Rodney Dodig

There are times during the day and late evening when I can’t help but stare out the window. In my living room the view is particularly captivating. Most evenings in the summer, pink tinged grey clouds float softly against the western horizon. The pale blue-green turquoise sky slowly fades to a brilliant red as the sun drops out of the sky. A couple of evenings ago the most beautiful crescent moon hung over the city in the midst of this colorful background. It’s called a wizards moon according to friends I have in the US. Just before this remarkable natural display, two small birds perched on a tree limb just outside the window and trilled a sweet melody just for me. A small moment in time created by the natural world, something to give me pause, everything was perfect.

My super groß (is that how you spell that) friend Amanda invited me over to her side of the city this past week to visit a museum. I had been to this particular museum a couple of years ago with my friend Kathy. It’s the Museo Nacional de Archaeologico in Pueblo Libre. Unfortunately I lost all the photos from that visit so I was looking forward to going back. I grabbed my camera, an extra battery and hailed a taxi about 10am and headed over. The sun heated up the morning as the driver took me through sections of Lima I hadn’t seen before. I enjoy the taxi rides so much more when I get to see new things. Arriving, Amanda came down and we headed for the museum, a short one mile from her door to the plaza where the museum is located.

The Plaza Bolivar, which sits in front of the museum, is beautifully landscaped and contains a fountain, statuary as well as trees and manicured lawn. I quickly snap some photos before we head in. Amanda has insisted that she treat today, saying something about bottles of wine in the past. We enter the museum and purchase our tickets, trying to get me the jubilado (retired person) discount. The girl behind the counter isn’t having anything to do with it though. “Solo Peruanos,” she says. I don’t think to pull out my carnet and show her I am a resident. The tickets are only S/.10 so we aren’t breaking the bank. For me, this is one of the best museums in Peru. The range of artifacts, paintings, statuary, and other historical objects surpasses all the others I have been to.

We pass down a corridor through a large group of students and I pull out my camera quickly snapping photos of everything I see. It doesn’t take long for the battery on my camera to use up the little juice it has left. I reach into my pocket and pull out the other battery, glad that I remembered to get it from my camera bag. Woe is me, in my haste I have brought the extra battery for my other camera. It’s too big for this one. A small curse at my stupidity escapes my lips causing Amanda to ask me what’s wrong. There’s nothing to be done about it, these are the rechargeable type so getting new ones at the gift shop is not an option. I do finally realize that I can use the camera on my phone but after downloading them to my computer I see that most are useless.

The museum is huge with courtyards, corridors and rooms galore. It takes up a couple of hours to make it through all the exhibits. Satisfied that we have nurtured our quest for the cultural heritage of Peru we head over to a small menú for lunch. I have the estofado de pollo with a fruit salad while Amanda opts for a sanguche de palta (avocado) with fries and a fruit salad. For a mere S/.6 each, it was filling and delicious. From the menú we walked over to the Taberna Queirolo, a historical bar and eatery a mere block from the museum. If you like old bars which have maintained their ambiance, this is the place to hang out. Amanda ordered a bottle of wine, a nice dry red, and we spent the next couple of hours drinking and chatting the time away. Once the bottle was emptied, we headed out. Amanda back to her work on book number two and me back to my cozy desk to work on editing my first book again. It was a fantastic day. Thanks AW, I love hanging out with ya!

The writers’ group finally met again this past week. We discussed an excerpt from Katrina’s new book. I particularly loved this piece. It took me back to the days when I grew up on a farm, learned to drive a tractor, ride a bike and got a horse for my birthday. It was a good meeting with lots of great conversation about our writing. Larry and I met again on Friday. We spent most of the time trying to figure out how to organize our days so that we could get more writing accomplished. It’s puzzling how time can evaporate so quickly. One minute you have a whole day to get things done, then before you know it, it’s bed time. Needless to say, we didn’t come up with any solutions. Not surprising since even Einstein had trouble with time. Have a great week everyone. February is almost over. March is coming and Fall is on the way for those of us in the southern hemisphere, Spring for all you northerners.

I sent out more query letters this week. I think I’ve sent a total of twelve now. That’s a long way from the 100 that I’ve set as a goal before resorting to self publishing on Amazon. I’ve mentioned before what a process it is to get those letters out. So far I’ve concentrated on those that do not ask for a synopsis of the book. That’s putting your entire book in five to six hundred words. No teaser, just what happens from beginning to end as succinctly as possible. I’ve put those off because I haven’t written it yet. I’m still muddling it about in my head, the best way to write and not have it sound boring. I’m still struggling with chapter 13 and think I am going to take Larry’s advice and put it to the side and start on chapter 14. I want to blame the heat and humidity for my lack of creativity this past couple of weeks. But, to be honest, I think there’s something else going on. I haven’t figured out what it is yet but the minute I do, you all will be the first to know.

My friend Amanda finished editing her second book and sent it to me for overall opinions. It’s a great read, lots of exciting action with just the right mix of suspense. There were a few problems for me, the reader and I will discuss them with her at our next adventure day. I admire her work ethic when it comes to writing. Despite the fact that I lock myself away in my room and try to force the words out, solitaire comes up on my screen far too often. Another distraction is a very stupid little game on my iPod called “Pet Hotel.” It’s the most ridiculous game yet very addicting. I’ll be deep in thought and the next thing I know, my iPod is in hand and I’m playing the game without thinking about it. It’s frustrating to say the least. It’s all Steve’s fault though. LOL He put it on the iPod for me to play on airplanes and when I travel. I’m going to have to get brave and have him permanently remove it.

I hope all of you had a great Valentine’s Day and were able to spend it with a person or persons you love. Mine was great, enough said! This past week I went to the movies with Steve and Antonio. We saw “Limitless Power,” it’s “Poder Sin Limites” in Spanish. I loved the premise of the movie but hated the 8mm film effect. It was jerky and distracting. I think it was novel the first few times they did a movie this way but now it’s time to move on. Rent it, that way you can rewind when you miss stuff because of the horrible camera action. I’ll give it 2½ Llamas on my scale.

I had a plumbing problem this week. Our bill quadrupled and I had to have a plumber come in and check for leaks. The water bill was almost $80 and the plumber, who did a lot of work, charged another $75 (including parts). Let’s hope he fixed whatever caused the bill to go up like that. As a result, the Writers’ Group meeting was canceled for the week. We will discuss another work done by Rinda, our guest author in Cusco this coming Thursday. I went to the US Embassy this past week and had pages added to my passport. It was a relatively painless process. I dropped off the passport and forms as well as paid the fees at 8am. I returned at 4pm and they had the passport ready for me. I’ll say one thing, the embassy looks like Fort Knox. Friday I met with Larry again. We had our usual coffee and empanadas along with a great chat. We talked a lot about his new book and bounced ideas for some subplots back and forth. Naturally politics, household help and other topics were scattered throughout the meeting. On Sunday I met Lourdes and Tim for breakfast. Tim will be making a border run this week to get his visa renewed. Otherwise they’re both doing well.

I went through a bunch of old photos this past week. They brought back some great memories of travels with friends. Thought I would share some of them with you. Have a great week everyone. Get up, get out, be active, enjoy life!

Multiple lines of conflict, villains against villains, good guys battling good guys and the standard villain versus good guy plot line, have all been occupying my thoughts on book two this week. They talk to me in my dreams, wild scenes appearing one after the other, most of them too crazy to include in the book. All this has been good. I think I’ve finally managed to figure out the direction I want the plot to take. There will be plenty of subplots as I move forward. Action will be the order of the day. Greed and power will feed the villains. Revenge and justice will feed my heroes. I’m ready to jump into the fray and continue working on my book now.

This past week I sent query letters off to a couple more agents. I need to increase that number this week. I’m still struggling with the concept of a synopsis for my book. A lot of the agencies ask for one, usually one to two pages in which you summarize your entire book. I haven’t really started the yet but hope to work on it this week along with getting the query letters. This part of writing takes up a lot of time, which takes away from the second book and my concentration on it. Hopefully I’ll get better at this process.

It rained in Lima this past week. Actual drops of water falling from the sky. It was great hearing the pitter patter on the corrugated plastic roofing outside my bathroom window. It lasted almost 12 hours and we got a whole ½ inch of rain. I need to look up the plans for an arc on the internet and start gathering the animals.

The writers’ group met on Thursday or at least Amanda and I did. The rest of the group was either sick, traveling, had a birthday or a new student they had to meet. As a result, the only feedback I got on the seven chapters of my book that I submitted was from Amanda. It was great but I do like a variety of opinions from people. I fear that the group is slipping away and soon I will be on my own with my writing projects.

The last of my dental work was completed this week. Alex replaced the four upper and lower teeth with crowns on the left side where he kept my bite intact. Now my smile is perfect and I have a lot more teeth than I did before. A truly gross photo of before and after is included in the post. It amazes me how cheap dental work is here in Peru. Crowns ($300 each) and implants ($600 each) is the price that Alex charges. I know it’s in the thousands in the US.

I had breakfast with Tim and Lourdes Sunday morning. Tim finally has the job he’s always wanted, a steady 8 – 5 with benefits. After that Amanda met me and I took her over to Huaca Pucllana to take a tour of the ruins. We both got a little too much sun but it was worth it. They have opened new platforms on the top of the pyramid and discovered many mummies there. Afterwards we went to a little vegetarian restaurant for lunch. The times I spend with her are always about writing. Katrina has been sick all week. A touch of the flu I think. Kathy’s birthday was last week and today she’s headed back to the US for a couple of months. Naturally Larry and I had our weekly coffee on Friday. We spent most of the time fleshing out ideas for each of the books we are writing. It’s been a busy eight days and I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done. I hope to correct that this week. Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

Another strong earthquake was recorded near Ica this past week. They’re called terremotos here. There have been many quakes in Peru in the three years I have been here. I’ve only felt one of them and at the time, middle of the night, I woke up thinking it was a tornado. It was over in microseconds. I feel bad for the people of Ica. It seems that they suffer from more of these than other parts of Peru. Fortunately no one was killed in this one but I think about 100 injuries were reported along with the destruction of several buildings and homes. Many of my expat friends here have backpacks near their door filled with necessities in case a big one strikes Lima. I keep my kitchen well stocked with canned goods and bottled water and my exit is though that room so I feel I’m as prepared as anyone could be.

I feel like I am struggling a little with my second book. The plot keeps changing in my head. The writing itself proceeds fairly well. I think I’m easily keeping up with the pace that I maintained at the first of book one. I just hope that as I approach the middle of the book, everything will solidify and the chapters will come out a lot faster. I look at writers like James Patterson who seems to put out a book a week and wonder how they do it. Maybe someday I’ll have a staff of editors and writers working for me and they’ll flesh out my ideas for me and this will all be easier. I’m working on chapters 11 and 12 this weekend. I hope to finish them and start on thirteen Monday. We’ll see how it goes. I may be averaging 500 words a day, but that’s definitely better than zero. I haven’t received any more responses to my query letters but I did revise it and send it to a couple more agencies this past week. One promises a response in three to six months. Wouldn’t it be great if I had the second book completed by the time they responded?

The writers’ group met last Thursday for the first time in two months. It was great to get together again. We welcomed a new member, Polly Montgomery. She was a teacher who taught teachers how to teach writing. Judging from her contributions at that meeting she will be an excellent addition. We discussed a piece by Victoria called “Hello World.” It was a nifty little short story from a parrot’s point of view about things going on at the Patio where we meet. All members were present and before we started the critique, we went around the table and discussed our writing projects. We are a diverse group and our projects represent that. I met Tim and Lourdes for breakfast last Sunday. They seem to be doing fine. Tim is still trying to find a job teaching at a school. Lourdes is back to work at her school and will start work on her thesis for her Masters this year. My coffee with Larry on Friday was typical. We each discussed the progress we’ve made on our books. Larry is trying to sketch an outline to work from and is researching Peru and what it was like to live here in the late 1930s. From what he’s told me of his plot (a spy/thriller), it’s going to be a good one. Steve is thinking about going back to University and finishing his degree in engineering. At age 34, it’s going to be tough on him to get back into the school mode. He’s a smart guy though and if he applies himself, I’m sure he’ll be successful. We’ll see if he follows through on it.

That’s it for this week. Not sure I’m going to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. There are several expat events going on around Lima. It might be interesting but as the saying goes, “I don’t have a dog in this fight.” Till next time, as I’m constantly urging you; be creative, exercise, eat right or to quote Spock, “Live long and prosper.”