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Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

May 20

Small Update Because I’m Writing

This is just a quick post to say I know I skipped my mid-month update on the challenge. I dove right in to a new story and forgot to update. I haven’t had a chance to do much, but I did make a mistake last month. I still have two stories out at market, not one.

So everything hasn’t ground to a halt. By the end of May, there should me a nice healthy amount of stories out. Maybe even some more new material written. I haven’t forgotten that goal.

The funny thing is how some things have changed and some have stayed the same since I graduated. After years of writing on my lunch hour and after work, I realize I am not a morning writer. Those writers who get up at 4am to write? Yeah, I’m not one of them. My alarm goes off at six (on weekends I get up about 6:30 or so naturally) and I have no inclination to write. Instead I found out I like getting my workout in morning.

I’m an evening writer. At 7pm, I have no problem dashing off a few pages. Heck, I’m writing this post at night now. So far so good. I know I can’t do this schedule everyday. Even the best routines get disrupted for life event. But most days should follow this routine.

 

 

May 11

Things I Did in the 36 Hours After My Thesis Reading

Things I did in the 36 hours after my Thesis Reading:

1. Stay up until 1 am because I am so amped from reading, I can’t fall asleep. Eventually, I get up eat half a peanut butter granola bar and drink a glass of almond milk. 10 minutes later I fall asleep.

2. Wake up at 6:30 am, because after years of getting up at quarter to six for work, it is physically impossible to sleep past seven. Even on my days off.

3. Go to CVS fist thing in the morning because there is a sale on that shampoo and conditioner that smell like coconuts. Decided I needed a new mascara too.

4. Go to brunch with cousin. Have yummy veggie quiche.

5. Run errands with cousin and end up in Ulta. Resist urge to buy more. Remember coconut stuff is sitting at home.

6. Answer “Write more stuff,” when cousin asks what I am going to do next.

7. Come home and veg by looking at pictures of reading on Facebook. Remember I took pictures too, but decide I can post later. Watch The Blacklist instead.

8. Go over to my Mom’s house for Mother’s Day. Give a small bravo to myself for buying gifts weeks ago. Give large thanks that my Mom is alive and well.

9. Hang out with parents. Gorge on Urban BBQ, Dad brings home. Eat chocolate cake I bring for desert.

10. Arrive home in time for The Good Wife season finale.

11. Call Dad after show is over, so we can talk about finale.

12. Fall asleep and wake up Monday at 6 am.

13. Took day off of work, so back to the mall to pick up a few more things.

14. Go to Target for printer paper (because I used the last of mine printing my thesis). Walk out buying paper, vanilla almonds, and a cupcake.

15. Tell myself I need the cupcake. Graduation present.

Graduation Treat.
Graduation Treat.

16. Make list of places I’m going to send stories.

17. Pull out notebook that has the first 500 words or so of a novel I started last summer.

18. Realize laundry is being neglected and clean towels are dwindling.

19. Realize four years ago at this time, I sent off my application for graduate school.

20. Write blog post about things I’m doing now that I am a graduate.

My grad class. I'm 2nd from the left.
My grad class. I’m 2nd from the left.

Mar 15

2 Comments

Mid-March Post 2015

Not much has changed. I got a couple more rejections, but I have refrained from mailing them back out. One side effect of my school work is that I keep focusing on rewriting and redrafting. So now I’m looking at everything I have ever written and saying – Must rewrite before I send out.

It’s like looking in your closet and hating everything you own. That blue skirt? It would be perfect if it was an inch longer. Or that pink top? If only you had some white pants to go with it… I look at my writing wardrobe and I just want to change everything.

But, but, I have no time. This damn thesis is preoccupying all of my attention. So this challenge has come to a grinding halt. I still have stories out, but I’m not submitting. Once I graduate in May, business will pick up. But for now, the numbers are tiny.

Rejections: 13

Acceptances: 0

Submissions:6

Other thoughts:

Damn shame about Terry Prachett. Such a fun writer.

I didn’t know this was a thing, but apparently there are lots of girls who read and talk about their book hauls on Youtube!!??? WHEN DID THIS BECOME A THING. THIS IS SO AWESOME! I need to do this. It looks like so much fun. But alas, my computer is so old that the camera stopped working years ago. And I don’t have a smart phone (yet). So no Youtube for me. Maybe when I manage to get a new computer, I will start. I think that will be fun.

Get in Trouble

Speaking of books – I got the new Kelly Link book a few weeks ago (see pic). I haven’t dived into it yet because I am reading The Historian. (I know I am a few years late to that party, but better late than never.) But as soon as I finish, I’m on to Link’s book.

I still need to get Trigger Warning. Also this spring Kate Atkinson’s new book in the same world as Life After Life will be released. It’s called A God in Ruins. If you didn’t get on board the Atkinson train in 2013, I would suggest you do so now. And if you love Downton Abbey this is in the same vein. Not so much upper and lower class soap opera stuff, but the time period is the same – early twentieth century England – and it has plenty of drama.

Side note: Margaret Atwood has a new book out in the fall. I don’t know what it is about, but I know I will be buying it.

Oh, and a new writer name Benjamin Percy has gotten on my radar. Really, where have I been? I read and excerpt of his book, Red Moon, and I am hooked. That book (or any others he has written) is on my To Buy list. I love discovering cool new (to me) writers.

So that’s it. Challenge is slow. Lot’s of new books out there (or forthcoming). Plus – new season of GOT in April. Yep, it’s starting to look like spring. The sun is shining and it’s starting to warm up. Cherry blossoms are almost here.

Spring 21

Jan 30

January Round Up 2015

Just a quick post here to update my writing challenge.

Rejections: 6

Acceptances: 0

Submissions: 10

I have two more pending for submission, but one still needs to be typed up and for the other, I am waiting until February 1 for the market to open. I think things are coming along nicely so far, but if I want to hit 100 rejections, I need to submit more.

My writing took a hit this month. A few days ago, classes started up and I am now in full swing for my final class for my degree. I spent most of my time this month working on my stories for class. New material had to be put aside. That’s a bummer, but I don’t think I would’ve changed things. I am learning there are times when you just need to focus on the tasks at hand and not worry about the perfect situation. In a perfect world, I would have time for everything… but we all know that doesn’t exist. So I get done, what I get done.

And the next day, I try again.

Jan 10

Books that Inspire Me #3

Kindred Book 001

Today I saw the movie Selma and thought it was a great film. It shines the spotlight on a moment in the civil rights history. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about for this column, but then I started thinking about writers that have paved the way for me.

Octavia Butler is one of them.

I never really knew what kind of writer I was until I wrote a story about 15 years ago. It was the first time I wrote something that really embodied who I was as a writer. After, I was proud of myself, but didn’t know what to do next. I wasn’t even sure if it was a good story. So I enrolled in a community writing workshop and submitted the story. On the whole, I got a lot of great feedback, but there was one woman (Carol was her name I think), who really explained it to me.

“You write magical realism,” she said looking directly at me.

I had never heard that term before. You have to remember that up until that point in my life I spent four years in college studying literature from pre-1950. The closest I got to current novels was an Amy Tan book I read for a one credit reading class. Terms like magical realism were lost on me. So, to the internet I went and after a few days, a whole new world opened up to me. Not just magical realism, but science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I’ve already posted a few times about books that emerged from my searching. Kindred is another.

Funny enough, plenty of my family already knew and loved Butler’s work. Both my mother and aunts had read her. When I mentioned to my Mom if she had ever heard of Butler, she replied, “Oh yes! She’s great. Here, I have a few.”

I started with Clay’s Ark and Mind of My Mind. They are solidly in the SF world. But it was Kindred and more subtle, controlled urban fantasy story that hooked me as a fan. It deals with social issues like race, gender, and family. It has fantasy elements, but is solidly rooted in the real world. All of Butler’s characters are complex. No one is all bad, or all good. I won’t give the plot away, but it is easy to see why many consider this story to be her best. (Note: If anyone knows Oprah or Brad Pitt, tell them about this story. THIS REALLY NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE.)

Signed Copy of Mind of My Mind

Signed Copy of Mind of My Mind

In 2004, I was lucky enough to see her speak in person. I remember waiting in line for her to sign my book. I can’t lie. I was starstruck being in front of her. (And Samuel Delany was there too, but I didn’t have any of my books for him to sign. To this day, that bums me out.) She was a true superstar writer and gone too soon. She died about 14 months after I saw her.

Signed Copy Clay's Ark

Signed Copy Clay’s Ark

I love Tolkien. I love George R.R. Martin. I love Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman. But I think it is important that there be diversity in literature, both characters and the writers themselves. Octavia Butler was not just a great writer, but also added much needed diversity to the speculative writing world. Today there are many writers of color in the speculative field writing and publishing their books. I should know because I collect them and I am one of them.

And we all owe Butler our thanks.

Dec 30

Final Post for 2014

Last post for 2014. What a year it has been. As I write, my last story is almost done. I still need to write the ending, but I have one more day left in the month, so time is not up yet. Barring any serious distractions, I should be done by tomorrow afternoon. So finishing 12 pieces for the year completes one goal I had for 2014. This doesn’t even count the numerous short critical essays, fiction, and analyses I did for class. Plus the posts I did for this blog. At last count I wrote about 8,000 words this year for the blog. All that stuff is just bonus material. Who knows when I will have to whip out my thoughts on Chekhov’s Gustav.

Anyway, let’s review the goals I had for the year.

Goal #1 – Finish 12 short stories for the year and one long piece.

I have 12 (or 11 and ¾) pieces finished. I say “pieces” because I did write some personal essays and submitted them for publication. I figured essays took just as much time as a short story, so they should count. My longer piece I did stall out on, but I will get back to it sooner or later. I have a lot on my plate right now, so I’m not in a hurry to get back to the story. It can wait.

Goal #2 – Sell one short story.

Done and Done. Saw my first story in print this year.

Goal #3 – Read at least 25 books this year.

Got through 16 this year. Considering that I only read one while I was in class last semester, I think that is pretty good. My last class was purely on short stories and I read 100-200 pages a week. There was just no time to read stories for class and other books.

Goal #4 – Buy no new books, unless I get gift cards.

Yeah, that goal is a bust.

Goal #5 – Get my credit card balance down.

Truthfully, it is only a little higher than it was last year. I pay down the balance, just to see it go back up again with my school tuition. But I don’t have anymore classes to pay for, so I should see some real progress this year.

For 2015, I have some new goals:

Goal #1 – Write 2 new pieces a month.

I managed to write about one a month, so I can up my game and make it two. It will be tough come spring because of thesis, but I’m going to try. Maybe more flash fiction…

Goal #2 – Finish a longer piece.

I have a lot of other projects I need to get to work on. If I really want to scare myself, I write them all down. I have ideas for days. But because of school, I have to put them on the back burner. Hopefully after this spring, I can really devote some time to these longer projects.

Goal #3 – Teach myself how to format, design a cover, and upload a book for self-publishing. This is something I’ve been thinking about over the past 6 months. I’m really curious about self-publishing and would love to give it a shot. Might be fun.

Goal #4 – One Year, One Hundred Rejections

I’m going to try this challenge. I goal is too get 100 rejections over the course of one year. Even if I don’t hit the number, that is an insane amount of submissions for one year. Way more than I did in 2014 and 2013 combined.

Thoughts on Rejection

One thing you get used to as a writer is rejection. Exactly, one year ago I got the harshest rejection letter I have ever gotten. Over the years I have gotten every kind of rejection: a form rejection, a nice, well meaning letter, a detailed, helpful note, and finally nothing at all. But I never got anything mean.

That was hurtful and something I consider unprofessional. I don’t think I will ever submit to that market again (And no I won’t name them. People change frequently in publishing, so I don’t want a publication to have a bad reputation from my one negative experience, esp. if that reader/editor is no longer there). It depressed me and you can see the results. I didn’t post here for months. I loved the story and to have it and myself insulted was tough.

By April, I pulled myself out. In truth, I didn’t really write much in January through April. I didn’t do much at all. But the warm spring days brightened my spirits and I was back at work soon enough. I wrote more stories and submitted.

Nine months after that harsh note, I got my first story accepted.

I write this because I think the worst has happened in my submitting. My fear about writing (that someone will completely hate my writing and tell me so) was fully realized.

And I survived.

If I had given up after that rejection, I would never be where I am today. I wouldn’t have all these new stories written, my story in the anthology wouldn’t exist, and I would probably be an unhappy person thinking that I should be writing and submitting. But now, I am ending this year on a good note. I pushed through the tough moments and was able to experience the good. That is the lesson I take with me into the new year.

I’ll see you in 2015!

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