Blood-Orange Smoothie Herbal Tea

Dear Reader,

                My friend, if you have the will and the passion for traveling, I suggest you go to Savannah, Georgia. It is a great city, where the history of the place soaks out of every brick, there is a kind atmosphere all around you and even kinder people there. I truly enjoy my weekend there, and it has done get for my mind and soul. I need to break. As you can image, it is far too easy for me to get wrapped up in my life and the holiday to the south was a good way to break up the monopoly.

                Not only did I find rest on the sandy beaches and in the cool ocean water, but I also came back with a strong scene of inspiration. I don’t, as of right now, have a story in mind but the weight of the city came back with me. When you walked the streets of Savannah, you can feel the history in the air. You know every stone has a story to be told about the city or the people or events that were here long before you, and if you were to spend your life unearthing these tales, then it would not have a wasted life at all.

The city itself is history.

It is like history come to life to take back the walls of the building and infect every person with the feeling of awe. Awe in the fact this city has been here long before you and will be here long after you. I have taken this idea or feeling and long to put into my work. I want the reader to feel as if the characters in my stories live in a world with a rich, breathing history, much like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. I have always known this was a key to those books success, but I have never felt it until now. I can only hope to translate what I have experience into my stories one day.

Speaking of stories, I have finished yet another manuscript in ToWos, and I’m very proud of the story. The seeds of something great as been bury within the pages and now all I have to do is water them to bring them to life. I must always remind myself that writing the first draft is simply pushing seeds into the wet earth with your fingers and the hopes one day a tree will be born. But for a story, the water is not from the sky but from the editing process which I still lack greatly. I cannot seem to find any joy in the work.

And it is work for me. I have a feeling every writer runs into the hurdle, going back to their work to edit it. It must be the writer’s curse. I cannot tell when my work is good or what to keep or what to take out. I put every word the pages for a reason, and every word is important to the story, but words must be cut, scenes must have changed or rewritten, and at the end of the day, it is a lot of work. It is the grind of the job and makes what I love to do feel like work for a little bit.

The feeling of work might be why I have a rough time going back to editing, but it must be done. Most of my friends around me say, “That is why you hired an editor,” and I do not disagree with them. They are right, but I first must have my work ready for an editor to see. The story itself must be solid before I send it out into the world to someone I wish to read it and hopefully publish it.

I’m trying however to find a way to make myself do this part of the job. I make myself sit down and get to work every day no matter what and if I only get through one page it is better than no pages at all. It is a slow build to a good story.

Of course, I hope to have something publish soon, but we shall see how that is going. I will let you know when my book comes out and send you a copy. There is a lot moving parts in my life right now; about to head back into school. Hopefully, for my last year and come out the other side in the realm of philosophy. Once I had gained this title (of Philosopher), I plan to back up my books and head to Texas for a while. My sister has lied shallow roots there, and I wish to join her. I feel it in my bones there are some great opportunities in the Lone Star state waiting for me and at the very less it will be an adventure.

The knowledge of knowing I’m going to be moving at the end of the year has put me in an odd state of mind. I feel I must enjoy as much of home as I can while at the same time be wary of new connections I make in my life right now. I feel as if I have one foot in and the other on its way out which is odd to me. I don’t remember ever feeling like this before, but I'm truly enjoying it.

We both know a lot can help in a year’s time but unless it is earth moving very little is going to change my plans on moving south. I do not plan on spending the rest of my days in Texas just sometimes there and then seeing what else there is in the world. Where ever I end up in my life I wish it would be in the mountains and somewhere far coolly than Texas. Wish me luck my friend, for I will need it.

With a Handshake,

Chase

P.S.

I’m greatly sorry I could only send one letter to you this month as you can imagine life has been hectic, between me trying to put food on the table and finish my last story I have had little time to do much else. I pray one day I will not be living week to week, paycheck to paycheck and that my finance will be stable to some degree. I pray I will not live my whole life poor and dreaming of something solid or dreaming of having my work shown to the world. I hope one day my art bring me some reward outside of the satisfaction of creating it. I hope one day my art bring joy to others and glory to God.

I have also included some pictures of our time in Savannah, most of them taken by Amber and not myself.