Hollyworld: Back to School—My Novel Freshman Experience

Friday, August 17, 2018

Back to School—My Novel Freshman Experience

School starts for me on the 23rd. Yep, I'm going back to school! I'm so excited. I wanted to finish my summer's work before classes started, and the face jug in the video was my final project. I know some of you have said they're ugly...and they are. That's the point really.

Why do I like making something ugly? Well, I think they're kind ugly-cute. But more than that, for me their a way to connect to my history. I've been working on-and-off on a family tree for a few years and I've found I have deep Appalachian roots. And face jugs, though they've been discovered in Mesopotamia, have deep mountain roots. I like that connection. My son asked for one. I made two, so he'll get his choice.

I am just taking once class again, and yes, it is a Ceramics Class again. LOL At this rate, I'll have finished my first freshman term by next summer.

So this might not be the fastest degree in history. Frankly, I have no clue what degree I ultimately want. But I'm having fun and that is a big part of why I'm back to school. And I'm learning so much.

What did my first term teach me? I love ceramics as much as I thought I would. If you've read, Just One Thing, you'll see a bit of my longing for a pottery class. But more than that, I'm loving the freedom of clay. I am not an expert, and I don't expect to be. I'm experimenting. I'm trying new things. Those Santas were inspired by my father-in-law. He carved his in wood. I tried to replicate some of them. And then I expanded and made my own. Those small jugs with the weird mold looking splotches? Those were an experiment. I've done a lot of black and I'm trying more colors.

But more than all that, my first year back at school reminded me how much I love learning. I mean love it. I don't know a lot about much, but I know a little about a ton of things. As a writer, that's important. When I wrote that pottery scene in Just One Thing, I'd never wedged clay. I researched it and tried to translate it. Those bits of lots of things work their way into my stories.

So what are my goals this term? To get better. I started wheel throwing over the summer. I am better than when I started, but I'm not good...I want to get better. And I want to do more carving. I've discovered I really like that aspect of claying. I'd like to make at least one container with a lid. And I really want to play with glazing and underglazing. I started painting because of the claying. I want to work more on how to translate one art to the other and back again. That picture above of a small jug I made trying to replicate the Erie beach scene I'd painted.

Back to school!

I'm so happy!

I plan a lot of claying this fall!

And maybe that's my biggest lesson...the one I want to share with all of you. I think I've found the true fountain of youth...never stop learning. Maybe your thing isn't ceramics. Maybe it's a real class. Maybe it's painting. Maybe it knitting. Maybe it's a lecture on history. Maybe...

Whatever it is it's individual, but I hope whatever your Maybe is you find it and love learning about it!

So keep an eye out for more of My Novel Freshman Experiences. Just think, in a couple years, I might be writing about My Novel Sophomore Experience! LOL

Holly

Polished Off

PS. Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure!

And there's a salespalooza this month. Check out:
Just One Thing
Hold Her Heart
Everything But...series

Don't want to miss any new releases in the future? Subscribe to my Newsletter!! I'll keep you up-to-date and I frequently have something special for subscribers!

As always, you can find my ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks and available through Kindle Unlimited. They're also available in a lot of other languages. I hope there's something for all of you!

Find my books at: