Guess what? Nobody reads my blog! I have it attached to the end of my primary email acct, yet nobody bothers to come here to check it out. Owie! I feel INVISIBLE!
Speaking of invisible, I am now at the seventh day of the NaPiBoWriWee and did not succeed, in terms of cranking out seven rough drafts of picture books. HOWEVER, AND this is a biggy for me...I DID come to the finish line with ONE that I really like. I do have six others that I am going to go back to. I have also learned something about myself. I cannot start and stop and then come back and continue where I left off. If I start and finish in one sitting, then I can do a really rough first copy. If I leave off (and I always do, with the exception of much of my poetry) and then come back, I have to read the beginning to get back in the groove of where I was headed when I stopped. I AM NOT able to just whip through and continue. I find my areas that can be tightened up and/or changed altogether and get mired in the re-write before I get to that place to continue. Thus, time passes and my forward momentum is lost. Heavy Sigh, here. So, in terms of the challenge I failed. In terms of getting a picture book almost done, I succeeded. I would not have done even one without the challenge. So, thank you, Paula Woo. You have inspired me! www.paulawoo.com
Day 7 is not over yet. I am going to go and finish that PB. Its title is "How Do You Hide A Dragon?" I am having so much fun with it! Now, where is my notebook..............
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Oh My...It's May!
My "Word!" March whipped by me and then April evaporated. Now it's May. I love May. The buds on the trees and bushes are ready to burst open. It will very quickly go from the promise of spring to full blown spring...bugs and all! Yes, giant mosquitoes have landed on my arms already and I have my first blackfly bite. That part of spring most certainly "sucks," but I live in the state of Maine and those pesky insects come along as part of the experience.
I have to pat myself on the back as having completed Robert Lee Brewer's PAD (Poem A Day) Challenge for the month of April. I wrote thirty poems and submitted them. Robert gave us (approx 1500 poets participated!) a prompt each day which gave us a focus and a common start and finish line. I reacted to many of the prompts with "whatever will I do with this one?!" and with others, my mind and pen flew. I am very happy with some of my poems. Robert and his wife, Tammy will be choosing a small number of their favs to send along to some other poets to help him decide which ones will go in an ebook. I'm not holding my breath. It's all very subjective. This is my third PAD Challenge and each time I have done all thirty. It's great for my muses and it gives me a feeling of having accomplished some serious writing. I am happy with that and that's a good thing. Some of the poems that others wrote are truly amazing and it makes me realize how many of us love to write.
Now I am in Day 4 of another challenge. Children's writer, Paula Yoo offered a challenge that she calls "NaPiBoWriWee," which stands for National Picture Book Writing Week. SOOO, I am now buried in pages of picture book beginnings. I have one nearly done and will need to do some furious writing to get caught up. Now, understand this...a good, quality children's book is VERY DIFFICULT to complete. Trust me on that one. I will make every effort to cross that finish line with seven very ROUGH DRAFTS! My ideas are jotted down and I just need to allow the mind and imagination to shift from poetry to prose. Yes, I can do poetry for kids' books, but it is my understanding that many editors/publishers are shying away from that form at the present time. I try to keep my fingers on the pulse of what's shakin' out there, and get conflicting feedback at times, but the rhyming thing seems to keep bubbling up to the surface. It will pass and I will be ready! In the meantime, I need to stop writing here and start writing there!
I have to pat myself on the back as having completed Robert Lee Brewer's PAD (Poem A Day) Challenge for the month of April. I wrote thirty poems and submitted them. Robert gave us (approx 1500 poets participated!) a prompt each day which gave us a focus and a common start and finish line. I reacted to many of the prompts with "whatever will I do with this one?!" and with others, my mind and pen flew. I am very happy with some of my poems. Robert and his wife, Tammy will be choosing a small number of their favs to send along to some other poets to help him decide which ones will go in an ebook. I'm not holding my breath. It's all very subjective. This is my third PAD Challenge and each time I have done all thirty. It's great for my muses and it gives me a feeling of having accomplished some serious writing. I am happy with that and that's a good thing. Some of the poems that others wrote are truly amazing and it makes me realize how many of us love to write.
Now I am in Day 4 of another challenge. Children's writer, Paula Yoo offered a challenge that she calls "NaPiBoWriWee," which stands for National Picture Book Writing Week. SOOO, I am now buried in pages of picture book beginnings. I have one nearly done and will need to do some furious writing to get caught up. Now, understand this...a good, quality children's book is VERY DIFFICULT to complete. Trust me on that one. I will make every effort to cross that finish line with seven very ROUGH DRAFTS! My ideas are jotted down and I just need to allow the mind and imagination to shift from poetry to prose. Yes, I can do poetry for kids' books, but it is my understanding that many editors/publishers are shying away from that form at the present time. I try to keep my fingers on the pulse of what's shakin' out there, and get conflicting feedback at times, but the rhyming thing seems to keep bubbling up to the surface. It will pass and I will be ready! In the meantime, I need to stop writing here and start writing there!
Monday, April 6, 2009
March Marched!
Oh My! March came and went. Lion? Lamb? I couldn't say, really. I got all caught up in a new (to me) healing adventure around the use of sound. I KNOW it's been around for a long, really long time. It would seem that it found me when it was supposed to. Anyway, I spent the better part of the month reading, researching, discussing and trying to learn about some of its facets. I got so excited that I set up a new...yes NEW...blogsite using Word Press. I got it started... I left it. I will return to it. This site took a hit. Nobody reads it anyway...heavy sigh. Then there's my Livejournal site! Good heavens. I guess all of that kind of makes a clear pic of how I operate. I have so many interests, which leads to too many irons in the fires, which ends up with my spinning all kinds of wheels, going nowhere quite quickly!
I am excited to have jumped onto Robert Brewer's Poem a Day Challenge for April. Ah yes, add another iron to my fire. It's day 6, and I have managed to get one in...yes, you (I) read it correctly...ONE!
So, I feel as though I need to try and get caught up somewhat with that. My YA, Sci-Fi MS has gathered dust. I have submitted a few things...gotten a handful of rejections and now need to write some of my favorite ed pubs a reminder that I sent things in. That, of course, could go either way...one scenario is around the fact that my reminder could arrive on a "bad day" and it could further piss them off, so the form rejection letter gets sent to shut me up, or the other scenario might be that it gets to them on a day when positive vibes are floating around like free radicals and they look at my stuff again and love it! Hey, this is my blog. I can succeed if I want to!
So, off to finish washing the stove and getting another load of laundry in. I also need to get a pile of crap out to the compost pile and get my doggy out for a romp before it "rains heavily at times with high winds," as promised. Ah yes, after THAT, I will write. Oh yes, I really need to vack the kitchen floor! THEN I will write. A nap? Maybe. THEN AFTER THAT I will write.
Once upon a time, there was a writer wannabe...she tried and tried...life often got in the way, but she just couldn't give it up...then one day, a letter came in the mail from a publisher whom she had sent a manuscript to months ago. Hands shaking, heart pounding, eyes watering, she opened the envelope...
I am excited to have jumped onto Robert Brewer's Poem a Day Challenge for April. Ah yes, add another iron to my fire. It's day 6, and I have managed to get one in...yes, you (I) read it correctly...ONE!
So, I feel as though I need to try and get caught up somewhat with that. My YA, Sci-Fi MS has gathered dust. I have submitted a few things...gotten a handful of rejections and now need to write some of my favorite ed pubs a reminder that I sent things in. That, of course, could go either way...one scenario is around the fact that my reminder could arrive on a "bad day" and it could further piss them off, so the form rejection letter gets sent to shut me up, or the other scenario might be that it gets to them on a day when positive vibes are floating around like free radicals and they look at my stuff again and love it! Hey, this is my blog. I can succeed if I want to!
So, off to finish washing the stove and getting another load of laundry in. I also need to get a pile of crap out to the compost pile and get my doggy out for a romp before it "rains heavily at times with high winds," as promised. Ah yes, after THAT, I will write. Oh yes, I really need to vack the kitchen floor! THEN I will write. A nap? Maybe. THEN AFTER THAT I will write.
Once upon a time, there was a writer wannabe...she tried and tried...life often got in the way, but she just couldn't give it up...then one day, a letter came in the mail from a publisher whom she had sent a manuscript to months ago. Hands shaking, heart pounding, eyes watering, she opened the envelope...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I just don't know...
I guess this is more of a journal entry than anything else. I just this morning got an email from the company that I sent in my most recent work to. It was rejected. My feeling right now is that maybe I am in the wrong industry. I want to blame it on the economy. I want to blame it on my timing. I want to blame it on all of those *$#*@ variables that come into play in this business. Maybe it's time that I look inwardly far more closely and admit that maybe, just maybe, I do not have what it takes.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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...
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...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
End of February, 2009
Once again, I sit in front of the monitor, fingers dancing on the keyboard, wondering why the heck I am doing this. I am my only reader. This blog that I had dreams of becoming a writing blog with people visiting and leaving bits of input here and there has turned into a journal. I guess that's ok. If at some point I am able to connect with others who have a passion for writing I will then be able to set up a blog that gathers appropriate traffic.
I sent out a pb ms to ABC Picture Book Competition. I sent out another to Dragonfly Publishers for another competition. I heard back from Enslow Publishers and they didn't show any interest in hiring me to write non-fiction books for them. Sigh. Since I sent out two to them; one for K-3 and the other for Middle Levels; I count that as two of my seven. So at this juncture, I have heard back from three of the seven. These last two sure sounded like rejections. The first one said that my resume was on file. I sent an article to a kids magazine and they rejected it. So for 2009, it looks like I am not really in great demand. Heavy sigh.
Will I give up? Not a chance. Something is driving me to write. It's a force greater than I am. I just haven't found my niche. I hear it calling me. It just won't properly identify itself. I am working on a pb to send out to Sylvan Dell and I feel pretty good about it. They are such a class act. They "marry" fiction and non-ficion and it's really fun to write. That's what is in the works at the moment. After that, I'll resurrect my ya sci-fi ms and breathe new life into that one.
May the force stay with me!
I sent out a pb ms to ABC Picture Book Competition. I sent out another to Dragonfly Publishers for another competition. I heard back from Enslow Publishers and they didn't show any interest in hiring me to write non-fiction books for them. Sigh. Since I sent out two to them; one for K-3 and the other for Middle Levels; I count that as two of my seven. So at this juncture, I have heard back from three of the seven. These last two sure sounded like rejections. The first one said that my resume was on file. I sent an article to a kids magazine and they rejected it. So for 2009, it looks like I am not really in great demand. Heavy sigh.
Will I give up? Not a chance. Something is driving me to write. It's a force greater than I am. I just haven't found my niche. I hear it calling me. It just won't properly identify itself. I am working on a pb to send out to Sylvan Dell and I feel pretty good about it. They are such a class act. They "marry" fiction and non-ficion and it's really fun to write. That's what is in the works at the moment. After that, I'll resurrect my ya sci-fi ms and breathe new life into that one.
May the force stay with me!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Frosty February Findings
Right off the bat, here, "THE" groundhog saw his shadow. Now, let me tell you this...that is dreadful news; at least for me. I love the sun. I love to go outside in the fresh air and do my hooking up with nature thing. I do not like the bitter cold and the deep snow and if we have that many more weeks of it, then my depression will only worsen. Since I try to look on the bright side (I said TRY...I don't always succeed), it can mean more time to write. Right? Right! Write!
Since my focus for this blog is writing, then I need to stay focused here. I have had three rejections so far this month. It's early, so it's possible that more may darken my days. Then again, perhaps that acceptance that I KNOW is coming my way will do just that. In the meantime, I have gotten myself in deep with so many ideas that I am scattered like snowflakes over the field. The flake part of that bit is more true than I want to even admit...I guess I just did.
I have my sci-fi ya ms that I have left on simmer; I have a cb contest that I am writing for; a well known greeting card company has just sent out an sos (in general...not to me personally...sigh); I have recently gotten amazing glimpses into a part of my father-in-law's role in WWII and really want to write his story...it's so amazing; I want to submit to one of my fav cb science houses and have so many science ideas that I zip all over the place and can't seem to settle down; and there are several poems that I have percolating in various parts of my brain...gee I wish they'd get it together and stay put! I know that I need to focus on ONE project, see it to its finish and submit. I know that. Really. Maybe I should write about ADD! I do have it. Obviously.
There are two words that keep surfacing as I read my writing mags, list serve entries and such. They are as follows; "Smart Writing." Man is that giving me a run. I get the writing part of it, but SMART. It has so many outfits. So, who do I write to...the kids or the editor/publishers?! Both? Cripey. That's a tough sell for an unknown (that would be me, in case you don't know). In an effort to perhaps get a taste of what is selling, I went to Amazon and ordered too many newly released novels for kids, including this year's Newbery Winner. I'll devour them once they get here and then sit back and wonder if I had just experienced "Smart Writing" or palatable writing for those pubs. I will say this much...it's all overwhelming. I'll stay the course, and may very well eventually say to hell with it, I have my own voice and if they don't like it...well...then...I really don't know. That is then. This is now. I must post this, do some chores and write.
Since my focus for this blog is writing, then I need to stay focused here. I have had three rejections so far this month. It's early, so it's possible that more may darken my days. Then again, perhaps that acceptance that I KNOW is coming my way will do just that. In the meantime, I have gotten myself in deep with so many ideas that I am scattered like snowflakes over the field. The flake part of that bit is more true than I want to even admit...I guess I just did.
I have my sci-fi ya ms that I have left on simmer; I have a cb contest that I am writing for; a well known greeting card company has just sent out an sos (in general...not to me personally...sigh); I have recently gotten amazing glimpses into a part of my father-in-law's role in WWII and really want to write his story...it's so amazing; I want to submit to one of my fav cb science houses and have so many science ideas that I zip all over the place and can't seem to settle down; and there are several poems that I have percolating in various parts of my brain...gee I wish they'd get it together and stay put! I know that I need to focus on ONE project, see it to its finish and submit. I know that. Really. Maybe I should write about ADD! I do have it. Obviously.
There are two words that keep surfacing as I read my writing mags, list serve entries and such. They are as follows; "Smart Writing." Man is that giving me a run. I get the writing part of it, but SMART. It has so many outfits. So, who do I write to...the kids or the editor/publishers?! Both? Cripey. That's a tough sell for an unknown (that would be me, in case you don't know). In an effort to perhaps get a taste of what is selling, I went to Amazon and ordered too many newly released novels for kids, including this year's Newbery Winner. I'll devour them once they get here and then sit back and wonder if I had just experienced "Smart Writing" or palatable writing for those pubs. I will say this much...it's all overwhelming. I'll stay the course, and may very well eventually say to hell with it, I have my own voice and if they don't like it...well...then...I really don't know. That is then. This is now. I must post this, do some chores and write.
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