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!

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.

yet another post...

I really should dedicate a post to Barak Obama and will at some point, but he is basically "covered," don't you think? I don't think that I could add any new insights. I will say that I am really relieved that he is at the helm now. The entire planet is blanketed with optimism and that is a good thing!

Since I last wrote, I have gotten caught up in several new ventures...adventures! The one downer, and I will get that right out of the way here, is that I got a form letter from an ed pub company with no name (dear author) and no signature...it was basically "we got your 'stuff' and don't need it now and if you wrote a resume it's on file..." it blew me out of the water bc it was in response to my packet...my baby...my blood, sweat and tears! I have been visiting my writer friends at guppy pond and although they were empathic, they all said that this is basically what you get from many of them. Now, I can take rejection (where IS that noose, anyway?) but I can't take lack of respect. I put a professional effort into my work and consider myself a writer...make that Writer. Now, these companies, even if they are overburdened with all sorts of things, can take a few extra minutes and include a name! AND, "if you included a resume..." Holy Cow! Yes! Among other things! Nicely, carefully crafted things. I am proud of my work things! So, anyway, that was the only one that I have heard from.

Now, on to more uplifting thoughts. I sent in a book of poems to Robert Brewer recently. It was the end result of his November PAD (poem a day) Challenge. I felt good about getting something finished. My focus was the elderly and I entitled the book "The Forgotten Ones." So, one down and a ba-zillion left. I have been working on a YA Sci-Fi MS but have gotten stuck. I LOVE my idea and my MC is a sweetie and is in deep "stuff" right now and I have left her there far too long! Poor thing! But I have hit a wall. I will be calling on all available muses soon to get me out of the ditch. I have a PB MS that is in limbo. I finished it a year ago and it's kind of waiting to get born. It's looking for the right mom at the moment. I also have several ideas floating around that I need to put on paper.

I have been complaining about too many websites and not enough time, right? Well, I have found four or five MORE and they just keep coming out of the woodwork! Each of them, dealt with correctly, take a lot of time. Add them all together and the day is basically shot! Now, I need to do something about it, but don't know what, yet. I really do need to put more time into my writing. Never mind the vacuum cleaner! Let the Swiffer wet mop dry up!! Allow the laundry to take over the downstairs!!! Let the litter pans fill to the brim!!!! The dishes can be thrown away and I'll get new ones...never mind washing them!!!!! And exercise? HA!!!!!! If I write as much as I need to, my fingers will be skinny and rest of me...well...never mind. If I didn't need to sleep, I might get caught up...eventually.

So, January is near its end and the days are getting longer...well, you know what I mean...more daylight. That's always a good thing. I love the light!

Bring It On!

It's 2009! Who doesn't love new beginnings? I adore them. They bring with them fresh energy for my busy neuro-transmittors and gets them ready to rock!

This year I will fulfill some of my promises to me. I have completed a wee ten-page poetry book and submitted it to Robert Brewer for his PAD challenge for November. I have rejoined SCBWI and NESCBWI and will visit those sites often. I have a PB MS ready for submission. I am four chapters into a YA Sci-Fi MS and will finish that this year. I do need a critique group for that one and that is on my to-do list. Bascially, I will look at this writing thing as my job and I will make it work! I have never been more certain of anything. It is what I am supposed to be doing and my muses are kicking my butt on a daily basis. "I hear and I obey!"

Stay tuned...

Last day of 2008!

We all say, "out with the old and in with the new" and I am really working on feeling like that. A new year...a new beginning...I am up for it. My glass NEEDS to remain half full!
Good-bye, 2008.
"Light, light...more light!" -Goethe

Winter Blues

It's Winter Solstice today...the shortest amount of daylight in 24 hours in the Northern Hemisphere! It's a time to celebrate those things that we associate with the dark. It's a time of relishing the rest and a time of rebirth. Think of the female black bear as she hibernates during these long winter months, quietly getting ready to give birth to new cubs when spring arrives. She will rest, body and spirit waiting for the long daylight hours after the long winter darkness. In Maine, it is a long winter. The long hours of darkness take their toll on many of us, myself included. I am feeling depressed, sluggish and wishing that I lived in a warmer climate. This is a tough time and it's important to adjust the attitude to "hey, it's always like this...it gets better...buck up!" However, we have had one serious winter storm after another and it just seems to be never-ending! Add the fact that my daughter and granddaughter have been trying to fly to Maine from Virginia since Friday and their flights keep getting canceled! It's Sunday and there is no end in sight. My heart is broken that they aren't here. I do believe that she is going to drive up! That doesn't make me feel happy at all, because it will be such an ordeal...heavy sigh...
After the Christmas and New Year celebrations, I will take advantage of the hours that I cannot be outside and I will write. I have not heard from any of the seven educational publishers that I sent packets to. It has been less than a month, so I am not feeling too discouraged yet. Some other writers that I have been in touch with sent out packets as well and some of them have actually gotten some news. Nobody has yet gotten an assignment, but one or two have gotten the good news that their work is appreciated and even though the company isn't hiring at this time, their work will go on file for future assignments. I mustn't despair, however. The economy is in a shambles, and for perhaps the first time in "forever" both educational and trade publishers are feeling the pinch and cutting back...another heavy sigh...
As I see it, I need to work on this SAD and try and get myself back in working order!
I predict that my poetry will be dark...

"If it could happen to me..." by Kristen Landon

I get The Writer, among other magazines, to assist me with the craft. The very last page of the Jan, 2009 issue has an interview with Kristen Landon, who writes Science-Fiction. I was glued to her every word. Science- Fiction is my favorite genre to write, in terms of fiction. I adore the notion of creating vast, as yet to be realized settings; believable, compelling, seemingly insurmountable obstacles for the very human characters that my imagination gives birth to; checking in with the laws of Quantum Physics to see which ones I can adhere to or need to override; the excitement that boils up in every cell of my body as the writing makes all of this take shape. My heroes are of course, Albert, who is the ultimate in having made sense of what doesn't, as well as Stephen Hawking, who is also brilliant beyond numbers, and Michio Kaku, whose books are at my side as I weave my way though parallel universes, and such. He's so amazing that it hurts!
Anyway, at the end of the interview, Landon gives advice. "Take chances. Work hard... Grab the luck... ...if your heart isn't in it, don't write it. Find the issues that spark your passion and build your stories around them. If this is really what you want - if you're telling your stories - then you've got a chance. If it could happen to me..."
Whoa. I'm there. I'm not published, but I am there. I found my passion many years ago. Now, I need to make it happen! And, I will.