A Regency book also, I'm using all the places I saw in London as the backdrop. Just finished Chapter One.  

Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower

Buckingham Palace. 775 rooms, 19 State rooms, 52 Royal guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. Buckingham House was transformed into Buckingham Palace in the 1820s by the architect John Nash for George IV. But the first monarch to use Buckingham Palace as their official residence was Queen Victoria, who moved there in 1837.

I've decided to throw myself into writing and have committed to write between 1,000 to 2,000 words a day. Not re-working but writing something new. 

I've found that the difference betweeen the movie and the book of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has to be the rich dialogue between the characters that shows who they are.

This excerpt is priceless:


 "If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy," cried a young Lucas who came with his sisters, "I should not care how proud I was. I would keep a pack of foxhounds, and drink a bottle of wine everyday."
"Then you would drink a great deal more than you ought," said Mrs. Bennet; "and if I were to see you at it I should take away your bottle directly.
The boy protested that she should not; she continued to declare that she would, and the argument ended only with the visit."