I have been [harrumph!] tagged

By Monica, to whom wicked things will soon be done.

Here’s the gig.

1. Delve into your blog archive.

2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).

3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendasÒ€¦

5. Tag five people to do the same.

Well — this is the ENTIRE 23rd entry:

2611 words

Done for the night. And I like what I got today.

It seems so simple, doesn’t it? So complete unto itself. Writer gets good words, closes up shop for the night. How Tao.

Not.

It was written on November 5th, 2001, and the book I was working on at the time was Closer to Chaos. Haven’t heard of that one? That’s because on the 25th of November, a mere twenty days hence, I would discover the book’s actual theme, and realize that I had to throw away more than 280 finished pages, and start over with nothing but the first chapter. At that point, I would retitle the book The Wreck of Heaven (link is to the Wreck of Heaven category). This is the book that would kick my ass through a brutal three-times-through first draft and a grueling revision that would not die.

So while on the surface this looks like a happy, writer-progressing-nicely entry; underneath the shark that was going to devour about 60,000 words of work was already circling. I was doomed. Doomed, I tell you. And there I was, paddling through the open sea, carefree and happy, thinking things were going well.

Which, if you want to look at subtext and such, was a small fractal shard of a much larger picture of that year and the next three. Think Jaws: The Career. In the end, the book became something I loved. Ditto my career. But getting there …. oh, mama!

Just the sort of thing you want to think about on your birthday, too, lemme tell you.

So — passing on the madness, I tag:

Zette
Heather
Jean
Carter
Margaret

(I would have tagged Sheila, too, but she’s got three deadlines this week, and I don’t want her to hurt me.)

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By Holly

Novelist, writing teacher, on a mission to reprint my out-of-print books and indie-publish my new ones.

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e_Jim
17 years ago

Thanks for your reply. I don’t see any value in being tagged.But like you said it’s an evil trick. Any penalty if you ignor the tag?

Jim

arrvee
17 years ago

Happy Birthday, Holly!

I know I’m late. My Internet has been acting up badly lately. I’m gonna have to break down and get DSL, I guess.

Thanks for the Charley Horse…um…tag. At least this one will be easier than the permutation Heather tagged me with.

Melonie
17 years ago

A belated happy birthday to you. May any further tagging be gently done and less despised!

e_Jim
17 years ago

Happy Birthday Holly.

What does being tagged mean anyway?
I use Blogger for my weblog and
running a phpNuke site but I’m on
the bottom end of the learning
curve.

Kayla
17 years ago

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! πŸ™‚

enyafan713
17 years ago

Happy Birthday, Holly! I hope it’s great!
~Brian

Bridget
Bridget
17 years ago

To borrow from the Simpsons: “I wish you better than your heart desires.”

Happy birthday, Holly!

Gabriele
17 years ago

Happy Birthday, Holly.

So it’s another Libra here. πŸ™‚

Linda
17 years ago

I’m doomed!! Tammy tagged me and everywhere I go, someone has already tagged the few people I know for sure read my blog and might actually see the tag. BTW–Tammy already tagged Sheila, for after she’s done with her deadlines. And–Happy Birthday!!

MarFisk
17 years ago

Okay, done. And with an oddly appropriate result. If you’re curious, look here:

http://marfisk.blogspot.com/2005/10/tagged-23rd-post.html

Cheers,
Margaret

Sleepycat
Sleepycat
17 years ago

Happy birthday, Holly! This is my first time posting but I just wanted to tell you that you’re my hero.

MarFisk
17 years ago

Happy Birthday Holly! I loved Wreck of Heaven too, so I guess if you had to toss 60k,
you certainly came back with a bang. But ouch! Hard decision for sure.

Wow, I’ve never been tagged before…honestly, I’m about 2 weeks behind in my blog
reading because life has just been too chaotic, so I have to wave to Val for telling
me about it :). Now I wonder if I’ve even made 23 entries…I am new to this
blogging thing unlike you. No 2001 entries for me :D. I’ll wander over and figure it out now.

Cheers,
Margaret

tambo
17 years ago

Happy Birthday Holly!!

So, when are we all going out to paint the town Electric Purple to celebrate? We’re all meeting at your place, right? πŸ˜‰

Deathbyabsurdity
17 years ago

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Holly!
Happy Birthday to you!

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