Starting the New Year...

Well, it is day two of 2009 and I have a few assignments that need written. Most of them are for a site that I've been with for a few months now and I have no motivation to write them. Mainly because the picking of available titles are slim and I have little interest in researching the titles I did choose. BUT, I guess if I want to keep money coming in on a weekly basis I will have to work my way through them.

Another article I have due for later this month is for a new site I joined. It's an online publication called Root & Sprout. I'm excited to be a part of that and I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows (pun intended).

I have a few articles and a few places in mind that I want to query. I still have not officially done a query yet. I don't know why I keep dragging my feet on it. I know it needs to be done. I'll have to make that my goal for next week. I mean it this time.

Later this month, I will be writing for a 24 hour short story contest. I tried it in the fall and it was a learning experience (which translates to I wasn't happy with my entry). But I'm determined to do a better job this time around.

More news...

If you haven't had a chance to visit the Accentuate Writers Forum you should really check it out. It's a great forum with a lot of support and paying leads. It is currently in the running for the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll Award, so if you have a moment to check out the site and like what you see, please give your vote.

Okay, time to get to work...

My 2008 in Review

It's the last day of 2008. Wow, what a year it's been for me.

At this time last year, I had a great feeling about what 2008 was going to bring me. I just knew it was going to be great...it was going to my year. Then about two weeks into the year, my car broke down...repeatedly. I was shelling out money I didn't have so I could get around to my two jobs. It didn't take me long to lose my optimism.

I had actually forgotten how optimistic I was last year until...well, now.

In January, I stumbled on Associated Content and suddenly remembered, Oh yeah, I was going to be a writer one day.

When I was younger it was my dream. I would sit there for hours pecking out anything that popped in my head on a 1950 era typewriter. I used that typewriter until I wore the ribbon out.

When I was a teen, it got pushed to the side by boys and school and the pursuit of whatever it is teens pursue. Then came college. I didn't know what I wanted to be. I knew I was going to write but pssshht...you couldn't live day-to-day on a wing and a prayer that someday you'd get a book published...could you?

I guess it didn't matter...I flunked out of college. Then came love, then came marriage, then came my first son in a baby carriage.

Before I moved to Indiana to start my new life as a wife and mother, my father hugged me tightly and made me promise him that I would get something published. Here's the thing about my father...you don't tell him no, and you don't break a promise.

I never forgot that promise.

So when I happened across AC, I went for it. I was absolutely giddy the first time I got that email telling me I'd been published. I lived on that high for a few months.

Then I started hanging out more at the Accentuate Writer's Forum. I started looking at the paid writing leads. I started thinking, hey...I could write for some of these places.

Accentuate also started having short story contests, so I started writing for those. My first entry bombed...and I do mean bombed. But I learned some things and I grew a little as a writer. My second entry was going to the top, baby. Okay, maybe not. I didn't win, place or show.

BUT...

Ms. Michy liked it enough that she decided to buy the story herself and put it in the anthology that is due out in February. So, I'm going to have a short story (and a poem) in that anthology. That will make me published.

Then, this morning I opened my email, and I had an acceptance in there for an article I wrote for Girlfriend 2 Girlfriend magazine. It's an online magazine and my article will be in January's issue. So I squeezed one more success story in before the end of 2008.

And I'm just getting started.

I really have to say 2008 has been a great year, despite the bad luck with the car. But 2009...Wachow! It's going to be off the charts...just wait.

Ringing in the New Year...2009

I'm looking forward to 2009. No, that is an understatement. I am excited about 2009. I think it's going to be a good year for me, at least as it relates to my writing career.

Since I lost my part time job, I have been using that time to write. I can't help but feel like I have just been playing with it. I know I haven't put forth the effort that I am capable of. I know I haven't even begun to realize my full potential.

I like that. Not that I haven't put forth the effort. I like knowing that there's more out there for me. I like knowing that I am just beginning.

I am curious to see what 2009 will bring. I already know that I will see a short story and a poem in the Accentuate Anthology. Yup, that's right...I had a poem accepted too. That's not too shabby, eh?

I am working on my first query. I've never done one before. If I've submitted to print in was always on spec. To date, I haven't had anything accepted yet. But neither have I had a rejection. I'm just...waiting.

The one I'm most anxiously waiting on is a short story I submitted to a publication that I have read for probably close to twenty years. I used to steal my mother's copy before she even got a chance to read it. I love that magazine. To say I would be excited to see something of mine in there is an understatement. If I do receive a rejection, I will keep trying. But for now, I'm staying positive.

No news is good news, right?

NaNoWriMo - I Do Believe I May Be Out of My Mind

I did it. I actually signed up for NaNoWriMo 2008. Write a novel in the month of November. Don't ask me why I signed up.

Because everyone else was doing it?

No, that excuse doesn't gel. It never really did with me.

I think I did it because I know, somewhere in me, I have what it takes to accomplish it. And I like the fact that it doesn't have to be good. No one even expects it to be good.

I have to figure out what I want to work on. I have some story lines and characters swimming around in my head. But I also have some incomplete works that I started and never finished.

Decisions, decisions...

You Just Never Know...

I was contacted yesterday evening by Michy about a story I wrote for the last short story contest on Accentuate Writers Forum. She wants it to go into the anthology book that is going to be published early next year.

I still can't believe it. I'm in a daze.

You see, it didn't win. It didn't even place an honorable mention. It was liked by a couple judges, but their with their point system, it just didn't make it.

But Michy saw something in it.

I had given up on that story for the time being. I was ready to move on. I had moved on. I had already written my entry for the next contest, and I was pleased with it.

I thought, Okay this will be my last chance to make it into this anthology.

I guess I was wrong.

I called my parents to tell them. They were thrilled and excited for me. I think my dad got a little emotional. I know I was very emotional.

You see, when I left New York thirteen years ago to get married, he made me promise that I would get something published. He didn't really care what it was, but he didn't want marriage and motherhood to stop me from fulfilling my dreams. He didn't want me to give up on that dream.

He didn't want me to give up on me.

It's great having parents who are that caring and understanding of who you are.

So for thirteen years, I have thought about that promise. And now, I can say that I am fulfilling it.

So, thank you, Michy, for allowing my dream to come true and thank you for all the help you've given to help strengthen my writing.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for always believing in me and encouraging me.

And, Rissa, if you're reading this...thank you for always being my beta reader, and for always being there for me. And thank you for calling me to check my email...hehehe.

Wow...I'm going to be published!

24 Hour Writing Contest and Getting it Right

I mentioned before that I had entered a 24 hour writing contest at writersweekly.com. The contest started yesterday, and officially ended a few minutes ago.

I did get a story completed and entered. While I can't say I'm thrilled and excited about my entry, I will say I'm happy I entered. I also have plans of entering another one.

It was definitely a challenge. For me at least.

I've learned a lot about writing in the last few months. I have the Accentuate forum to thank for that, in addition to Michelle L. Devon's blog, Michy's Thoughts. But when it all comes down to it, no matter what I learn, I think it's what I have inside me that will determine if I succeed or fail at being a writer.

I'm not giving up. I'll keep trying until I get it right.

As for the contest, there are several reasons why it was a challenge. Even though I like working under pressure, this was tough for me because I wanted something original. I'm not sure I got it. I also think I could have given my ending more punch. I'm still not sure how I could have done that, but I know the story needs it. I have a problem with endings.

That's part of the problem with a 24 hour contest. I didn't have much time to let it sit and mull it over. When I write something, I like to "walk away" from it for awhile...a few days or so...and then come back to read it with fresh eyes.

You can't do that when you only have 24 hours.

I'm not making excuses. Well, not really.

It's just something I have to work on for next time. It's good to know your weaknesses, right?

So, I'm going to keep trying until I get it right.

I took the day off to write. Yeah...right.

I took today off to write a few essays and update my blogs. I even wrote out a to do list. Out of seven things I wanted to get done, I accomplished three. Well, actually two and a half. Once this post is complete, it will be three.

It may sound like I did okay. It certainly looks okay written down. Except I know that I chose the three easiest things to accomplish first. So I really didn't do so hot.

The rest of my time was spent cleaning up a mess from this mishap. Oh, and posting in various forums that I belong to. We'll call that networking. Hehehe.

Believe it or not, I have been more involved with my writing lately. I recently completed a rough draft of a short story for the writing contest at Accentuate Writers Forum. I'm happy with it as a rough draft, but I feel like it needs some fleshing out in places and some tweaking in others. It was one of those stories that just poured out of me in an hour. I like those. The less I have to fight a story, the happier I am with it.

I also recently submitted an essay to a higher paying market than I'm used to. I'm still waiting to hear back.

Unfortunately, I will have to leave for my part time job soon. I couldn't take that off. So it looks like my writing for the day is finished.

But on the plus side, I have completed this post, so I can now say I finished three things that were on my to do list for today.

Woohoo.