A Blog Hop, and the Weekly Photo Challenge: Room

I still have the basement-blues after recent water woes. So before launching into my Blog-Hop news, I’ll share a photo of an upstairs room: as far from the basement as I can get!  This room used to be one of Bob’s store rooms. My goal in painting and decorating it was to use things I already have. Some things are from family, and some are flea-market finds from past years that I had packed away.

A cleaned-up spare bedroom with a vintage quilt as a wall hanging.

Now for the Blog-Hop news. Thank you to Pip Marks at Sustainability Soapbox for tagging me in a blog hop in which I’m asked to answer four questions about writing. Pip’s carefully researched posts fill us in on social and environmental issues. Her topics always pique my interest, and, being on the opposite side of the world from me, bring up issues and topics I would never have known about, like … “Using Wombats to Promote Your Blog” for example.

Here are my answers to the four “why we write” questions.

• What am I working on/writing?

I’m working up some additional chapters for my memoir about coping with grief after Bob’s death.  An editor at a recent writing conference gave me a positive critique on my work, but also told me it was too short.

• Why do I write what I do?

Bob, my late partner, weathered two cancer diagnoses and many treatments, ultimately losing his life to a complication after he was cancer free.  Losing people we love is a searing and unforgettable experience that we all have to face sometime.  The more we can share our experiences, the greater the possibility for comfort and connection.

• How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?

Memoir about grief isn’t usually funny, but he was such an entertaining and eccentric person that it’s impossible to write about knowing him without a big dose of humor.

• How does my writing process work?

I’m writing memoir, so I’m mining my experiences clearing out this house full of Bob’s stuff. OK, my stuff too. As one good example… there’s that basement I’m always complaining about. Having a leak in my grimy basement full of boxes may be horrible, but I’ll bet it’ll be entertaining before I’m through. Now all I need is a photo of me in my hazmat suit setting out to clean it up.

 

Hopping forward.  I’m pleased to tag the following bloggers as the next participants —

 

Sheila, at A Steward’s Heart writes about simple living and a missionary life in Italy. Be sure to check out those header photos on her blog — they’re views from her home.

 

Next is Christine at Red Pin Adventures. The red pins are points on the map, the places that she and her family live, and the points they travel to. After writing from her recent digs in Norway, this expat adventurer is moving again.

 

I look forward to reading their Blog Hop posts in the next few weeks. Please check back to see what they have to say.

 

Now, one last thing about that photo challenge.  If you can stand it… here’s a “before” shot of that room.

Spare room “before” —  when it was a storage room.

How’d I do?

 

More on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Room.

 

And, P.S. apologies to anyone who noticed that I accidentally hit “publish” before I finished this post… I un-pubbed asap, but I’m not sure what happens with email format.  —   Sandy

 

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