We're Back, and Ready for Round Two!

John C. Reilly in Magnolia.

Oh, I love that quote. "We're back, and ready for round two!" It's from Magnolia, and kicks off the second half of a film that has a surprisingly spiritual heartbeat to it. Okay, maybe not spiritual. Religious? There are constant references to the Exodus chapter of the Bible, accented by a very froggy conclusion. In the beginning, we meet a slew of characters that were once in complete control of their lives, and even some of the lives around them. We see them fall apart in a bubble of denial, rebellion, and eventual understanding. Of course, it takes something cataclysmic for them to reach that point, it takes a seeming act of God.

Or is the implication of a fed up "God's act" merely a coincidence? The film implies that it could be both.

Julianne Moore and Jason Robards in Magnolia

I never really considered a similarity between Magnolia and "The Anchoress". The two do have a lot in common; there are characters religious, spiritual, and not so much either one of those that are in the end changed by a moment bigger than their collected beliefs and disbeliefs. But, I have always seen the book as a love letter to The Mission and The Exorcist. As well as my general fascination with South American rain forests, which I wholly blame on Pregny International School. I went to this school when I lived in Switzerland, and rain forest preservation was right up there with learning about Shel Silverstein.

Jeremy Irons in The Mission


Linda Blair in The Exorcist

I've never really seen myself as incredibly religious, or even totally spiritual. I have reached epiphanies and ecstasies in my life that felt beyond me, but I have never really attributed these moments to God, more-so to nature, to how freakish life can sometimes be. There is something there, however, something that keeps trying to tug me back to synagogue, something that made me live in the shoes of a more than religious, more than spiritual initiate nun for a month. I do not think I will ever get the answer to this otherwise indescribable "tug", but the spiritual world is definitely interesting to me. Especially when it comes to angels and devils, which was something I wanted to explore in "The Anchoress".

In any case, "The Anchoress" is back and ready for round two. I took a break after NaNoWriMo to focus on a previous project I had left unattended before November. Now that the second draft of that has been fired off to my writing partner, Christine, I can focus again on "The Anchoress". Helping me return to the book was my boyfriend, Andy, and my good friend, Kara. They did this for my birthday.


I was a little surprised.

The Author in shock.

And, in fact, very inspired. Not only was it cool as all get-out that my story was a hardback I could touch, it was great to have this kind of support. Kara gave me a CD of goodies that would help me on the road to realizing "The Anchoress". This last week has been spent reading through it, noting what needed changing, what worked, what didn't work, what was tacky, what was actually pretty damn good. Not only that, but I spat out a new first chapter that will be posted very soon.

I hope, those of you who read this, will enjoy the journey that Nieve and I will be embarking on. My ultimate goal with "The Anchoress" is publication. Let's see if we can make this happen. Those of you who do read this, any and all feedback, suggestion, criticism, support is welcomed. This support is appreciated and respected, and I hope you - my very few, but very loved! - enjoy this journey as much as I do.

Stay tuned, the new first chapter will be posted within the next couple days!

Image of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta