Lane von Herzen: A Breath, a Quake, a Dream

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Friday, September 10, 2010

A Breath, a Quake, a Dream

Egyptian artist Marwa Adel submitted this otherworldly photo, capturing the essence of the young woman as a dreamer who is somehow ensnared by the dream. Both ethereal and cloistered, the dreamer may or may not rouse to reclaim her intended life. While I marvel at her solitude, I yearn for her awakening.