Institute of Children's Literature

Well, I took the plunge! I decided that it was time that I stopped hippity-hopping all over the known universe and to make a very serious, concentrated effort to polish the fine craft of writing to better my efforts and chances at/for publication. I applied to and was accepted by the Institute of Children's Literature. I have my own personal tutor! Assignment 1 has been submitted and I am doing some of the suggested things that are in the manual while waiting for my tutor's comments, suggestions, etc. I am very excited about this journey. It should take about a year. After that, I should feel more secure in my writing endeavors and should also feel much better prepared to write to submit.
It IS a journey! Title? "Journey to the Center of MY Universe." :-)

A Rainy December Day...

Redundant? It's not a typo. It really is December and it is, in fact, raining. The river is the highest that I have seen it. The flip camera got a workout as I walked around the perimeter of the property. The entire floodplain is submerged and the water is flowing like it does in the riverbed itself. I shudder to think what-all debris will be dropped as it recedes. It's actually frightening to walk near the flood level. It's deep. It's dark. It's cold. Plus it's moving at an amazing speed. Huge trunks of fallen trees are moving by effortlessly. Ice chunks seem to glance up at me menacingly as they move on by. The whole thing is awe-inspiring, but really really scary.

Anyway...writing...
I was accepted by the Institute of Children's Literature for their children's and young adult's program of learning. I am totally pumped. (Did I just "date" myself?). I will have my own personal tutor, who is a published author herself as well as having been trained by the Institute. I will be starting in January. It is affordable and certainly feels like the prospects for me are full of promise. It has been a long time since I have felt this heartened.

I am entering some of my poetry into four different contests. One deadline is this week. I hate myself for having left it until the last minute. That is a no-no, but "it's too late to turn back now." There are two that are due at the end of the month and the final one is in February. Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Every time that I do this, I think to myself, "Hey, you probably won't win." Now, is that self-sabotaging or what! I know all about "the power of positive thinking" and "manifesting," but it's difficult to stop those wheels after this many years. I have to get stuff out there that I think is pretty good. Even if I am rejected, it means that I am trying. It means honing the craft for an ever changing market while trying to be true to ones self. It's a compromise, at best.

So, that's that about that.

Until next post...