March Meanderings

The snow is melting! Yayyyy! Yes, it's becoming mud, and there is still a ton of the white (ish) stuff out there, but it really is beginning to feel like spring might be trying to make an appearance. I am so very ready.
What am I doing about my writing, you ask? Actually, quite a bit! I just sent in a cb ms that's science oriented. That one is one that I've been working on for quite some time. I liked it and felt hopeful as I sent it off. Let's see, I have sent out six submissions to "regular" markets and have gotten two rejections. That leaves me a chance, still! I have also sent out seven packets to educational publishers and have gotten one rejection and one "your resume is on file" so that leaves me with with five hopefuls and one "maybe someday." So, I am not tearing my hair out in desperation and despair, but I am also realistic in terms of the market and the economy. In addtion to the above, I am ready to dust off my "Stephanie" science fiction, ya novel and breathe life back into it. I also had a dream recently that left me "knowing" that it was the basis for another ya ms. I am excited about writing, and even though I am "Miss Moneypenniless" (do you remember James Bond and Miss Moneypenny?) I feel blessed to have this time to follow not only this passion, but another, and that's my quest for being an instrument of healing that isn't under the auspices of mainstream western medicine. But that's another blog. Until next time...

Packets

After what seems like an eternity to me, I have gathered, organized, honed, redone, tweaked, and prepared the contents for packets to send out to a small handful of carefully chosen publishing companies whose sole purpose is to sell non-fiction to schools and libraries. These packets look like large paper envelopes. These large paper envelopes contain yet more papers with writing on them. However, that could not be farther from the truth. These packets actually contain glimpses of who I am as a writer of non-fiction. These seemingly innocuous packets could make the difference in my future as a writer of non-fiction. I am putting myself out there, as it were, to toss and turn as the waves of a battered economy take charge of the directions that these packets may take. My writing samples need to find their ways to editorial directors who are looking for just what I have to offer. The slush piles are greedy. They can't wait to claim yet another soul of a writer. The truth of the matter is clear. There are many of us. MANY. The market is flooded as the waves continue to do what they do best, depending on the weather conditions. My packets could easily get lost in the storm. OR, they could get washed ashore, gently, like a message in a bottle, to be found by just the eyes who are looking for them. So, I'll send them off, with a prayer for them to find a home. Do wish me luck.

November's End

E-Gad! Well, I have recently read that when blogging, one doesn't apologize for not having kept up with ones blog! So, I won't apologize for not having kept up with my blog. OK? Having said that, I do wish to explain my apparent absence. For the past month+ I have been immersed in an online course, as explained in a previous entry. It was rich! At this point, I am 99.9% ready to send out "packets" to a handful of educational publishers. The beginning of December is a good time to get yourself out there as they are beginning to think ahead to their spring catalogs. Here's the thing; it's all about timing. Well, I suppose one needs to be able to handle the craft of writing non-fiction as well...that would help. So, when I go to the post office to deliver my paper children to the unknown and sometimes fickle hands of fate, I shall offer them up as a blessing, not unlike an ancient Mayan priest who is about to offer up his youngest daughter to the hands of the gods as he makes every effort to NOT look into the bowels of the volcano! (Yes, I realize that I came very close to a run-on sentence there!) After that, I will wait for the gods to smile upon me with news at some point in the not too distant future that one or more of the ed pubs would love to offer me a contract!

October's End

I have to spend more time on this. It's essential that I stay in tune with my objectives for this site. It's about writing. It's about who I am as a writer. It's about who I am becoming. Each day brings with it more opportunities to deal with the craft, even if it's no more than a fleeting thought that I grab from the ethers to think about later for my use. It is an energy that surrounds me, runs through me, and tickles my imagination. I am trying so hard to direct that energy from there to my fingertips so that I can do what I so desperately want to do. Write. It requires a discipline that is akin to an athlete who is training for the Olympics. I had no idea it would be so difficult. My small world is full of distractions and being ADD (diagnosed and I believe it!) it takes all of my will to stay in one place long enough to get those words either on paper or in Word or Clarisworks, depending on which machine I am using at the time. I can do this. It niggles at the back of my brain during all of my waking hours. It even surfaces while I sleep, because I often recall dreams where I have been doing something that is writing related. I know that I am supposed to be doing this, because I am driven. As the saying goes, "it is written."
I will be finished with my online course with Laura Salas re: writing non-fiction for educational publishers in another couple of weeks. It has been intense, but she is good. I am learning so much. I feel good about it and it was no mistake that it happened to grab my attention. My first love is fiction, but this is very satisfying as well. I would love to create some works of truth that kids actually enjoy reading, whether it's for research or just pleasure.
I am currently working on an article to submit to the group for critiquing. It's about the box jelly that is found in Australia. Kids would love it because the critter's venom is strong enough to kill humans and rather quickly at that. The thing would give me nightmares if I lived there!
That's all for now. I am promising myself to be more faithful to this blog after I finish the course.
Over and out...