i tell her of an article i read, about writing a novel. it’s a step by step guide that centers around the idea of a snowflake, starting from a simple shape and developing the corners exponentially until from a triangle you get the snowflake. and i explain to her that there’s so much prep work, it’s organic in of itself, but i wonder if i really do have it in me to do so, to commit to such a task. and she responds with an idea, i test her by pointing out it has to be in 15 words or less. but what she comes up with isn’t half bad. what a story, she says, about you and your mom, starting from her childhood, your father up to the point when he left you guys, then imagine the rest. and i had something like that years ago, a convoluted thing bereft with repetition and imagination but died soon after. it is appealing, although, where to begin? always the first question.