Progress

We're making progress on several fronts. I have been revising the novel. I'm about halfway through a draft, though I might have to do another one or possibly two. An agent gave me good feedback about cutting some of the backstory and repetition. And while I think she is absolutely right (when your tangents have tangents you're probably going off course), I have been thinking about storytelling and American conventions.

Last week Nate and I watched the Spanish movie "Volver." Certain story lines pop up that are not resolved in a neat, Hollywood way, and some scenes would have been cut from an American movie because they showed an aspect of a character that didn't contribute to the overall plot. There were a lot of pieces that were allowed to flow and meander without trying to wrap them all up with a bow by the end. I think that's just a different story tradition that doesn't expect tidiness.

I have a novel that followed six people. Some of their individual stories didn't always have a ton to do with the overall plot. Part of me doesn't want to lose those aspects, even though I understand that to make the book more comercially appealing, it makes sense to have a "neater" book. These are things I've been debating as I cut and trim and lose entire chapters. It's possible I'm making the book better, in a way, but I also think that "better" is culturally determined (obviously).

In Zoe progress, she has been sleeping longer at night. Woohoo! The last week or so she's woken up 1-2 times to be fed and has slept in blocks of 4-5 hours. I feel much less like a zombie these days.

Nate posted some new videos and pictures. I think I mentioned before that she crosses her feet while nursing. She does it when her dad feeds her, too. And this is an older video, but it's amusing. At five weeks she kept trying to move off her mat. She's already outgrown the outfit she's wearing in that clip. Time does fly. She is starting to get some rolls of fat on her legs, which makes me happy. I love the chubba chubs on babies. More to love.

Speaking of chubba chubs, last week I had my six week check up. Things look good. I gained 44.5 pounds while I was el prego and I've lost 28 pounds without dieting or exercising beyond a few walks. However, my weight loss seems to have stopped, which means I probably need to stop eating ice cream and start working out regularly. I do miss working out, but I've had a hard time taking care of Zoe, revising, AND working out. I seem to be able to do two of those things but not all three. Maybe I'll figure that out eventually.

If you happen to be around Dallas, I'll be participating in an reading for Wordspace on July 25. Come check it out.