Lane von Herzen: Anna's Choice

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, November 5, 2010

Anna's Choice

This surreal work comes to us from artist Olga Bubich of Belarus. Mysterious symbols, the roses seem to grow from the surface of Anna's skin. Are they the flowers of memory, of choices lost? I can't help but feel that, under the right circumstances, they will return to life, blooming heartily, vibrantly from their silent places in Anna's soul.

Ms. Bubich writes, "the image also coincides with the whole atmosphere of the book - finding unusual, mystical, supernatural things in the ordinary setting, being able to sense it due to the fragile abilities of one's spirit."

Thank you, Ms. Bubich, for this captivating interpretation.