___1___
It’s officially National Novel Writing Month. Naturally, this means that this week I had two kids have days off school (different days–naturally) and an early out on a third.
___2___
Nonetheless, I have written 4,268 words so far, and thankfully I got stopped by scheduling, not by dry creative wells. So although it’s going ve-ry sl-ow-ly, it is going. And that’s the point.
___3___
While I was waiting for Alex at school yesterday, I spent a little time at the piano, fiddling with something I wrote down a few weeks ago. It’s in a brutal key (Eb minor) but I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I’m afraid most of you with enough musical knowledge to understand why that is a brutal key will simply say, “But Kate, just put it in a different key.” Are there any musicians out there who will back me up when I say that I just can’t, because it loses a major part of its beauty if I do? Key does make a difference. Each key has its own feel and quality to it. Eb minor is like dark chocolate and butter–rich and dark and haunting. Putting this in boring old D minor would strip it of what makes the melody special.
___4___
Once in a while, someone will ask me, “What does it feel like to write something so beautiful?” I’ve never tried to answer that question before, but here’s my attempt: Humbling. It’s by no means a guarantee that simply sitting down at the piano and putting fingers to keys is going to result in something worthwhile. When I hear a beautiful melody, it amazes me as much as it amazes the people who ask the question. Hmm. I might need to blog on that topic sometime.
___5___
We found out some crazy good news this week: Liguori is down to the last 800 or so copies of my book. Wow! Talk about humbling! I’m signing copies all weekend for the next three weeks at the local parishes, and going on the radio next week. I also talked to the editor of the diocesan paper yesterday (while Alex was running in and out with an apparently life-threatening, although completely invisible, boo-boo on his hand), and Christian is working on a placement in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as well. Oh yes, and don’t forget yesterday’s blog tour. Conventional Wisdom tells you that you’ll spend more time than you thought possible on promotion, but even though you believe it, it’s still hard to fathom when it becomes reality.
___6___
Here’s a deep topic for the day. You might have noticed that gay issues are one of the few subjects on which I don’t pontificate here. That’s because it’s an issue on which I feel deeply conflicted. When what I believe to be true crashes into the reality of the gay Catholics I know, each of whom are deeply faith-filled people, I come up feeling that my beliefs are inadequate. This is not an invitation to try to convince me one way or another–only an introduction to this post from a woman with a gay son, which I think makes the difficulty of simple answers clear. I share it because I can’t help feeling that gay issues are a lot more gray than those of us who believe in Church teachings on sexuality would like them to be.
___7___
Whew, that’s a lot of ground to cover for one Quick Takes post. I have to say, lately these are getting to be my favorite posts. I used to be looking for things to fill them; not so much anymore.
Have a great weekend!
Kathleen M. Basi 
Congratulations on all the creative successes this week. I’m not particularly musical but my husband is and I’m sure he would agree that the key is non-negotiable.
I totally agree that key is everything! We change keys to contemporary praise and worship songs all the time to better accommodate the assembly, but there are a few of those songs where it’s just not the same.
When my husband writes for singers, the instrumentalists complain about the keys they get stuck in–5 and 6 sharps!–but he, too, insists the key is the best for the singers. I know he’s not blowing smoke, because I play in community theater groups often and musicals are always written in rotten keys for the instrumentalists!
Thanks, guys. You make me feel better. I actually loathe writing in E-flat minor, because at some point I always, always come to a Cb chord, and I firmly believe that it’s ridiculous to write Cb when B is so much easier to read. But how confusing is that, then, to read from 6 flats to 5 sharps and back in a chord change???? Ach! (to use a German phrase)
I took piano as a kid just up until the composition part. I learned all about transposing (but I forget now). But I played and I now listen enough to know that yes, key makes a difference.
I also really enjoyed reading that post you refer to in #6. What she discusses as the hard things are all the things I ponder when I think about gay issues.
Have a great weekend.
That’s what I thought, when I read it. Thanks, I’ve been really anxious about having included that in my list today. (This level of anxiety, I hope everyone realizes, is why I do not talk about this issue. I just can’t come to any sense of peace about it.)
Congrats on all your successes, especially the book stuff! That’s so exciting!
And I look forward to reading the post you linked to.
Topic 6: I always think of it this way. Sex before marriage is a sin, no matter the gender. If only a heterosexual couple can get married, then the gay couple will continue to live in sin. Who can say that a heterosexual couple’s relations are any less of a sin than a gay couple’s? Sin is sin in this case.