Friday, December 26, 2008

Mysteries

I am writing. Several things. And I'm doing nothing. And many things. And the mysteries keep unfolding. No, that's wrong. They don't unfold. They just are. For instance, in this new book I'm working on, I hear the story in Irish. Not Gaelic. But Irish English. Or English Irish. I don't know. I just know it's in my brain. And when I write, that's the rhythm of the words. When I read it out loud to Mario, that's how I talk. I try to stop, but then the rhythm takes over. I can't do accents when I try. But if I'm around anyone who has what my brain perceives as an accent, I quickly pick up the rhythm of the speech and I begin talking that way. Same thing with the invisibles who have accents, I suppose.

I dated a man once who had worked in the CIA. He was a linguist. Part of what he did was figure out where people were from by listening to their accents. I don't remember if that was part of his work or just something he did in addition to his work as a linguist. He was fluent in Chinese, among other languages. (He was quite a bit older than I was.) He could usually listen to someone talk for a few minutes and be able to pinpoint where they were from. He couldn't do that with me. I was a little monkey, picking up accents and words from here, there, and everywhere.

Characters often tell me their stories. This time it's not a character. It's just a voice telling this story. Maybe the accent isn't Irish. Maybe it's a Scottish voice. Or Welsh. I've been to all those places and heard the people. But I don't really know. I don't really care. I'm just a stenographer to the invisibles, to my imagination, to the stories.

I had more to say. Or less. But we're off to bed now. We'll get up early and work, and then we're driving to Scottsdale for a holiday dinner with my family.

May You Let the Mysteries Be in Beauty!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't you drive your car to Arizona? Now I'm mystified too.
Susan

Kim Antieau said...

I don't understand your mystification. Yes, we drove to AZ.

Anonymous said...

Then why is your car buried in your driveway?
No post
Susan

Kim Antieau said...

We have two cars. One is here with us. One is buried in snow. ;-)

 
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