Stress

Feeling very unwriterish these days. Work is going well, but is stressful. It's hard to come home and work up enough energy to write something worthwhile. I've been keeping up with my journal, though, so as my September 1st deadline approaches, I aim to use those ideas with a vengeance.

A few days ago I wrote goals in my runner's blog for my race the next day. That seemed to help me during the run. So here are my writing goals for this week:

1. Get caught up on my contest entries in my gmail account. Won't take but 15-20 minutes. DONE!

2. Send out at least 5 more entries for August. Need to get going on that! This will include my piece for the writers' guild anthology.

3. Write at least 2 more pieces. They can be small ones.

4. Edit at least 1 previous piece.

My dirty dishes call. I ignore their cries of agony and continue to type. Let them suffer their rotten, smelly deaths. Reality has no claim on my sanity at the moment. (Wow. I think I need some sleep!)

No revision in life

Last night my husband and I were informed about an old friend of ours who has ruined his life. Apparently, he and his wife split, there was a custody battle over their son, and one night our friend shot and killed his wife. We were obviously shocked at this news at first, but upon further thinking, it wasn't so surprising.

Some people have a deep passion about certain things: spouse, sport, child, hobby, etc. You take that away and all reasoning facilities disappear. Our friend was one of the smartest people we know. If he had been thinking logically, no one would have found the body and no one would have ever suspected he'd had anything to do with her disappearance. But what happened must have been  fit of passion over the child. He loved that boy more than anything. More than his wife, obviously. And in his passion he lashed out and got caught. He will probably spend the rest of his life in prison, possibly on death row.

It's this kind of passion I've never had. In some ways, I feel bereft that others can feel so much more deeply than I can about their lives. Even though this is a tragedy, I don't feel anything except disappointment and sadness for our friend, the son, and the family of the wife. I feel worse about the fact I DON'T feel anger.

Then again, I don't think I would ever get that angry about losing something/someone that I would kill a human being. That's a definite advantage.

Time lapse

With school starting, my writing/contesting has been put on the back burner. I need to get my bearings with these new kids before I can feel creative enough, have enough energy, and not feel guilty taking the time to write. My goal is September, which is two weeks. In the mean time, I'm going to make an effort to do more journal entries so I have seeds to write from.

Tiny Publishing Credit

8/4/11 I was the "Today's Story" author on One Forty Fiction. http://www.onefortyfiction.com/
It also showed up on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/onefortyfiction

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The fragrance of almonds pervaded the kitchen. The last flavor he’d taste, she thought. Smiling, she carried the cookies up to the bedroom.

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PUBLISHING CREDITS COMES IN ALL SIZES!

More contests

Six more out. Writing stories like mad so I don't have to multiple submit. Is this the last minute creative spurt before school starts in the fall and my brain goes dead for a few months? Maybe.

I need to start working on my sf/fan portfolio of stories so I can apply for the Clarion workshops. High probability I won't get accepted first time out, but if I don't apply, they can't say Yes. And if they do say no? They can't take away my birthday. Maybe they could in an alternate universe, though. Interesting.... ;-)

Journal stories

I've been keeping a journal with story ideas. Not something I have to write in every day, but a handy little book when my brain tickles me with a cool plot, character, or setting.

I typed in a couple today and am quite pleased with the results. I'll need to let them sit a couple days so I can get perspective and revise them, but I think they'll be good ones to market to contests.

I also pulled out an old issue of my college literary magazine. My writing was riddled with adjective bullets and adverbial hyperbole, but the concepts were still good. I'm also revising these pieces to send out. No reason to let good meat rot in the basement.

More rejection, YAY!

Several more thumbs-down received. In celebration, I submitted 4 more pieces to other places.

I think I'll take the rejection letters, print them on fabric, and make a quilt. That way I can sit on them and write more.

Funny thing is, all this rejection isn't bothering me a bit. So far my thick skin is holding up. As with running, you take your losses, figure out what you did wrong, and keep trying.