awalkabout « Awalkabout’s Weblog

Author Archive

8 Nov

They told me so

Posted by awalkabout in Asperger's, autism, life, parenthood, sci-fi, walkabout, writing. Tagged: aliens, Asperger's, autism, fairies, NaNoWriMo, professional commitments, trophy wife, V, volleyball. 3 Comments

When I announced I was doing NaNoWriMo this year, one of my dear writer friends asked me whether I’d still keep up with the blog. Blithely I replied, “Of course!”
More the fool I.
In addition to my 15,000-plus words, however, I have kept up with life, which involved:

several court hearings, most of which went well, [...]

2 Nov

Off and running!

Posted by awalkabout in life, parenthood, walkabout, writing. Tagged: Great American Novel, NaNoWriMo, novel, vampire, writing. 5 Comments

Of all the corpses I’d seen in six years as a news reporter, Lily Kimball’s hit me the hardest.
This is the opening line of my 2009 NaNovel–like it?
Yes, National Novel Writing Month is ON! Sign-ups are still being taken on site, so if you’ve got a novel in you that you’ve always wanted to get [...]

27 Oct

Two moms on the road of life

Posted by awalkabout in life, parenthood, travel. Tagged: Asheville, Biltmore, Blue Ridge, journey, motherhood, Parkway, sister. 8 Comments

This was a weekend of women.
I drove, with my younger sister M, to see K and her girlfriends in Asheville. We stayed at their new apartment with their new Labrador and their old cat, and their cupboard that contained rice and microwave popcorn. Two chefs. Rice. Microwave popcorn. Unreal.
The first order of business was to [...]

16 Oct

Moving ahead, pen/keyboard in hand

Posted by awalkabout in divorce, life, walkabout, writing. Tagged: Lawson, Lyons, NaNoWriMo, novel, vampire, writer, writing. 6 Comments

Halfway through October, and I’ve finished a first draft of my newest novel manuscript, a women’s fiction story about a downsized lawyer who meets a younger man dying of cancer and how they change each other’s lives. It’s about the longest first draft I’ve ever had at more than 75,000 words. I’m very pleased with [...]

10 Oct

So why is it…?

Posted by awalkabout in life, parenthood. Tagged: corporate America, economy, hard times, minimum wage, retail, rip-off. 5 Comments

Why is is that all the chain groceries and other stores are posting signs all over their front windows boasting “LOWER PRICES!” and “20% lower prices!” and “Storewide lower prices” ? We know for a fact that employee costs have gone up, with the raise in minimum wage and insurance, and the prices of products [...]

7 Oct

While we’re on the subject

Posted by awalkabout in Asperger's, autism, life, parenthood. Tagged: attachment, autism, bonding, evaluation, Floortime, games, Greenspan, social groups, therapeutic. 1 Comment

I remembered this week why I quit going to most of my outside groups: I can’t stop talking about autism.
It’s not intentional. I don’t go to these meetings with the purpose of proselytizing, spreading the Word about the subject. It just happens.
For example, last week I went to a continuing education program on attachment disorders [...]

30 Sep

Whatever works; or the nature of possessions

Posted by awalkabout in Asperger's, autism, life, parenthood, travel, writing. Tagged: ADD, Asperger's, autism, connection, feng shui, health care, RAD, school, tic. 3 Comments

What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more. — Seneca
The battle of the wills continues with some improvements.
The Captain has duly been given the prescription flavor of the week for ADD. The doctor didn’t even bother to look at all the other possible diagnoses; [...]