So, this past two weeks I’ve been testing new directions in my life. I had the priveledge of reading slush, which was a good experience. Now I understand better nuance in different publications. Does that mean I’ll get it right every time? Probably not, but I do hope to keep a better look out for typos. It obviously had and impact on me. Last night I dreamt that someone was pointing out that I’d used the wrong form of ‘there’ in a piece. Worse, it was in the first paragraph.

Yeah, writer’s nightmares are scarier than folks nightmares. (I also dreamt that I went to a reception and was forced to sit at the kid’s table… See? Very scary!)

And then on Tuesday I ventured into the dark realm that once had the potential to be great, but morons got a hold of it and now it is a freezing, leaking, colossal mistake that’s loosing money hand over fist. (Thank you E.S.W. for your ‘vision’) *Sigh* I went to try out for a play. Had I known what the play was, I probably would have skipped it since I don’t fit either of the two female parts in the play, but it was good to get out of the house.

The snow is melting, but the drive is still a sheet of ice. The dog is impatient to traipse through the woods. I am, too. Will that furry rodent be correct? after all Will it be an early spring? I can hope…

Regardless, I do need to set up an observation notebook. In Ellie’s elephants, I sloughed off naming names of flowers since I wasn’t particularly sure if I had it exactly right. I mean, I know the progression of what blooms when, but I need to make meticulous notes of when some begin to fade and when the first shoots of the lilies and irises shoot up. Our “yard” is a bit strange though. Where we have peonies, one site seems to bloom sooner and lasts for a scant period of time compared to those by the driveway. Different sun exposure can do all sorts of strange things…

Here’s hoping the sun shines on you! Thanks for reading!

So, I did it! I wrapped up the draft of Ellie’s Elephants and sent it to Amazon’s Contest. I also sent it to the fabulous people in my life who are my ‘first’ readers, though I try not to send first drafts to anyone.

Now I think about tinkering with it more. I think there may need to be a non-confrontation/confrontation scene when Selin and Eleanor agree to ‘maybe’ have a drink after the show and then Kyle shows up with a bouquet. Maybe it’s enough–before and after for that gap to be filled in by the reader. I don’t know. I’m going to try to wait, to work on other things.

But what? I’m trying to take this day ‘off’ from writing as much as I can. That revision was tough!

And so much was put off while I revised. It’s not a hopeless situation, but I need to gather up tax papers and make that appointment. I expect seed catalogues soon. How I love to consider the garden when all I can see out the window is snow.

The letters I started and misplaced resurfaced briefly. I again can’t find them and fear they are in a pile–not as large and unruly as the pile on the table had become, but a pile somewhere…

Pile fluctuation is bizarre around me. I have no problem filing things properly, but I keep coming back to this observation. It seems the very second I get everything put away, some project strikes me and the piles start again, unnoticed until I can’t ignore them anymore because they will fall if I do. This time it worked out that I finished the draft before I had to address the pile.

And so, off to post this and gather receipts. Fun times ahead! Have a great two weeks and thanks for checking in!