I am officially going to be presenting at the First (and hopefully Annual) Southwest Book Fiesta. I will be attending with sci-fi comedy writer Eirik Gumeny. At least we will be sharing a table, so that the three long days won’t feel so long. We are working on putting together some panel ideas.
I had a really vivid dream two nights ago about a potential story idea, and I wrote it down before I forgot about it. I even had a character name and in the dream, specific words and phrases came to mind, which I also recorded. But now, thinking about the idea further, it doesn’t seem as brilliant as I’d initially thought. Does this ever happen to you?
In other news, I was solicited by a journal and then rejected. This seems to happen to me a lot. It’s kind of funny in a way, but then I’m not sure I’d solicit someone without the intention of publishing them. I think if you are going to solicit, then you’d better be sure that this person’s writing is something that you can see in your journal. (And it’s not like I submit bad writing–I always try to find a good fit.) I also received a “Dear Writer” rejection from Cincinnati Review (which I felt was really not deserved–this story was a finalist in a Glimmer Train contest, so perhaps they never even read it), and a rejection from elimae. The rejection basically told me that my writing probably in general isn’t a good fit for them, which I am so happy to be told. That way I don’t waste my time (and theirs) submitting work that will never get in. Honesty to a writer may be hurt, but it always is the best policy.
I have about two months before my son is born! So I waited a little long to reveal this news, but here it is, hence the posts about being sick, tired, etc. I have given myself a short list of writer goals (complete the Sustainable Arts Foundation grant due by Sept. 1, get some panel ideas together for the SW Book Fiesta, maybe pull something together for Memoir (and), and work with Aqueous on the new book), but that’s about it. I have stopped working on the novel. It will have to wait. Don’t ask me about my non-writer goals: the list would scare you. But this has to be sufficient (I tell myself, the perfectionist who likes to guilt herself into too much) because I am struggling a little. I’m tired most of the time, I don’t sleep well at night, and it doesn’t help that my son is bringing home colds from school (waa, waah, I know). My real goal is to be done with EVERYTHING I need to get done in a month, and then have another month of doing nothing but reading and watching TV–separation from the writing a little, something that hasn’t happened in the last four years.
I am excited about the second child (a brother to my first son). The timing is good, and as much joy as writing does give me, my family gives me a different sort of joy too, and they are going to be the priority right now.
Too bad about the rejections but congratulations on your new little project in first draft form. Parenting, I’ve found, is like writing; you have to keep refining your process, and stick with it, and return to it even when you’re tired, and don’t let yourself get discouraged, and take pride in the little achievements as well as the big, and constantly, constantly remind yourself that it is worth all of the effort.
Thanks, Paul. I am already thinking about how I will do things differently the second time around… much like with my novel! Haha.