I took a break from writing fiction over the last weekend.
Even two days off changes the thinking and writing patterns. It’s probably because the mind gets filled with lots of other thoughts and interactions with other people’s vibes. It’s like visiting vastly different head spaces.
We went for a drive to visit family in a small town on the coast called Machilipatnam or MTM as we call it because it’s such a big name to pronounce. And I was thrilled to see pink trumpet (tabebuia rosea) trees along the highway besides the usual yellow poinciana which have been around for years. They’re so pretty. I’m thankful to whoever had the thought to plant them. It’s a nice change from the minimal palmyra trees.
I guess the pink trees are part of the beautification drive for the areas surrounding the new capital city and quantum valley tech park that’s coming up.
The mango trees are beginning to bloom. It’s mango season but the mango harvest only lasts about 2 months. Took some pictures under the mango trees at the house. And a Java plum tree and an orange tree that I started from seed and planted about 2 years ago. The Java plum has grown taller. It makes me happy to remember the little sapling which has now turned into a big tree. I hope it will grow there for many years and bring a happy vibe to everyone who sees it.
In my experience, it’s true that being surrounded by green spaces helps the mind get into a creative state easily. The Japanese have this concept of Shinrin yoku or “forest bathing” which is all about immersing one’s senses with the visuals, sounds and fragrance of a tree-filled atmosphere. It feels like a healing reset button for the psyche. 🌳🌴
It was late night by the time we got back to the city and Biscuitus had missed us so much but cheered up after some treats and petting. I feel really bad to leave him alone at home for longer than absolutely necessary.
He made lots of biscuits to show how happy he was. Sweet little love!
😻 Biscuit maker paws 💖🐾
I haven’t had time to focus on my Biscuitus stories because the historical fiction writing flow is going well. I’ve written about 40K words on the story I restarted over Lent. And I really want to finish it by the end of April.
I’ve been reading a lot of stories from other genres but set in the same time period and location to get a better feel for the setting. The funny thing is that the historical research gets a little too real when one dives in too much. I even dreamed about it. A kind of drone view dream of flying over that place during that time, a couple of centuries ago. It felt so real.
Maybe its a good thing because this level of immersion helps make the stories more realistic.
Cat stories
As for the Biscuitus stories, I’ve been thinking about a leopard character and a cheetah as his friends or supporting characters.
I made this AI image of Biscuitus, the mighty Roman warrior
It's the way I see him because he's got that cattitude 🤣
Cheetahs and leopards are absolutely gorgeous. There’s something so thrilling about watching a Cheetah run. I feel sad for the prey but at least it was a quick end. I don’t want to outrun that cheetah LOL I wanna give him head scratches and chin rubs and call him my baby puddykins and cuddle him 😻💕
More cheetah cuteness but I don’t agree with the idea of keeping them as house pets where they can’t run free and live free.
Leopard stories from the old days
My grandparents used to tell me big cat stories from the early days when they bought a few acres of land and built a house that was somewhat remote. Apparently, my great grandfather, who was a quiet school headmaster, owned a rifle for self-defense back in the early 1900s.
There was a story about a leopard that entered a house. The woman of the house got so scared when she saw it that she climbed into an iron trunk while the leopard tried to get her out.
After a while, it gave up and climbed up on a loft (houses were built with high ceilings back then because it was hot and there was no air conditioning). Her husband and my great grandfather realized what was going on and went in with rifles to chase it out.
They didn’t know that the big cat was sitting up on the loft until it jumped down right on the man’s back and mauled him a bit. They tried to shoot it but it escaped.
My grandmother did say that they had a leopard skin wall hanging in their house. Back then, I guess wildlife preservation wasn’t a big focus (no human encroachment into their habitat meant a thriving wildlife) and it was about controlling a large predator population.
There were stories about leopards walking into human habitations to prey on small animals for food. They belong to the genus Panthera pardus fusca and are quite similar to the American Jaguar which is more widely known.
There was another time when my grandmother and her sister were coming home from their British-run boarding school (early 1900s in the present-day TN/AP border hilly region) for the holidays on their horse-drawn carriage or Jatka, when a leopard jumped over the horse.
Maybe the leopard was making some big dinner plans but he was scared away by the driver.
There were lots of stories like these.
I’d like to build on some of these original stories for my Biscuitus series.
It’s important to get the balance right for the story. A friendship or alliance between a small house cat and two big cats? Maybe they’re different in size but their personalities are on the same page? Or they share the same quest? Or the house cat has a big attitude to match his larger cousins?
Biscuitus has spread out on the day bed beside my desk, all four paws up in the air to cool down his furry belly. He’s dreaming about something because his whiskers and paws are twitching :D
He’s probably dreaming about the pigeons dancing and performing aerodynamic feats outside the balcony. And probably full-on predator mode, grabbing them based on the way his paws are moving :D😍
He’s a dreamer too and deserves his own stories!
Guess he’s feeling the heat with that paws up pose. Summer’s set in and we’re already getting what we refer to as the outdoor sauna treatment.
My bougainvillea's leaves wilting in the heat 🔥
It’s mid-April and the heat waves have begun on the South East coast. Day temperatures have already crossed 40 C and the nights’ lowest temp is about 25 so not enough to cool down. I’ve put a watermelon, musk melon and pomegranates in the fridge for dessert.
The only way through summer is to stay in an air conditioned environment. Inside a building or in a car. This is why no one here enjoys summer and we wait for the Southwest monsoon to kick in around late June and cool things down a bit with some rainy weather.
A rare rainy day in April with a view of trees from my balcony and gorgeous white egrets flying over them 💗
If anyone ever reads this, please forgive the typos and punctuation. I’m not going to edit these. These blog posts are meant to be a stream of consciousness, free flow writing exercise to unlock the flow when I feel creatively stuck. It’s just an exercise in writing whatever to get the fictional flow going again.
It’s not meant to be a professional piece of writing and it’s a creative exercise to get the mental brakes off, get out of the box and play around with words and expression. A kind of warm up before the actual workout.
I guess that’s a writing tip for writers and other creatives. Just get in and write whatever and the tap turns on.
If anyone ever reads this, thank you for your patience with my ramblings and please drop me a comment or email or DM my biscuitus_catus Instagram, if anything resonated.
#writinglife #freeflowwriting #creativewritingexercise
No comments:
Post a Comment