language and writing

Language is so funny. I notice my kids code-switching to talk about things in the language they happened in. And last week I got up to introduce myself to a group and found I could barely talk. I did a fair amount of public speaking, mostly in German, in the past two years, and don't mind it/kind of enjoy it. But I simply couldn't get English to come out of my mouth! I have no problem one on one, but this was the Wrong Setting for English. I even found myself fighting false cognates, like using "become" to mean "get" (bekommen = to get/receive in German). The brain is a strange thing. I still listen to kids at the park or school pick up line and marvel that they can speak such good English, so young!

And--I've got another idea for another book. Completely unrelated to the others, but it's there. Hm. Hopefully it can wait a couple years, because I've got things in line ahead of it. There's no shortage of book ideas around here--they are floating all around and all I have to do is reach out my hand and pluck one. (Now, if only time worked that way... :). Even working on an existing book (which is work when you get down to it) is interesting--if I'm going to think up what happens and then write it down, I can stare at a blank screen all day. But if I just plunge in and start writing, no matter how stupid it starts, I find things about the character and plot leaking out of my fingers in the very act of writing. (This is why outlining first doesn't happen for me. I have to write, then outline for the revision.) I just found out why my character does a certain thing from doing this random scene writing thing. It's like all these characters are already there, and I just need to carve away the stuff that's hiding them.