Swimming in Emerald

Welcome back, Skirmishers!

June was a speedboat roaring at an exhilarating rate. I’m not sure where she went (hence this tardy newsletter), but she left a vivid wake. The main reason: we spent almost two weeks in Destin, my childhood stomping grounds on the Gulf Coast of Florida, where the memories shaped my soul before I was old enough to retain strong visuals.

On vacation, my focus was on enjoying time with Ben, being a fun mom, and giving our 2 ½-year-old son the adventure of his little life—a goal which did not emphasize mama’s writing time at all. I’m not writing so much as reading/researching at the moment anyway, so it was a joy to set aside word count goals and simply focus on throwing the toddler in the pool and teaching him to love getting salt-slapped by the ocean. Whenever a tanned and slightly dehydrated Cedar collapsed in a much-needed nap, that’s when I devoured history and fiction that actually contribute to my swashbuckling work-in-progress.

For a writing update, a tip about plodding, and a smattering of movie recommendations and book reviews, read on!

In this Skirmish

✍️ Writing Update: still reading, reading, reading

⚡️Writing Tip: content yourself with plodding

🍿 What I’m Watching: we’ve rediscovered The Last Ship 

📚 What I’m Reading: I found a book by THE Captain John Smith

❤️ Three New Books You Should Buy

Writing Update

I’ve written the first two chapters of my boys’ adventure novel set in the dark days of England on the eve of the Spanish invasion in 1588. It’s been a steady process of “wait, I need to stop and research Elizabethan dialogue,” and “I actually have no idea what a rich sea captain modeled after Sir Francis Drake would wear if visiting an inn—decked out in velvet??” I usually write as fast as I can, putting the unknowns in brackets. Like this:

“He wore a [cloak or cape or whatever Drake would wear when not visiting the queen] and he bore a sword [would he wear a sword every day?] and he was as tanned as a chestnut [confirm that an Elizabethan would know what a chestnut is].”

Pretty messy, but efficient. After writing a chunk or two, I take a day to go back and hunt down the answers. With the ridiculous amounts of research I’ve done, I know the answer is somewhere in my files—but a writing sprint is not the time to find out.

My plan, as before, is to finish Chapters 1-5ish (at least Act I) and submit them to my editor to see if the story’s working—before the baby is due mid-November. Slow going, but writing my boys’ adventure story isn’t nearly as important as writing my REAL boy’s adventure story, so this is the pace for now!

Writing Tip: Content Yourself with Plodding

“A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules.” - Anthony Trollope

The biggest shift in my writing career during early motherhood has been in my definition of progress. When single and newly married, progress meant daily writing several thousand words, reading half a book, and diving down to crush depth in research and beat sheets and character development.

Now, progress means plodding: doing a little, consistently, every day. First thing every morning, I take a few notes from Master and Commander, or write five hundred words I’ll probably delete tomorrow, or confirm that my hero would indeed wear a doublet—before my toddler wakes up and the day flies at me. Even if I just write a couple lines or read a page or two, as long as I do it unto the Lord, I’m happy with it and I move on with satisfaction in my morning labors.

Whenever I feel stressed out that I’m not writing enough, I remind myself of this quote from the Puritan preacher and writer Thomas Brooks: “The highway to comfort is to mind comfort less and duty more.” If I take my mind off the fact that “I don’t have time to write anymore” and focus on my duties as a wife and mother, I paradoxically gain the same joy I would have had after writing for six hours—and much, much more.

What I’m Watching

Hail Mary - A winner! I watched this back in March, and it’s the fault of my pregnancy brain and not the fault of the movie that I completely forgot about it. It’s a great family Friday night flick. Engaging story, brilliant acting, and a refreshing lack of any woke propaganda. The only disappointments were 1) the flashbacks felt odd and disjointed, and didn’t feel like Ryan Gosling organically recovering his memory, which robbed them of a good deal of punch; 2) the movie was 30 minutes too long; I mentally deleted 20 shots/beats as they occurred (not as the end credits rolled, after mulling things over) because the slow pace pulled me out of story grip even while sitting in front of the big screen at the theater.

Now You See Me 1-3 - Some clever ideas, but ultimately a little too quick and glib and soulless and just not that special. #2 was bad. #1 and #3 would make decent airplane movies.

Tomb Raider (Alicia Vikander) - Ben grew up playing this game and has always loved the Indiana Jones vibes, so this was a fun breezy flick to enjoy together. Probably because of Alicia’s diminutive size and girly scream, she (mostly) avoided the annoying girl-power vibes that are nearly inherent to the role. Almost any other actress would have been an insufferable girl boss.

In the Grey - I’m always in the mood to give Guy Ritchie a try (provided the movie isn’t R), but this was a miss. It’s the only movie I’ve ever seen that was completely missing Act I. It jumped straight from Opening Shot to Fun & Games without establishing characters, setting, stakes, motivations, etc. It was like watching Ocean’s 11 and moving from George Clooney in jail straight to the scene where they plan the heist. This was a shameful waste of talented actors (Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal), a cool if familiar plot, and smart action scenes.

Toy Story 5 - Cedar’s first theater movie! I didn’t adore the on-the-nose nature of the plot; it felt preachy. “Kids are addicted to screens! Let’s make a movie about toys vs. screens that shows how bad screens can be—and how to use them with moderation!” I’d rather watch a movie that made kids want to sprint out of the theater (away from the screen) and go do something. But the characters are charming and the laughs were real, and even the shockingly forced PC/feministic subversions sprinkled here and there didn’t quite ruin it. But I’ll probably have Cedar stick to Toy Story 1 & 2 for regular rewatches.

Jungle Cruise - This was quite fun for a while, thanks to the delightful Emily Blunt and the tried-and-true Indiana Jones-style plot, but then the villains/ancient curse got wildly overblown and confusing and I couldn’t keep track of the stakes or how to end the curse. Plus, the movie shoe-horned in the most nauseating anachronistic feminism and gay preachiness I’ve ever seen, mostly in the last 2 minutes. Overall, the movie was a decent hamburger that lost its savor in the middle and then the last bite had a dead cockroach.

Rogue Heroes (TV series) - We turned it off after 20-30 minutes. Bloody and boring.

The Last Ship (series, currently on Netflix) - Another winner! I watched this years ago but forgot almost everything, so I’m experiencing it as if for the first time with Ben. The plot has amazing stakes right off the bat: an American ship returns from a covert mission in the Arctic only to discover a massive plague has killed off most of the world’s population. They must stay afloat, avoid the trigger-happy nuclear Russians, and hopefully find the cure, all without going home. It’s good clean entertainment with decent action scenes, sympathetic characters, masculine leaders, practically nothing to edit for your kids. (I’m only on season 2, so I don’t remember if there are any questionable scenes later on.) Give it a try!

What I’m Reading

Master and Commander (Books 5 & 6) - I read Desolation Island and have started The Fortune of War, and am still enjoying almost every minute. The progressive doctor gets tiresome, though I’m fond of him because he’s such a great friend to Lucky Jack.

Two Years Before the Mast - A 19th-century sailor’s account of his voyage from Boston to California and back again, filled with just the kinds of details a writer might need. Fortunately, Richard Dane was no ordinary sailor, but was highly educated (Harvard, I believe), so his writing is exceptional.

A Sea Grammer by Captain John Smith - What a gem! It’s as if John Smith thought, “One day a writer might be trying to write a novel about sailing in the Elizabethan time period. I’ll write a glossary/how-to manual to help her out.” And the result is this masterpiece. He even includes sample dialogue between a captain and sailors as they chase down an enemy ship, fire, and prepare to board her to take her as a prize. Unreal detail. Forever grateful.

Last of all: Three New Books You Should Buy

Two of my friends are releasing new books, and I’m delighted to recommend all three!

The Second Greatest Thief by Christine Cohen (hi, Christine!) - I had the privilege of reading a (very fun) early draft of Christine’s first middle grade novel, and I’m so looking forward to the final version. It’s all kids and heists and steam punk New York—the perfect read as I snuggle a three-month old next winter. Preorder the book now—it releases February 2027!

The Silent Bells by N.D. Wilson - The fourth and final installment of the Ashtown Burials series is finally coming for Christmas! Preorder it here. You can also buy the complete set with all-new covers. Absolutely cannot wait to dive in. Cyrus Smith is the best.

100 Cupboards (graphic novel) by N.D. Wilson - Recently released! Get it here. Cedar is loving the pictures and regularly flips through the book himself, though obviously it’s intended for older kids. Maybe the fact that Nate dedicated the book to him has something to do with it!

That’s all for now! See you later this month (or early August, let’s be real).

Cheers,
Gwen