Merrily Onward

Monday, March 10, 2025

I have found how to keep my thoughts busy and away from continuing assaults on and insults to our nation’s democracy.

Yesterday, I found a complete draft of my short story, “Little Miss Merry,” after not having seen it for years and eventually not thinking much about it. I first wrote “Merry” in 2012, after my adorable young Welsh Pony, Merry Leggs, suffered a severe colic attack and died. The story was a tribute to her, and writing it was essential to me as a way of working through my deep sadness of intertwining loss, grief, and guilt.

For weeks, while writing that story, I discovered it was impossible to self-edit effectively. “Merry” needed an outside editor and also an illustrator. I knew no capable editors and artists and couldn’t afford to hire those talents. Eventually, I set “Merry” aside; she finally wound up “lost” among my long-stored papers.

Recently, I began playing with AI’s editing and illustrating capabilities and suddenly remembered “Little Miss Merry” and that story’s needs. I also didn’t know where to find the story draft or even if one was still around—until yesterday, when I discovered a hard copy.

After quickly scanning the story onto my computer, I purchased a Word Platform subscription (which transformed the draft into an editable document). This morning, I re-read my original draft for the first time in years and enjoyed it. I discovered a gap in the story’s flow and will write a “bridging section.”

Afterward, I’ll test AI editing and illustration capabilities. Hopefully, the editing will strengthen my story’s flow and understandability, and maybe AI can accommodate my sense of Merry in its image creations.

Dear Friends: Pure creativity is all-embracing, a condition of rush. Diana