Squawk Radio
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
ELOISA ON DOING TIME
This is part two of my hospital blog, so if you didn't read the blog yesterday, check below...
But, not to worry, this isn't another tear-jerker! I labeled this blog "doing time," because that's what it feels like when you're in the hospital with a sick child who's getting better. When she's really ill, you don't think -- you just hang on and pray. But when she's getting better, and starts sleeping snatches here and there, you sit by the bed, or on the bed, and what do you do? You can't leave -- she might wake up. You can't watch TV -- she might wake up.
Read.
I had one book with me, snatched on the way of the house. It's called Devil in Winter. Ever heard of it?
I fell into this book the way a starving person falls on a loaf of bread. I read it every moment my daughter wasn't sleeping. I read it to drown out the beeps from the monitors, and the results of blood tests I couldn't control, and the crying of babies in other rooms. Sebastian and Evie kept me company and I actually started laughing when I got to the point where Evie was taking care of Sebastian and he was getting testy about the speck of dirt in his water. Hey, I know that scene! I was living it -- except my little tyrant wasn't a gorgeous naked man wrapped in a linen sheet.
Moments of clarity descend on us in the oddest moments, whether they have to do with how we feel as moms, or how we feel as wives, or how we feel as writers. Sometimes I have to remember why I'm a writer -- and it's not just for the pure pleasure of creating stories. Part of the reason I'm a writer is that I get so much joy from taking people out of bad situations, if only for a few hours -- and I know that pleasure so well because romances give it to me.
Was there some particularly tough moment in your life when a romance saved your sanity? Tell us about it!
But, not to worry, this isn't another tear-jerker! I labeled this blog "doing time," because that's what it feels like when you're in the hospital with a sick child who's getting better. When she's really ill, you don't think -- you just hang on and pray. But when she's getting better, and starts sleeping snatches here and there, you sit by the bed, or on the bed, and what do you do? You can't leave -- she might wake up. You can't watch TV -- she might wake up.
Read.
I had one book with me, snatched on the way of the house. It's called Devil in Winter. Ever heard of it?
I fell into this book the way a starving person falls on a loaf of bread. I read it every moment my daughter wasn't sleeping. I read it to drown out the beeps from the monitors, and the results of blood tests I couldn't control, and the crying of babies in other rooms. Sebastian and Evie kept me company and I actually started laughing when I got to the point where Evie was taking care of Sebastian and he was getting testy about the speck of dirt in his water. Hey, I know that scene! I was living it -- except my little tyrant wasn't a gorgeous naked man wrapped in a linen sheet.
Moments of clarity descend on us in the oddest moments, whether they have to do with how we feel as moms, or how we feel as wives, or how we feel as writers. Sometimes I have to remember why I'm a writer -- and it's not just for the pure pleasure of creating stories. Part of the reason I'm a writer is that I get so much joy from taking people out of bad situations, if only for a few hours -- and I know that pleasure so well because romances give it to me.
Was there some particularly tough moment in your life when a romance saved your sanity? Tell us about it!
Eloisa James, 11:12 PM
45 comments
