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AWP on my Mind

I can hardly believe that A) I’m going to Boston for a week and B) I’ll be leaving soon. I made a list of places I wanted to submit before I left and when it got to be the tenth, I starred the most important places. My starred places are complete. There is one contest (Arizona Mystery Writers) that I still have time to enter, but I don’t want to stress over it. They changed contest directors and it was sweet to receive an email inviting me to enter but…eh. I have a piece started, but I don’t know if I’ll get it finished in time.

The NEA was the most important thing. I read the comments from people on Zoetrope. They said not to stress over it, just send your best writing. (And this year I did a bang-up job on my description!) I had intended to send two short stories and a novel excerpt. I re-read them and changed what I submitted. Fingers crossed that I get the thick envelope in November.

And the Valentine’s day story… Husband is not big on holidays, but he agreed that I’d get a rose on my birthday and on Valentine’s Day. This year, he ended up working with Norm the Annoying Ogre and forgot. He felt bad about this, but oh well. I left to go grocery shopping. When I returned, he had crafted this:

A rose out of a wild rose bush stem and a sprig of rose hips, construction paper and poinsettia leaves. (Yeah, he is awesome.)

On Sunday, I got a bouquet of six real ones. I cut down three and put them here, in my office.

Well, thanks for checking in. I’m off to do pilates. See you in March.

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

Doing so much I forgot what I was supposed to do

I surprised myself yesterday when I looked at the calendar and noticed I was supposed to have blogged and hadn’t. Oh well. I have put in 5 contest entries this week. There are 5 more I want to enter this month—well one is the NEA Fellowship. I am also looking over reader notes on both “Ellie’s Elephants” and “Campus Crimes.” No time consuming confusion there.

I also “found” an angle for a baseball story. I had the story months ago, I just didn’t have the frame for it. At the library last Saturday, I sat at the return counter and it wrote itself, so I hope to finish up a first draft soon.

I’m reading Gone Girl and The Art of Fielding and several stories for r.kv.r.y

And I made a loaf of bread.

What a week.

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

Siblings. Gotta Love Them Because It’s A Whole Other Crime If You Murder Them.

Working for r.kv.r.y. is ironic in that I’ve discovered I’m so adept at suppressing stuff that I don’t even realize I’ve done it.

For years, this date has found me holed up in bed and not getting up until after noon. This year, I had changed the date in my head. I believed the anniversary was the 19^th. By then, I would have realized I’d missed the true anniversary date and life would have gone on. Progress.

Oh, no. There’s Facebook and a whole familial vigil going on this morning.

It’s just as well. I didn’t know what else I was going to write about to day, so I’d like to share my first published piece which appeared in the January/February 2009 issue of the now defunct magazine The Rambler.

JANUARY 16, 1997

by T. L. Sherwood

This is what it looks like before everything shifts into surrealism for a while. Romeo stares down his master, me, asleep at the remote. A wet nose nudge does the trick and we’re off to bed. I’ve always been a night owl who likes to drink alone. I’m not the only bartender who will admit this if you ask. We prefer to serve ourselves quietly after work while a sappy movie plays in the background.

I don’t even drink that much. I want a clear head, if not eyes. The weather is spectacular. I regret hanging curtains as the lightening dazzles in the snow storm and I pace window to window to door. It’s blowing too hard to enjoy a more intimate view outdoors. The beauty is enticing but tiring. I finally go to bed; I lay down dreamless. The black backs of my eyelids flash and fumble in opposite colors, re-creating the electric display I’d just witnessed. I’m about to drift off. It’s past midnight. I made it through another day on earth; I can rest assured my tombstone will reflect this.

Gentle tiptoeing sandman is on his way out the door when the phone rings. My temporary boyfriend doesn’t wake up. The dog shifts. I won’t get up. I swear I won’t, though it might be my real boyfriend. Christ, I give up–the true love of my life that has slunk around the background of all my adult relationships. I’m willing to tell him how much I love him, be done with the pretense and go all the way to Texas to be with him; I am that ready to jump. I need to sleep. If I wake up–all the way–I might tell him all this.

Groggily I mumble, “Hello.”

Miles and miles away but closer than Texas is the most different voice. It is my Uncle. Hospital. Heart attack. My mother. Dead.

I sit in the kitchen chair.

I cannot come tonight. There is a snow storm.

He will take my Grandmother and my brother home. It’s a hell of a night for everyone. The connection is severed.

I sit. I stare. I try to lie down again. Romeo half-growls as I snuggle up to my temporary boyfriend. The thunder has passed. The wind is still whipping the snow around outside. I hear the snowplow roughly scrape the pavement with its curved blades. Give it six hours and the roads will be cleared. The sun will rise but nothing will ever be the same again, not even seeing a picture of a man who has fallen asleep in front of a television set.

***

I agree, it’s not my best work, but an editor thought enough of it to accept it and I am so grateful to Jonathan Tuttle for believing in my work at a time when I was wondering if I had any talent at all…

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Many thanks to the incredible Mary Akers for tagging me in this latest writer’s meme.

I am privileged to have attended one of her workshops and now serve as a reader and editor at r.kv.r.y Quarterly Literary Journal. I’m looking forward to reading her forthcoming book Bones of an Inland Sea. In the meantime, Women up on Blocks is available from Press 53.

Now for the questions:

What is your working title of your book?

Ellie’s Elephants

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A few years ago in Buffalo, there were reports of employees at a collection agency that were illegally threatening and harassing people. I wondered what it would be like if a tax collector did that and came across someone who had a deep secret to protect.

What genre does your book fall under?

I think of it as literary fiction but it could appeal to a broader audience.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Interesting question! Casting directors must go insane trying to match up the ages, talents and work schedules for the actors they want. While it’s not a comedy, Lisa Kudrow for Ellie. Her work on “Who Do You Think You Are” is fantastic. For Selin: Colin Firth. If it was cast older, Jodie Foster and Jeff Goldblum. Brad Pitt for Kyle. Reese Witherspoon for Billie. Oh, and please, please, please–Pierce Brosnan for Lionel.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A woman who tries to escape her fame as a poet nearly succeeds until an underhanded tax collector enters her life and then all bets are off as to how far love, fidelity, and loyalty will take a family to protect one of their own.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Ideally, an agency, but I have been looking into different ways of self-publishing.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Happily, I can say that the first draft was a product of NaNoWriMo. 50,000 words in 30 days. The intensity was thrilling.I’m still editing and tweaking it though, usually while sitting here:

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

During my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, I had this image pop into my head: Kyle was wearing boxer shorts, cowboy boots and nothing else. Ellie and Billie were engaged in an intense conversation. A dog came out of nowhere and then a shotgun went off. I needed to know what happened to these people, but having read the pitfalls of NaNo, I knew I couldn’t abandon the work I had already started. That year, I finished a first draft of “Dandelion Dreams.” I thought about those other characters and they grew, changed, and evolved until the next November rolled around and then I felt ready to write the book.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

While the main character is a poet, there is only one poem in the book and it’s by Tanith Lee.

I hereby tag Madeline Claire Franklin.

Happy 2013! I’m an Editor now!

I hope your 2013 is starting off to be a great year. Yesterday, I was promoted from a fiction reader to a Fiction Editor at r.kv.r.y. Quarterly Literary Journal. Thank you, Mary Akers! I went through the receipts for the year and gathered all the tax information I have so that dreadful bit which I usually wait until the last minute to do is over and I already have a contest entry and three submissions sent off. My year is starting off very well, and last year was not too shabby. I went to a writer’s conference in Westfield where I met James Goertel, Reg Darling, LouAnne Johnson, and Linda Lavid. I traveled to Binghamton and met Jefferson Rose and his family. My son and his family visited. I saw Chicago again. My garden shed was completed. I had ten pieces accepted (including one which will appear in Rosebud–one of my “dream” publications) and an agent queried me.

While I don’t make resolutions, per se, I’m not immune to the hype for personal betterment in the new year. I do hope that my writing (and editing) skills improve and that my work is accepted in awesome venues. Payment would be nice and finding an agent that believes in my work would be fantastic. I think I have these vague “goals” at all points during the year, but they seem most pronounced in January.

I know it works for some people, but declaring a new start at the beginning of the year has never worked for me. When I quit smoking (on Saturday, it will be the eighth anniversary) it was something I had tried before. I hadn’t been as serious about it until then. And don’t get me wrong, the drugs helped, too. Without Welbutrin, I don’t think I would have made it past the hump. But, I quit on the fifth, not the first. Now, writing challenges and prompts are different. So are deadlines. I have a better chance of meeting another person’s parameters than deciding which things to impose on myself for some reason.

I’m so grateful the holidays are over. Husband has been home too much for my taste. I thought that today I might be able to get back to normal, but no. On the ride over to Weber City, he got a call and he’ll be putting a bid in on a job in Depew this afternoon, and since there will be no time for him to get back to the Buffalo Zoo and get tools out, he’ll be home early again. Yesterday, he was home early because he was all ‘manly’ and had three cavities filled during one dentist visit which numbed his tongue completely. *Sigh* Men…

Cats though, they are sweet and look lovely in ribbons. Since mine is a diva, here are two photos where I tried to capture her New Year’s Eve ‘costume.’

This month there will be an additional posting as I’ve been tagged to participate in the “Next Big Thing.”

Thanks for checking in!

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

The Last Post of the Year

When last we met, I had a slew of writing projects going on and–No Surprise–I still do. I’m at an odd juncture where creatively, I’m excited and fulfilled but eh, when I’m away from the keyboards, I feel sad. I’ll attribute it to the pre-Mayan end of the world (even though they couldn’t predict the Spanish invasion) prophesy blues.

Besides displaying the Christmas cards, only the lamp lady was decorated this year. Doesn’t she look fancy in gold?

I need snow to get into the holiday spirit, and by the time we get it, it might be Valentine’s Day. Yes, that’s one Humbug to your Bah and I’ll raise you a candy cane that’s been turned into a Christmas shiv. I love the “idea” of the holidays, but with Christmas celebrations, multiple relative reunions, company parties, etc. I’m away from my craft more than I want to be and I know I’m lucky to have this wonderful set of problems, but they are problems just the same.

So, I’ll do what I can, step by step; bird by bird and carry on. Be grateful. Smile. And wish you a happy merry joyous holiday!

This is what happens when dogs are allowed on the table.

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

Writing so much, I’ll have to catch up on people later…

National Novel Writing Month is over. I wrote 50,000 words, but I certainly don’t have a book. It’s such a mess, and a few short stories ended up in there because they refused to not be written when I sat down to write. I also lost five pounds and can see a difference.

I’ve dabbled with pilates for years now, but for NaNo, I committed to an hour of pilates before I wrote each day. I missed a few days, but otherwise, it felt great. After concentrating on my movements and breath for an hour, the writing fell into place easier than it has in a long time. I blame the messiness of this latest NaNo book on not committing to a single story, as I have in the past. I had two stories that were started but needed more space than 5,000 words, so I thought I’d stretch them both out and add a third to form a “book” of three novellas.

Wrong.

Stupidly, I began to believe that the two stories I had and the new one I came up with could be woven together into a book of three stories entwined. That’s where things went wrong. I started bringing things in to “join” them that other details no longer made sense, and, well, I did mention it was a mess, didn’t I?

Off of NaNo sent me into submission madness. Between 30 November and 3 December, I sent out 22 things–only two of which are simultaneous subs–the rest are individual stories that still haven’t found homes.

The discipline of NaNo is something I adore. I know I tend to let things slide afterwards, but this week, I’ve put in 1000 words each day on each of the “First Lines” for 2013. I wrapped it up today and will let it sit for a week. The tragedy in Kansas City gave me the end for a story I started in June but abandoned because while I had pushed myself, I needed distance to see where it ended, Sadly, now I know.

I also feel like a moronic idiot because I probably blew every chance I had with the agent that contacted me. Instead of saying, hey thanks, but I was about to do another rewrite with a new first chapter, do you mind waiting a bit, I didn’t. I sent the query letter I had and the first ten pages and *sigh* she hasn’t gotten back to me…Ah well. I knew better than to get my hopes up so I didn’t. Well, a little, I did, but NaNo helped block out a lot of thoughts and feeling I could have dwelled upon.

What I did get was a note from the woman running the Buffalo News Short Story contest saying they would select the winner and notify them during the week of 10 December. I only mention this because I’ve entered before and never heard anything from them at all. At least this time I know they received my entry.

So, thanks for checking in. I have more writing to do, including the holiday letter which I’m finding it difficult to write because there is no snow. I live on the other side of the hill where there is a ski lodge. It’s near Buffalo. It’s December. It’s just not right.

[Ha! I just opened last blog entry file to copy the tagline and found the essay I started. Funny! Even more writing to complete!]

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

NaNo is Not to Blame. NaNo is Awesome. NaNo is the Answer to November

Apologies to Alex, and anyone else stopping by here. (Mega Thank yous, by the way, for checking in…) My non-problem is thus: I had an awesome day and writing about it is turning into a viable essay. Without trying, I’m already 771 words in… Did I mention that you look pretty today? Oh, you’re so handsome, too.

My post was going to be late and now it is something else entirely.

Forgiveness on your part would be nice.

In the meantime, google cute cat videos and it should all be good eventually.

(*These are just my future Creekside Reflections. Your experience may have varied by then.)

NaNo Started, Or I started NaNo

If you’re reading this, it means I have successfully made it through the first day of NaNoWriMo 2012.

It was a bitch. I struggled, but as I was hovering around the last three hundred word mark, ready to give up for the day–tell myself I could come back and put in extra tomorrow, I caught a break and made it to 1806 with ease. I started a new sentence and saved the file in two places. I know enough of NaNo to not get too far ahead of myself.

Eck. So it’s a start. And I don’t talk about ongoing books because I’ve lost them that way, so how are you? Are you making Christmas plans?

My lovely niece is in negotiations to get as many people visited while she and her brother are in Pennsylvania for Christmas. I haven’t begun to take my Halloween decorations down yet. It’s on my list to have that taken care of before Thanksgiving. Or my sister’s visit–whichever comes first.

So, I know, it’s not much of a post. Please forgive, but if you’re looking for something to read, and you haven’t already, would you please at least consider buying Short Lean Cuts? I think it’s like a dollar for the kindle version. I started to read it yesterday.

I feel a wee bit guilty as I promised Alex that yesterday was the last day I was going to bitch, carp, cry, and complain about my submission to a certain magazine taking so long to go through the process when, on Duotrope, people are posting 70, 90, 100 day rejections and I’m like 270 days in now. For Feck’s sake! It’s annoying. If I had gotten pregnant on the day I submitted there, I’d be in labor now–or close to it. The third of November is the nine month mark. And since I just complained on the day I promised to stop for a month, I owe it to Alex Pruteanu to tell you that he’s a great writer. You can google him and read several of his stories for free before you decide to buy his book, but come on, it’s less than a dollar. Buy Short Lean Cuts. He’ll thank you for it and I won’t feel so bad about complaining about not getting a rejection (or acceptance) from a ‘top’ magazine in almost nine months.

Until next time!

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)

Counting Down to NaNoWriMo

This week has been filled with social functions: There was writer’s group on Tuesday and I volunteered at the library on Wednesday. Later today I’ll be donating blood because apparently that’s something I do now, and I’ll be back at the library on Saturday for another shift. It seems I either have a million things to do or nothing. *Sigh.*

As a rule, I hate talking about writing projects I haven’t completed a rough draft of yet, but this year I’m thinking of doing things a bit differently for NaNo. I have two stories I’ve been kicking around for a while now. Each began with the idea that they were going to be short stories but they quickly outgrew that form, and since I was certain they didn’t have enough steam to be novels, I gave up both of them for other writing projects. What I’m thinking is to concentrate on these two stories and turn them into novellas. That’s my theory of what I’ll be doing for NaNo, but it’s early yet. I may change my mind.

I had been thinking about a different project, one where “Bess No More,” the story scheduled to appear in Rosebud Issue 54 (still loving the sound of that!) would serve as the first chapter in the novel–and I have a vague story arch I want to explore–but I don’t think I’ve sat with that book long enough to write it, so that’s where the novella idea stepped in to be considered.

And as a cool aside, my daughter-in-law asked me to review her research paper, which is kind of neat–though I quickly remembered why I didn’t like college: Writing research papers. Also, why I didn’t want to become a prof: Reading and grading research papers. Luckily, I didn’t get near the toxic part: Publishing research papers or perishing. *Sigh.* DIL did a good job on her paper; it just needs a few tweaks which I’m happy to provide.

Otherwise, it’s a matter of wrapping up as much as I can and simplifying where it’s possible before the first of November. Putting in 1667 words a day consistently is stressful enough. I don’t need a stack of papers to file staring me in the face while I’m working.

Ah well… Let the writing challenge begin!

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experiences may vary.)