As Tedious as Writing a Dictionary

Our family's experienced a rough twelve months.

We lost Frances in August 2022, my father in January 2023, Ron in May 2023, and we lost Theodora, my great-niece Evelyn Celeste in her second trimester, a step-grandson (Dhane), and Cindy lost her father, too.

Rebekah also lost her car when someone totaled it while she was sitting at a red light. And I've had two separate overnight stays in the hospital this month, along with two weeks of daily trips to the infusion center.

So I entered my first vacation week of the year behind in life things and needing a nice long break. 

I had considered taking a writing retreat during this time. But, honestly, I didn't want to focus that hard. 

So how have I spent the time?

I've been catching up on sleep, odd bits of "life" chores that kept getting pushed aside all these weary months, and working on the BryonySeries guidebook that I hope to have available at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on December 7.

The guidebook is called, Welcome to Munsonville: The People, Places and Things of the BryonySeries, and I started compiling it last year.

It has an introduction and three sections: people, places, and things. Each section has the appropriate entries with brief descriptions (no spoilers) and which book(s) the reference appears.

Here's an example:

"The Fish and the Ring": An English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Fisherman and His Wife: Folk tale by the Brothers Grimm about the perils of greed and discontentment. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Girl I Left Behind Me: An old English folk song. Because a U.S. Army marching son during the War of 1812. Starts with the lyrics, “I'm lonesome since I crossed the hill, and over the moor that's sedgy.” Appears in Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles” and “Before the Blood” Bryony Simons.”

The Green-Headed League: A parody title of the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Appears in “Cornell Dyer and the Howls of Basketville.”

The Green Lady: Folktale from Hertfordshire. A poor girl finds work with a fairy and is warned by the fishes not to eat her food. Appears in “Lycanthropic Summer.”

The Eleventh Commandment and other Tales: Fictional book of short mystery stories by Harold Masters. Appears in “Bryony.”

The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous: A real ancient book, attributed to Horapollo, one of the last priests of the Ancient Egyptian religion in the fifth century. A copy sits in the library at Arcadia. Appears in “Before The Blood: Henry Matthews.”

Now, putting this BryonySeries guidebook together is as tedious as writing a dictionary. But a writing retreat is not amenable to multitasking.

But it's the perfect project for moving forward with the BryonySeries while catching up on rest and life tasks.

Have a great Friday!