My Week in Review: Beware of Dragons

Beware of Dragons

“Happiness is like the enchanted palaces we read of in our childhood, where fierce, fiery dragons defend the entrance and approach; and monsters of all shapes and kinds, requiring to be overcome ere victory is ours.”

I found this in The Count of Monte Cristo and it struck me as exceptionally beautiful. I haven’t yet decided whether it’s just the allusion to palaces and dragons and victories that I love so much, or whether there’s a piece of wisdom hidden here.

A few weeks ago I wrote about how our attitude is a matter of choice. Bad day or no, we can still choose to delight in it. I think this is Dumas’ more poetic way of saying that.

Brought to mind is the old seafarer’s warning, “Here be dragons.” It was not, as one might suppose, a caution against sea monsters, but a caution against the unknown. This phrase, along with depictions of serpents, were used on old charts to mark unmapped territory.

I think this phrase could be used in real life, the dragons those unknown threats to our daily happiness. As we leave an old week and enter a new, I say, “Beware of dragons.”

The most important thing to happen this week is that I’ve delved back into polishing my middle grade manuscript, Rodney and the Gonjii. I never intentionally stop working on this, but Important and Time Sensitive Stuff always seems to divert me on long detours. Making time for writing is the most important thing a writer needs to know, but it’s also something we (at least I) must continually work at.

Vocab Fab

·     Muddlehead: Confused or inept. Made even more entertaining by the fact I pulled it from The Count of Monte Cristo. One just does not expect to find what one could easily hear Toph using to insult Sokka in classic literature.

·     Staid: sedate and settled in habits or temperament, sometimes to the point of dullness

The Reading Nook

This week I finished:

·     The Stone of Valhalla by Mikey Brooks, rated 4 stars.

·     Mary Poppins, She Wrote by Valerie Lawson, rated 3 stars.

I was disappointed I didn’t enjoy this biography by Lawson more, but I suppose it’s not terribly surprising. This biography of P.L. Travers was touted as the basis for the movie Saving Mr. Banks, which is the real reason I wanted to read it. Imagine, I read a bio of P.L. Travers because I wanted to know more about Walt Disney, and it wasn’t my favorite read. There’s probably a lesson here somewhere. That’s not to say the book isn’t well written or researched; I only found it wasn’t to my interest. I am, however, even more intrigued to see how they pull off the movie.

But now for the most important question of the week: What are YOU reading?