Back from Viable Paradise

I am completely overwhelmed by the VP experience. For the first time in my life, I feel like I've found my tribe. I had the privilege of working with phenomenal instructors and 27 of the most interesting, intelligent and talented people I have ever met.

And then, I had to leave.

I am still trying to process everything that happened this week. I got some excellent feedback, made some great friends, and learned a lot about myself and my writing. The most important thing I took away from the workshop is that I need to recommit to writing. I can't stand at the threshold and tease my toe back and forth over the line. If I want to be a writer (and I have decided that I do), I need to write for 20 minutes every day. Period. No more excuses!

I really miss everyone already, so if you're out there, stay connected! Keep me honest! And be sure to shout out your successes, because I intend to buy all of your books and short stories.

I'll make a full report when my brain stops hurting. Ow! :)

Really, I Should Pack...

But I'm not. Why, you ask?

Because in order to pack, there's Mt. Laundry to climb and conquer, the girls' fundraiser to tally and prepare for turn-in, and a spreadsheet of activities/school pick-ups/day care arrangements to make for my husband, who will have to be me for an entire week and has no idea how to go about it.

And amidst all of the preparation madness, another agent requested my manuscript today (yay!) but wants an exclusive, which puts me in a bit of a quandary as said manuscript is already firmly entrenched in another agent's pile o' reading. I offered a semi-exclusive, which I hope will provide a good compromise. I hope she responds in time for me to send out the full before I leave for VP.

Oh, and apparently, there's a blog to update.

However, I have organized and packed my little file folder of bus tickets, ticketless plane tickets, ferry schedules and traveling buddy/ roommate phone numbers. So if nothing else, I'll be checking an empty suitcase with a folder full of info. Priorities, yes?

Really, I just don't know what to pack. The best answer I get about the weather is that it's "unpredictable," which means that I pretty much need to pack my entire (paltry, pathetic) wardrobe. I also have a winter clothes problem. I've gained * pounds over the summer, so the few warm items I possess are a little clingy and bring unnecessary attention to my chubby bits. My jeans fit (see post below!) but only because 1/2 my stomach and 1/4 of my butt now flop over the top (compounding aforementioned chubby bits issue). So far, all I've managed to decide is that I: a) need to buy new jeans, or b) need to buy looser tops. What I will most likely choose, given my current poverty of both time and funds, is c) suck it up, suck it in, and smile.

But I digress. Packing will, eventually, happen. By 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, I will have made a final decision about whether or not to take my laptop and/or printed copies of my work (as of now I'm leaning toward both). I will have clothes, shampoo and mascara, which is really all I need.

And all of this stressing about the small stuff? Is to keep my mind from spinning out over the fact that in TWO DAYS I will be at Viable Paradise!

Ready or not, here I come!

Sale!

It's taken me a few days to process this, but on September 11th my short story "The Librarian of Talimbourne" was accepted to Ruins Metropolis, an anthology due out later this year. I have some minor changes to make this week to get the final draft to the editor, but all in all, this is very exciting news! I keep pinching myself; it seems unreal that I will actually be published! Now I suppose I will have to finish the other short story and start sending that out.

In the meantime, I've been working on the YA when I can. I just wish I had more time to really devote to writing right now so I could get the first draft of the YA "in the can" and focus on the revision.

And Viable Paradise approaches. I'm nervous. For now, I'm more stressed out about travel arrangements than anything else. I always wanted to be on The Amazing Race, but without the million dollar prize, the all day flight to Boston, 2-hour bus ride and tight connection to the last ferry of the day doesn't look as appealing. One way or another I'll get there, I suppose. And then it will be magical.

C'est Finis! (Again)

Boy, do I need deadlines!

After a very exciting request for the full from my #1 choice of agent, I spent a harrowing weekend resuming the temporarily postponed Book One revision project. I am happy to say that I have cut over 5,000 more words and tightened up the book considerably. I am very pleased with the outcome. While I could nitpick eternally, I don't think I could find too many more nits to pick. Hopefully, I will soon have an agent who will do that, and, ideally, an editor, too! While I will cheerfully revise upon demand, I am now content that Book One is in top submission form. Away she goes tomorrow afternoon.

And, in other news, I even wrote a few pages on the YA this weekend. I discovered that switching from the revision part of my brain to the creative part was difficult, but not impossible. This is good.

Now that this project is finished, I hope to switch permanently to the creative part. Viable Paradise approaches (exciting! terrifying!) and I'd like to speed the YA along now that one of my characters has popped on-scene a little earlier than planned to try to convince my rat of his destiny. I must be careful not to allow the characters too much freedom in writing their own story, although I did appreciate the help. Otherwise, I may not have had anything for writing group.

Tomorrow, after an early morning commute, fifteen diet cokes, and four classes of remedial Freshman Comp, I will think about goals and deadlines. But for now, I'm going to babysit the printer and pray it doesn't run out of ink before my ream-of-paper long book prints.

Then, I'm going to pass out.

Hey, Look! I'm a Writer!

What an amazing week! On June 29th I left for Writer's Weekend in Seattle, a wonderful conference that provides an opportunity for writers to network and learn about the craft of writing and the business of publishing. My Master's Class with agent Nephele Tempest and four other talented writers was incredible. The writing and feedback were excellent! I came away not only with some great ideas to improve the first five pages of my draft, but also feeling lucky to have had the opportunity to read the first pages of some amazing stories. Ray Rhamey's flash editing workshop was also excellent. I now understand the importance of those first two pages, and will definitely take another look at my own to see if they compel the reader to read on.

Because this year's conference was smaller, I was able to spend some quality time outside of the workshops meeting and talking with Nephele Tempest and Mary Louise Schwartz, who are incredibly hard-working agents and wonderful people. I was also happy to spend more time chatting with Karen Junker and her husband, who are the unsung heroes who put together Writer's Weekend every year despite the stress and financial hardships running such a conference presents. And I loved chatting with all of the other writers in the halls and over breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, an opportunity to connect that doesn't really happen at big conferences.

After an extra day in Seattle, possibly one of the most beautiful cities in the nation, I came home to the news that I've been accepted to this year's Viable Paradise workshop! I could not believe, after all the drama getting my application there, that they would accept me! I am so excited! I am also out of excuses. After this past week's successes, I may have to admit that I can actually write, and that I should spend more time writing to increase my chances of getting published. This is going to seriously interfere with my self-sabotage and procrastination plans.

So now I've got plenty of work to do: I've got chapters to send off to one agent and the entire manuscript to another, so I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks taking another quick pass through the novel. I know all of the major edits have been made, but there are always a few little tweaks I could make here and there. Even if it were published and on the shelf, knowing me, I'd find something to tweak. It's my OCD. I have dirty floors, but I will never be satisfied with my own writing.

I've also got to figure out how to get from California to Martha's Vineyard without arriving completely fall-down exhausted.

But these are all very good problems to have.

Waiting

Today I really hate the USPS.

I'm not good at waiting, which is why the whole publication process, in general, is very frustrating. What is even more frustrating is having to wait longer than I should to know whether or not I've been accepted to Viable Paradise.

This is where the USPS comes in.

Had they correctly delivered my application packet the first time I sent it, at the beginning of April, I would be receiving my acceptance/rejection this week. However, now, not only have they just received my second packet, I am also certain that my chances of being accepted at all are greatly diminished.

Honestly, I'm good enough at self-sabotage without the USPS helping me out.

Meanwhile, I am also waiting on another level. I am waiting to "download" the next installment of the YA novel so that I can write it. In other words, I have no idea what happens next. Today, in a fit of whimsy, I considered having one of my two main characters slip and fall off the roof and die. That would certainly move the story! However, it would move it in a completely wrong direction and necessitate the introduction of a totally new character to fill in for this one, so I decided to just close the blank notebook page and go shopping instead.

So, I'm three tank tops, three new t-shirts, and a little sundress closer to knowing what happens next in the story.

It's better than just sitting around, waiting.