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Birth…

 

I really can’t wrap my head around this last week. 

birth (bûrth)
n.

  1. The emergence and separation of offspring from the body of the mother.
  2. The act or process of bearing young; parturition.
  3. The circumstances or conditions relating to this event, as its time or location.
  4. The set of characteristics or circumstances received from one’s ancestors; inheritance.
  5. Origin; extraction.

 

For lack of a better term, that best describes last week.

 

Blue Lines

My manuscript that I had been working on since 1998 (see http://wp.me/pz9y7-a), the final tally of pages put it at 405 (370 abridged), was finally mailed to be shopped to be purchased / published.  As I posted last Tuesday, September 8th:

 

“I feel sick, elated, melancholy, awkward, accomplished, lost, pained, victorious…11 years of painstaking work, memories, happiness, loss, discovery…the time is here, Blue Lines is about to be shipped off…the time is now.”


Bound and weighing in at 4lbs 5.9oz, I parted with manuscript in what lead to a day filled with both euphoria and an unbelievable sadness.  Although the closest experiences between children and I are with my nieces/nephews I felt as if I were sending off my child.  I also was turning a page within my life.

Let me clarify, after eleven years of writing, of stepping away from the manuscript, and even getting to the point where I could no longer hear or read my story, and then having the ability to return to the work and see it through new eyes…that is a long period to spend with an extension of yourself and then allow it to go out into the world.  I felt better the next day, but I still realize now, that (upon a successful shop) other than required edits, I cannot go back to the story.  I cannot add to the story, I can no longer amend my story.  I feel that the finality of the process of mailing out Blue Lines adds to the melancholy of the required step that I made.

With that said, I spent the weekend prior prepping my manuscript, cutting six chapters that I felt added very little to the story ( Chapters 27: Growing Pains; C28: Spring Break; C29:The Scare; C30:Atlanta; C31:Joi; C32:Eve of Summer), adding my cover art, and binding the manuscript in preparation for sending off my work.

With my boxed up, addressed box, I slowly made my way to post office to send of my work (thanks GC for walking with me), and it was off.  Now I can sit back, put my thoughts together, and start cranking out Manuscripts 2, 3, and 4 without Blue Lines drawing me back in.  well I’ll start after the Playoffs are over.

            Manuscript Mailing Theme Song “CuDi Zone” – KiD CuDi.

 

Atlanta Dream

            If sending out my manuscript was not enough, last week the Atlanta WNBA Franchise that I and many others have been a part in building in the inaugural year, and through this our second year clinched the #2 position in the Eastern Conference last Friday, and with that our first EVER WNBA Playoff berth.

            To be an original part of a Sports Franchise, to be a part of what the organization is an unbelievable feeling.  Most of us in Sports are 1) rarely around to start a team; and 2) rarely around to see the team achieve the level of success that we have this season (and it’s not over yet).  I remember going back when the previous franchise that I came from returned to the playoffs.  It was a proud (they were MY team) and bittersweet (I was no longer there) feeling to experience…but we made the entire league take notice.  But nothing matches the moment when our baby, the Atlanta Dream, going into our game last Friday 9/11/09 knowing that with a win, we clinch our first ever berth, with a loss, we could potentially be in jeopardy in seeding and making the playoffs, and we came and played lights out with all cylinders running to win by 24 points, taking our destiny in our hands.

            Standing out there in the tunnel watching us clinch, stepping on that court after we had won the game and staying midcourt with our core group for what seemed like hours…just amazed at what WE had all done in the matter of 2 seasons…and the BEST is yet to come this year.
            Atlanta Dream Clinch Theme Song “Run This Town” – Jay-Z

 

            Birth

 

The manuscript Blue Lines is a fictional period piece, written by Kenneth Anthony Suffern, Jr., that takes place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.