Oh no, eye strain again
Several times a year, I end up with eye strain. This time it happened because I’ve been staring at the doc file for Dark Arrows, my novel in progress, for days as I work my way through it again and again.
When this happens, my eyes feel the way they would if I were riding a motorcycle with no helmet or goggles and had wind blowing into them for days; in other ways, it’s a bit like being on the verge of snowblindness. I find that some eye drops named Soothe really help with this.
Dark Arrows
Like all of my novels, Dark Arrows (set in early 1955) didn’t turn out like I thought it would. For one thing, I never know how my novels will turn out because I don’t outline or plan ahead. The first surprise was that Eulalie, Willie, Lena, and others from my Florida Folk Magic Series of three novels showed up in the story. (Saying “shoo, shoo”) didn’t work. And, the story turned out to be more of a mystery because there are not only bad guys and good guys, but the major characters all have secrets.
For months, I had problems getting the plot, style, and point of view to work properly. But now that I think I have all that ironed out, I’m excited about finishing the novel and sending it to Thomas-Jacob Publishing–as soon as the eye strain clears up and I can see it on the screen.
–Malcolm
Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the Florida Folk Magic trilogy that includes Conjure Woman’s Cat, Eulalie and Washerwoman, and Lena. You can save money on the Kindle version with the three-in-one set shown here.
Malcolm's Round Table 
Yes – eye strain. Waaaay too much screen time during the pandemic. I had a day off yesterday: no computer at all. But, of course, too much TV instead! Don’t, actually, feel as much better as I had hoped. And today I have the wretched blogsite to sort out 😦
My downfall isn’t so much writing work – more computer games and online jigsaws.
I try to cut down on the screen time. Not that I stop playing games, of course. Not too much TV these days since most of the shows we watch are out of production.
Looking forward to Dark Arrows!
Thank you. Still have a bit more work to do.