An Unexpected Journey

I went on a walk on Sunday, entirely by accident. I only meant to go to the park near my house, to drink coffee and listen to a podcast, and enjoy the little daylight we get now that winter has just about come. There's a fallen log just ahead of the lake that would have been a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the sun.

And then I saw this sign.

And I was curious.

Where did this footpath lead?

How far would it go?

What fallen trees and other treasures would I find along it?

I began my journey.

Goodbye, lake.

And goodbye, Autumn.

Look at those sad, bare trees.

And I left my park completely, hoping I'd have enough podcast to listen to on my way back home.

I walked through one field after another, following the public footpath signs all the way.

Crossed a bridge made for much more interesting journeys.

Got stared down by some sheep.

And as I came to the end of this new, long field, I discovered I'd walked halfway to the next town, not around the park, like I'd thought I'd done.

Somehow, my podcast was still going, so I meandered down some country lanes.

which are not like any roads in the US. These can fit a single car (sometimes) and are fortified by wicked looking hedges.

And sometimes stone walls. It was a lovely walk, really. Although I had absolutely no idea where I was headed for most of it.

Finally, I made my way back to a field that I was familiar with, just at the edge of the park. The sheep did not want me in their field.

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With podcast left, I made my way back home.

Through all of the winter scrabble (I came across a peasant on this trail).

My podcast, which was much longer than usual, ended as I walked up the road to my house.

In the end, my little detour took me through more than five miles of hilly English countryside. And although it was a beautiful and invigorating stroll… I think I'll stick with my fallen tree this week.

Best,

Julia

And as winter approaches...

So this morning, I woke up at 3a.m. which might not seem like an accomplishment to you, but it has been the most human-like time I've woken up in the past few weeks. I might have gone slightly (completely) nocturnal, bu tI'm getting more in the swing of things, now. I've been keeping up with my NaNoWriMo word count. I've been almost keeping up with all of my coursework. And this morning, I even had enough time to write a few postcards for people back home.

I only sent out four postcards, in this batch, but I had a lot of birthdays to get through. I'll send out some more soon.

I won't rant about how much I love writing letters to you today.

But I love writing letters.

I.

Love.

Writing.

Letters.

In other news.

In the past week I've come upon the INSANE realisation that there are only a few weeks left in this term. But the trees are pointing me true. Most of their leaves are lying in brown heaps on the ground. Fall is coming to an end and winter will soon be at hand.

In about a month, I'll be heading back home for the holidays. (And all of my coursework will be due, including an essay I haven't 100% started yet). How strange is that?

It's been a wonderful term. I'll be pretty sad to see it come to a close.

And pretty stressed. (re: the essay).

This is only going to be a small update. I need to head to the post office before class, but I'll leave you some pictures I've taken recently before I go. Would you like some more pictures of Corsham? Of course you would. It's beautiful.

All my best,

Julia

Halloween + NaNoWriMo

Things have been... foggy here lately. November arrived and so did the mists. Remember how an old nickname for the UK used to be "the misty isles?" This is a thing right? I'm not just making this up? I've gone a bit nocturnal recently (whoops) but when I am awake for the little daylight we have here, anything more than a few dozen yards into the distance is a hazy grey.

I love it.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. This year, I got dressed up as a witch and went into the city to celebrate with my friends. We had a marvellous time.

I usually take a little longer than most people to transition from Halloween Mania to Christmas Frenzy. Early November is still Peak Spooky Time. The leaves are still changing! There's still just the slightest chill to the air! And here: the fog. 

The fog is great. Nothing seems to suggest a cozy day inside with hot chocolate, a wool blanket, and a couple of ghost stories than fog.

You know what also rolled in off the hills this November?

That's right! This year I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month!

Next September, my Manuscript is due. It's the crux of this entire course. A 35-40k word book for children. So far, I've been writing about 1,500 words per week. Usually over the course of two days. For assignments due in class (ie. rarely part of my manuscript). This is far more than I wrote all summer, but if I wrote 1.5k words of my manuscript every week, it would take 27 weeks to complete a draft of my manuscript.

That's half a year.

And first drafts are never any good.  Second drafts generally have some okay content. Third drafts can be acceptable on occasion, but are never as good as a forth draft.

Do you see where I'm going? Because I saw where I was going with those 1,500 a week. 

I needed to give myself a little kick, change up my life to make writing the priority.

NaNoWriMo has a pretty silly premise: write 50,000 words in a month. In this particular month. Even if they're terrible words. Even if your story is only 40,000 words. Even if your story is 250,000 words. Even if you get in a huge fight with your family over Thanksgiving and you're super stressed out and you have no time to write this week at all.

November is a terrible month for me. The term will be winding down and I'll have all sorts of things due: rewrites, essays, picture books, etc. But I've decided to be bold and give it a try anyway. I like watching my word count go up on their handy little graphs. I like having scores of other people writing at the same time. I like the pep talks. Basically, I like the outside motivation and the optimism of it all.

Worst case scenario, I'll have an extra couple thousand words of my first draft written.

I'll keep you updated as the month wanders along. In the past two days, I've already written nearly 3.5k.

Until then, here are some of my favorite links about NaNoWriMo (if you are so inclined).

An interview with Stephanie Perkins

A Pep-Talk from Rainbow Rowell

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo

Best,

Julia

So this is my school

Hello again! So this year, I'm doing an MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University--or as I'll be calling it from now on: my course at BSU.

I've been attending classes for about a month now, and I love everything about the course. I love the workshops, the tutors, my coursemates, and the work I've been doing on the course. In the very beginning of the year, I went to a talk hosted by some graduates of the program who are all now published, successful authors. I'm not sure anything has made me more excited about my future in my entire life. It's been a blast so far.

If I had any doubts about turning down jobs and flying halfway across the world for a degree that is unmarketable, they have all been positively obliterated.

And while this course would have been perfect for me even if the classes were taught in a basement in Detroit, the actual campus is a huge plus.

Welcome, my friends, to my school for the year:

This is Corsham Court. My classes are in the rooms just above my head. The library is in the wing to my right. Here's one of the library reading rooms:

A better view out of that window:

Corsham Court was reportable built on the site of the seat of an old Saxon king with the glamorous name of "Ethelred the Unready." The oldest parts of the current house were built in the late 1500s--and those stables remain untouched from that time. In the mid-1700s, they decided to expand the house and hired Capability Brown (given name: Lancelot Brown) to design the expansion and the park surrounding the house.

Capability Brown is probably THE most famous landscape artist of all time, and that's saying something, as there are a ton of big names in the world of landscape art.

Or maybe there aren't.

Anyway, the gardens around Corsham Court are amazing.

While I believe you can write anywhere, Corsham Court is definitely a place for writing. It's full of history and art, sham ruins, gardens, wooded paths to get lost on. It feels important and scholarly and unknown.

When I walk down the drive to class, it feels like I'm walking towards something truly great, a feeling that is amplified by--but not rooted in--the building.

Best,

Julia

Autumn in Bath

Let's pretend two months haven't passed since my last blog post. Let's pretend that I've kept you up to date on all of my adventures in Bath and Corsham. Let's pretend I told you all about how much I am loving my master's program, visiting Bath, living in Corsham, going to school at Corsham Court. About how easy making friends here was. About how I've settled in more easily than I imagined possible. It's been a busy few months. You have to cut me some slack.

So now that we've gotten through the important stuff, here's a collection of photos I've taken showcasing how absolutely gorgeous autumn has been in Corsham and Bath.

I'll be back very soon with a post about my campus.

Best,

Julia