Bar and Rock

Last night our friends were playing at the Cheyenne Saloon.  We caught Atlas Takes Aim (Go Billie and Mason!) and were hoping to catch Hello! Astro (Go Ryan!) but we had to bail before they came on.  Our babysitter was only 14, after all, and was nearly asleep by the time we came home smelling of bar and rock music.  It was a lot of fun, and the best part was that the whole Interdimensional Wombat Illiterati was there.  (Go Holly and me!  We’re supportive!)  We had a good time.

Today the World of Adults was pressing its deadlines upon me.  Sick kids (aren’t they ever well?  Seriously!) things to read and return and a newsletter to write.  I buckled down, accomplished what I needed to,  and lookie here, I am free to write for the rest of the day, if I so desire.  Rock on!  I’m going to watch The Wallflower (so I like anime. I’m not ashamed) and lengthen my Stars story a bit.  It has a strong beginning and middle, but the ending fizzles out in an eye-averting fashion.  I know that I can make it shine.

I’ve been reevaluating some of the markets that I have sent pieces to.  I have some pieces that have been out for what feels like forever (hello!  303 days, anyone? It’s not even Cemetery Dance!) and I know more than I knew then.  For one thing, exclusive rights for a year at one cent a word is just sucky.  Sure, roll your eyes, but I didn’t read the guidelines with the eye that I do now.

 

Pieces out: 39

Goal: 40

Thanks, guys.

So I was talking to my friend about query letters, and she suggested that I contact an author from our writers group and pose some of my questions.  He has a thriller series out, he seems genuinely friendly, and I’d spoken to him briefly before, so I decided to follow her advice.  I emailed and asked if he’d mind answering a few questions, he agreed, and we set up a time to call.

Which freaked me out, quite honestly.  I am almost phobic about talking to people on the phone.  My parents and closest friends don’t count, but if I’m calling to make an appointment?  I’m practically breathing into a paper bag beforehand!  But I’m being confident, remember?  I can do hard things.

Anyway, we just finished our conversation, and it was so helpful.  I’m learning that I need to reign in my horses a little bit.  I think that I’m all ready to go, but there’s always more to learn, more to figure out.  I think that I’ve done all of my research, and then I find that I’ve been researching the wrong thing entirely, and there’s this area here that I haven’t even looked at.  That’s why I’m so grateful for the help.  I can’t tell you how much my eyes have been opened lately. I think that I’m savvier because of it, and I can’t shake the feeling that these kind writers have helped me avoid years of wandering down paths that won’t lead me to my goal.  So thanks.  I really, really mean it.  I hope you realize how much your advice and encouragement means to me.

Aaaaaaand…I’ve been swamped with rejections lately.  This doesn’t bother me.

Pieces out: 37

Goal: 40.  Eventually.

Hit the Ground Running

Last night’s writer’s group meeting was exactly what  I needed.  Query polished, confidence boosted, all systems go.  This week I’ll send out my RunStarGirl queries.  Hooray!

Get Thee Hence, Facebook!

I find myself defending Facebook, and I’m not really sure why.  I’m not crazy over it myself, although I love having old friends resurface.  I’m taking a brief Facebook hiatus.  It’s leeching my time away, and I don’t have the time to leech.  I need to write.

It’s difficult with small kids at home.  I’m trying to find enough focus and concentration to write without neglecting my children or letting the house fall apart.  If the house is cluttered, I’m distracted.  So I need to put in more time and effort than I have been.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, especially a lot of women authors.  A few of the stories have been memorable.  One was absolutely breathtaking.  Most were mundane and similar.  I was a bit shocked by the bleakness, by the “woman as a spiritless victim” theme that I kept running across.  My stories aren’t always happy, of course not, but I think there’s hope to a lot of them.  I don’t think good writing is synonymous with suffering.  I’m ready to step away from some of the negativity that seems to permeate both art and society.  I long for a break.

That said, I’ve been watching “Pushing Daisies” at the recommendation of a friend.  I find it charming and playful, something colorful with that vein of darkness running through it.  I’m enjoying it very much.  RunStarGirl has a playmate.

 

Pieces Out: 39

Goal: 40

The Container of Sorrows

Everybody in my house fell asleep early tonight, so I used that time to write a story.  Miss Muse and I folded our wings and worked together nicely.  The result is titled “The Container of Sorrows”.  It is a soft thing of tragic beauty inspired partly by Mark Ryden’s “Night Visit”.  It uses the words “exquisite” and “supped” and “brokenness”.  I feel like myself again.

Also, I would like to introduce you to the Illiterati.  (Which, as it was pointed out,  my spell check keeps changing to “the illiterate”.  Oh, irony, you are cold.)  I swiped this directly from an email.  This is us, in the words of Master Mason.  (Check out his and Billie’s band!  www.atlastakesaim.com.  Better yet, leave comments.  Best of all, buy something.  Then they’ll be flush and can buy us pizza on Illiterati nights.)

Holly is Keeper of the Pens who unleashes the “Adverb Slash” (devastatingly, I might add.)

Ryan is the Purveyor of Perfect Pitches and has perfected the “Crappy Printer Hold” (if Strongbad can get a new printer, why can’t you?)

Mercedes is Captain Overachiever and wields “Shurikens of Submission Acceptance” (what, you only have 35 pieces out for review? You’re slacking off!)

Billie is Time Keeper and a disciple of the “Un-Numbered Loose-Leaf Assault” (What page am I on? oh, is this part of the same story?)

I am Master of Ceremonies and master of the “Over-Formatted-to-Death-Punch” (Print date? Check. Word Count? Check. 1” margins? Check. And the list goes on… and on… and on…)

And of course Maisley is the Official Mascot. She can drool you to death.

 Now we need to be in a video game…

 If I was a character in a video game, everybody would always want to play me.  No joke.

Man, a little writing goes a long way.  I am feeling a LOT better!

 

Pieces out: 39

Goal: 40

Gettin’ Down and Dirty, Folks.

Enough of this.  “Write in the same place and your muse will know where to find you.”  Or “Be prepared for your muse to descend upon you with illumination.”  Mmm, not gonna fly.  We all know that I have a set amount of patience, and it has run out.  I’m tracking that muse down, trussing her up, and pulling her through the mud back to my place.  Then I’m stealing the powder off of her wings so that she’s earthbound.

We have things to work out, she and I.

Pieces out: 38

Goal: 40

Today

was a disappointing day in all regards.  It’s one of the ones that you slog through, promising yourself that tomorrow you can wake up and forget that today ever happened. 

Tomorrow I’m going to watch The Dark Crystal, because it has been popping up in almost all of my conversations lately.  And if anybody comes to my front door, I’m going to kick them in the face.  In the face, so don’t let it be you.

I think I’m going to take some advice and do Bret’s Angry Dance.  How can that not work?  But first I have a writer’s group meeting.  My query went under the hatchet, so hooray!  Let’s make that baby sparkle!

Pieces out: 39

Goal: 40

Mmm hmm, life is sweet.

42 pieces out.  Just sayin’.

 

Pieces out: 42

Goal: 40!  I’m an overachiever!

The

My poem “dreams of color 1997-2008″ just went live on The.  The editor emailed me back saying that he liked the poem except for a final floating line that just made the whole thing silly.  I thought, “Hmmm,” and reread it, and -oh, the humanity!- he was absolutely right.  This stranger just managed to save me from myself.

I’m working on my poetry.  I’d like to get better at it, and that means a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and some listening now and then.  I want to do a little bit of everything, I think.  Short stories, novels, nonfiction, poetry.  I even co-wrote a screenplay that should never see the light of day, but it was so much fun to write!  I want to do it all.  I want to enjoy every last second of it.

Anyway, come see my poem at http://welcometoyethe.blogspot.com/.  And I was up to 40 submissions, (yay!) but today’s acceptance dropped me back down again.  (boo…wait, I mean yay!)  Most of you know that I’m a crazy sleeper.  Now you can see what I dream about. 

 

Pieces out:  39

Goal: 40

Hi. Yell at me, please. Thank you kindly.

I needed caffeine.  And chocolate.  And then more caffeine.

Yesterday I unscrewed the top of my head off for a while and set it aside.  It was the best possible thing that I could have done.

The writer’s group was amazing.  Reading and critiquing is a way that keeps your mind engaged even while it’s resting from the creative process.  The owner of the cafe is awesome, and is taking a bit of an interest in us.  Today I did Grown-Up Responsible Things for several hours, and then I finally sat down to write about two hours ago.  I wrote a flash and then a poem that I think is bizarrely poignant, if there is such a thing.  And then I submitted like a fiend!  I plan to submit a story to Glimmer Train before the end of the month, but I have to pull it off of the old computer.  It’s a sweet tale with a little bit of swagger called Sweet, Sweet Sonja T.  I like it.

Do you guys know what would help me?  Yell at me about querying.  No joke.  I need a gentle nudge, with a nail-studded baseball bat, preferably.  But do it in a kindly worded way so I’m not collapsed on the floor crying after you leave.  Better yet, promise me niceties after I do queries.  Point me toward great music and tell me that I’m pretty. 

Pieces out: 38

Goal: 40 by tonight.  Go team, Rah rah rah!