I don’t go through the Penny Saver every week, but I found an announcement in the November 6th edition for the “Gowanda Blues Festival” at Moose Lodge #1382 and since Maria Aurigema was playing, we had to go.

 

~*~Props to Norm for getting us advance tickets. Thank you! ~*~

 

We arrived early, picked an ideal spot and ordered dinner from the special ‘Blues Fest’ menu. The service was excellent, as was the food–and plentiful! The Bravuras were first up and they were quite competent. The sax player was most enjoyable. Since they went on at 6ish on a Saturday evening, it’s hard to fault them for their set. I’m sure they would have been better a bit later in the night.

During the Bravuras set, Maria walked in…

Damn.

She is fine.

No one there could have missed her entrance. She does have star power. The set change was awesome to watch. Maria was all there and helping to move equipment and lay down the carpet. She sprayed something like magic on her frets and she was good to go. The set was SO fantastic. Husband and I have listened to her songs on WBFO’s Saturday Blues Show hosted brilliantly by Jim Santella for years. Her song, “Thinking About You” was included on the “Nickel City Blues” compilation, offered as a ‘thank you gift’ a few years ago.

“Miracle Man”

“Running”

“Take Me”

“Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean.”

 

Girl can sing! Woman can play!

She took a minute to run into the green room, emerged with a flag, draped it over the amp and dedicated the next song to the veterans.

After her set, I went to buy a copy of her CD which I’d been searching for in the local outlets without any luck. Not only was I able to purchase her CD, I was given two of her photos for free and she signed the CD with the most wonderful, sweetest inscription.

MARIA AURIGEMA ROCKS!!!

Next up were the Heavenly Chillbillies. From the get go, I liked this group. They were a fun bunch. They did covers of songs I like such as “Blues Are My Business and Business Is Good.” Husband wasn’t impressed at first, but as the set progressed, they became more in tune with each other. Their song “My Sister’s So Mean, She Drinks Gasoline” was hilarious and so well done! I was making the call on that one and sadly they announced their CD wouldn’t be out for a while–otherwise, I so would have bought it.

Right, so far everything is well defined. The Blues Hounds came on and they were tighter than an infantry man to his rifle. The chorus of voices on the song “Don’t You Know You Got a Good Girl At Home” was brilliant. The group was diverse and rugged and truly blues worthy. I liked them a lot. If they had a CD, it wasn’t apparent or well advertised.

The last set was by Mr. Conrad/Shrimp Daddy. Right. Husband fell in love with them right away. I was less impressed. “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” was great though, and Husband decided we would get the CD which was advertised by Reid as “I smuggled ten CD’s in with me from Canada. Don’t make me take them home.”

Finally, Mike “Shrimp Daddy” Reid got around to introducing the band. If I’m spelling it wrong, mia culpa, but Aaron Bates, you are the most handsome thing that came on the stage that night. You, bassist, are right up there with cotton candy in the pleasure lane of life.

Because Husband decided on getting the CD, we did. Can I say pompous and arrogant? The CD was just Mike Reid. Had I known that at the time, I might have declined purchasing the CD. He wanted $20.00, which I thought was steep. On stage, he kept referring to playing in Buffalo which I found ignorant since Gowanda is not Buffalo. According to Husband, I’m supposed to cut him some slack because he drove down from Canada. Fine. I’d be less put off by the man if he had offered to sign any of the CDs that people bought from him that night, but he didn’t.

Ass.

I’m especially ticked since what Husband deduced from hearing them play is that Shrimp Daddy is very, very good. We listened to Maria’s and then Shrimp Daddy’s CD the next day when WBFO scheduled worthless Anita to play bad crap rock songs. Maria’s CD was awesome but I knew most of those songs already.

As to Shrimp Daddy… Well, I must trust my initial-and so far continuing-dislike of the man. I want to believe this is not recycled fodder from a well known romance novel where Mike Reid plays Jack ‘Trustworthy’ Colton to my Joan ‘I will kick your sorry ass, you fool’ Wilder.

I really dislike that man but love the music.

Seriously, his “Some Guys Like It Rough” — I see that song covered by Shemika soon, if not Etta.

It was a great Saturday night and I’m so glad we went.

Ta until next time!

*These are just my reflections. Your experience may vary.

This is day three of National Novel Writing Month and I feel fine. Just fine. A bit cranky perhaps, but not about the writing, which is going OK, I guess. I skim what I wrote the day before to remind myself where I was going. Some of the typos are funny. Case in point: I meant to write a character saying, “I’m sorry for your loss.” (I know, cliché, but the point of NaNo is to get it written, get it done, edit later.) What came out instead was, “I’m sorry for your life.” I left it as is because maybe that’s what he really meant to say. I don’t know that now but perhaps I shall by the time I rewrite.

If I get that far. Life is crazy and it gets more so each day. Yes, there’s been some rejections, but I’m used to that, what I’m finding is all sorts of “Extras” being thrown at me. Even this morning was another extra. I find it highly unfair of the universe to throw things at me before I walk out the door. On my stoop was a product to evaluate. What the???

The remodeling area did get cleaned up this week which it desperately needed. Bettina passed away and the memorial is scheduled for Sunday at two. It was set for Monday at two and it would have been hard to get to, but now that it’s on Sunday, I have no excuse. I really liked her. Who wouldn’t like a woman who made incredible cookies for receptions and intermissions at the Arts Center?

And while I had it in my head before I started NaNo this year that I would write the new stuff in the morning and then edit an older work in the afternoon and evening, what I hadn’t counted on would be that there would be no choice in the matter.

I sent away to get the entry form for a first mystery novel contest, but didn’t hear back, so I forgot about it, plus I figured, why edit when I don’t have to? Well, the entry form came and once “Campus Crimes” is edited, I need to send it in old school, printed out in full. My reaction to this is: Oh My G- I’m soon going to be sending off a manuscript! A whole one–just like I’ve seen in movies and dreamt about doing since I was at least twelve years old. Holy Wow! I feel so close to living inside one of my dreams. Lol.

I’m a quarter of the way through the edit and I think I could have used the find and replace option to eliminate every ‘that’ and I’d drop the 10% Stephen King advises to cut. I think I’ve kept two ‘that’s so far. What was I thinking? Sadly, I do recall–I thought I needed a manuscript to be 100,000 words-minimum. *Sigh*

So, my friends, I need to get back to the delete button. Any luck wished this way will be greatly appreciated. Have a happy two weeks until next time!

I have an acquaintance who regularly insists that once I send a submission out, I should stop thinking about it. Easy for him to say. I tend to obsess. I eagerly refresh pages for contest results, keep looking at NPR’s 3-Minute Fiction page to find the stories there before the program has even started–not that I’ve found on of my stories there yet–and I’ve attempted every single round. I check to see if the status of “Of Wild Rides and Pirate Eyes” is still under review at a magazine that’s had it since April. Submishmash is refreshed so often that I’m surprised it hasn’t scolded me yet. Or sent me an invitation to an OCD clinic.

So it was a shock to open my email after Writer’s Group on Tuesday to see that NYFA was open to submissions. I don’t know how that happened. I’ve attempted to win a Fellowship from them for years. I think I even had it on my list of things to do–have my submission done AHEAD of time this year–and I totally forgot about it.

What I have been doing is clearing the library out for NaNo. I only have a vague idea this year. The working title is “Finding Forest.” I’m signed up on the site and nearly ready to start. I’m looking forward to the camaraderie. It’s a huge task and knowing others are out there helps immensely.

I have also stumbled upon a few contests (free or nearly so) that I’m interested in entering. Today, I found another. It was for a poem with ‘Diana’ (Artemis-not princess) as the subject. I have one. I knew it was saved to a file somewhere but I had to hunt it down on paper because for some odd reason, it was not on a computer file anywhere. When I found it, it was rather sparse, so I knew I had another poem that also mentioned Diana and do you think I can even find it on paper? No. I’m back to the hunt when I wrap this up.

Sadly, I have got to sort the piles of papers out. The office is completely out of control. Looking in the direction of that room makes me want to cry. I’m not usually this out of order. It sucks. Remodeling the house so late in the year wasn’t the best laid out plan… *Sigh*

And I could berate myself for taking off to Indiana but I can’t. I had the most wonderful time with Husband and my “ex” family. So many great conversations and experiences and people! I’m waiting for the photos to be developed and I’ll get to enjoy that weekend a little bit more.

So, now it is off to post this, sigh (or sob) at the sad state of the office and try to make headway before I take off to go grocery shopping, because it’s Thursday and that’s what I tend to do and holding on to some form of ritual seems like the best raft to cling to during this pre-NaNo time.
I hope your next two weeks are far less stressful!

I refuse to get my hopes up about this upcoming trip. I mean, I go down to Pennsylvania thinking that I’ll stay away from the internet, then I veg out watching ancient Youtube clips that I never got around to seeing before. This weekend, I have no idea how isolated from the web I’ll be. If I’m desperate (let’s hope not) I could painfully use my terrorist network phone to check my email–if I remember to buy a minute phone card thingy, and my password, but I’m hoping that I can just let it go–be internet free–remind myself that even though I am addicted, I did go a few years without checking Facebook and Duotrope every half hour.

On Zoetrope I’m looking forward to the celebration thread this week. I kicked butt! 14 submissions this week and one rejection–though I’m writing this at 9:30 p.m. the night before check-in so that’s subject to change. Last count: 65 things are out! Yes! That is a record, I believe. I’ve been vacillating between setting a new goal and not. The problem is progression and acceptances. As I was lamenting to a friend in a letter, I had accepted Marko Fong’s challenge to get 50 things out–just about this time last year(?) and I did. Now, left to my own devices, I’m pondering if I should shoot for 100 or be staid and easy on myself with 75. I just don’t know.

~~~~~~~~~~
Unbelievably, I woke up and after checking the sites out, I still have 65 things out. At least 5 pieces are either ‘under consideration’ or ‘in progress’ — minor steps up from ‘received’ to be sure, but further along than what they were. And one place I sent a piece to listed a one day rejection on Duotrope giving me hope that my piece is in the running (or I forgot to hit send.)

*Sigh*  Waiting is unnerving.

There is a rather lengthy list of things I should be getting done, but I haven’t had enough coffee yet, and it’s cold. I don’t know how low the temperature got last night, but there wasn’t a frost though I covered the pepper plants–the tomatoes were left to their fate. That is still on my list. Tomatoes. I’ve grown so many this year.

So, I’m off to pack and consider a few days away from the computer. I’m looking forward to seeing people who are a part of my family that I miss. So the Cleveland trip never worked out–this is better. A wedding–who knows what stories this will inspire. I hope it does, too. Nano is fast approaching and I have a vague concept for my novel, but that’s all.

*Sigh* NaNo…Again. So flippin’ soon.

Happy National Poetry Day to all!

There are things I like, such as Submishmash. It is a great tool where I can submit and see if my work has been received or is “in progress.” I also like that notification is sent when I submit–and thus far I’ve known when my pieces have been accepted or rejected through this system.

Now, I’m not happy about rejections, but it’s good to receive notification. What irks me (yesterday) is that I submitted to a ‘Review’ that required I put in all my info to submit and that was it. (There are several Reviews and Journals that use this same format and I’m finding it irksome in general that no one has put it into a be all end all system like Submishmash so I don’t have to fill in the same data set for each Journal/Review that uses this same form.) Really, that was it! No email stating I’d successfully completed the registration process, no confirmation that I’d submitted. Ok, fine, as a writer, I’m used to long waits. Then, according to Duotrope (another thing I like) this Review had sent out many form rejections. I still hadn’t heard anything, so I signed into the site and found my work had been rejected. WTF? They couldn’t even send out a form letter? {Yes, I checked, the email address I entered was correct.}

Whatever.

I’ll get over it, but in the realm of electronic submissions, seriously, as a courtesy, maybe a brief email with “Sorry. No.” as the message. Is that really too complicated?

This Review took less than two months to not tell me my work wasn’t good enough for them. At the other extreme, I received a rejection from a different Review. It took 502 days to get here. It was a form letter–but–across the bottom was scrawled, ‘Try us again?’ [You betcha!] To be honest, after a year and a day, I’d marked that submission down as lost/never responded.

Sigh.

I guess my main complaint is that I try to be courteous when I submit. I submit simultaneously sometimes. It would be nice to be shown the same tiny bit of respect from publications.

I submitted a humorous column to a contest. {Yes, I what some of you may be thinking, but it didn’t turn out that bad, -I don’t think.} Do I think I’ll get the job? Sure, why not? Ha! But the deal was right out there in front. They said, “We’ll let you know if we got your submission. We’ll get so many that we’ll only let you know if your work is advancing to the next round. Winners announced on the 23rd.”

Thank you decent people at McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies for giving everyone the low down. Even though I haven’t heard from them, and I expect I was dropped out of the first round, I am grateful that the parameters were drawn up and I clearly understood them and submitted willingly to those terms. I like not having to guess!

What I don’t like is my printer deciding to play dead. I’ve poked it with a stick. Unplugged it completely. Massaged its cartridges. I have no idea what happened to it. It was fine, then nothing. It’s distressing that it doesn’t even make any noises or flicker a light when the day before it was printing just fine.

I dislike technology and think it’s stupid when I don’t know what is going on with it.

My house is in CHAOS. I dislike this very, very much. I knew it would be chaotic for a bit while the slight modifications were going on: new door, new window, rewiring, light & fan combo moved, new wall. Right. But I can tolerate only so much. Since I can’t change the speed of the construction, I’ve been getting all my papers and stories and poems organized. Editors beware! I’m prepared to submit the good stuff. And if you don’t like it, well, at least say so. Ok? A simple little email saying “No thanks.” I’ll respect you so much if you do. But I’ll really, really like it better if you say, “We’d like to publish your work,” instead. Just saying…

The first draft of this post began roughly at 10 after 9 p.m. on the 31st while slipping into the most enjoyable, earned bubble bath. Tomorrow I have another treat, too. I promised myself I could read Nice Girls and Other Stories by Cezarija Abartis.

I finished you see. Early even. Is Ellie’s Elephants perfect? No. But it is at the point where (I hope) a copy editor can make sense of it and fix the gaffes that I cannot see.

This draft of EE is so much better than the first, but I could be daft and delusional. I want to talk about this book. It’s so much more than I thought it would be and I love it. Tomorrow, when I transcribe this and add it to my blog, I’m not going to be this happy. I know. All happiness is fleeting and terribly temporary.

I’ve been able to push aside housework and correspondence. I mean Sheila called this evening for a moment and the reason was because she and I hadn’t talked for a while. We haven’t. I know I do make for the lousiest responder to email, but to neglect one of my best friends for weeks when generally I talk to her at least twice a week? Shameful. It’s a good thing Husband and I share a bed so we at least see each other on a daily basis.

There has been a lot of shite going on in the background while I wrapped up this draft. Some I’ve been able to ignore, some I couldn’t. The changing out of the door–once the biggest change going on–is so small in comparison now. Windows, walls, old boyfriends, tomato harvests, wild grape hunts have all converged to be larger issues to thoughtfully consider and attend to. Plus, my beautiful niece is getting married in October. I just received the invitation yesterday and plan to talk to Husband about taking a day off of work to be there.(BTW, all of my nieces are beautiful–I truly lucked out that way.)

Funny how life goes on when you’re ignoring it in a race against a deadline.

So, two weeks from now, I hope to report  that I’ve caught up on at least one aspect of my life, even if it’s just checking in with you and asking how you are doing.

My bubbles are gone. I going to shower off then take a walk out to the pergola and concentrate on being grateful.

Thank you for stopping by!

Anymore, writing seems to have a good side that equals the sadness. On Tuesday, I finished the outline of Ellie’s Elephants and sent it to my (fingers crossed) future copy editor. I was under a deadline to get that task done and I did. I was so happy to step away from the computer screen after I sent it!

Sadly, I also received two rejections that day. The upshot was that one was personal, gave very specific criticism, said it was close to being accepted and that from a place I really want to have my work appear in. Such is life…

In the meantime, the washing machine started to smoke. It didn’t quite die, but the resulting delay has me behind on just one more thing and company is coming on Friday and I’d hoped to be caught up by now–or at least be a bit closer to having a semi clean house.

And though I’d heard grumblings of it, went to the restaurant and saw the new lust of my husband’s life, it arrived last night. While I agree the current front door had issues, I just didn’t expect the replacement to arrive so soon and be this grand. It’s a full light door with two full light windows on either side and then atop that is a curved arch with buffaloes etched into it. I think they are buffaloes. Maybe rams? I‘m not up on my horned animals. The fin tube will have to be cut, electric outlets and speaker plugs on the inside and outside will have to be moved, the light switches, the coat hooks… And it’s August.

Will this get done before winter? Will we have enough firewood put up? Will I have the final (Ha!) touches on the book done before I have to send it to the copy editor? These questions and more will be answered at a future time. At least the ‘did I meet the deadline’ one next time. It has to be pried from my hands on the first of September. I plan on having anxiety attacks. Perhaps if I expect them, they will not come. Until September, take care.

I’m convinced that sitting in the pergola makes news more palatable. Most mornings, I’ve been sitting out there with my coffee and reading the lunatic report–I mean the Buffalo News’ coverage of the shenanigans happening in Washington. I found a rejection in my inbox this morning before I went out and even that seemed less painful than it might otherwise have been.

The last few weeks have been crammed full of RL people and I’ve enjoyed it so much. Croquet on a Saturday morning after a Blair breakfast was such fun. I hope we can do that more often with more people, though the intimacy of that morning was pleasant and a great way to begin the day. A trip to Pennsylvania to visit. My sister coming to a reading at Kellie’s–plus it was the first time she’s been to our house. A shopping trip with Sheila. A reunion with my classmates, and Saturday is an anniversary party for a couple who have managed to remain together for 50 years (Wow!) So much to write about and explore. I will not mind remembering these summer encounters when it’s freezing outside!

The heat hasn’t been bad here compared to say Oklahoma, but still I find myself waking early to go outside and do chores before the real heat begins. Tuesday, I put up at least three and a half cords of wood by myself. I’m caught up with what I can get on the splitter. I tried not to be insane about it, but I’m still bruised. Luckily, the bruises will be covered by any skirt or dress I wear to the party on Saturday.

I haven’t been “out” in a while and my closet reflects this. While getting ready for the reunion, I discovered I had skirts that didn’t match any tops and vice versa. (Yes, I am grateful for the problems I have.) I ended up buying several things that have mix and match potential. Now if I could only part with some of the clothes in my closet to make room for these new ones… Even the upcoming yard sale hasn’t been enough to entice me to do a gathering up of ‘things that are no longer necessary in my life’ and I really should do that but… Oh the excuses I could give you… It’s just so nice outside. Is it a crime to enjoy it? I think it’s a more serious crime not to.

I keep catching myself not breathing when I realize that I’m going to be sending Ellie’s Elephants to a copy editor soon. The suggestions and corrections I received from the most awesome people–my first readers–were invaluable and I’m so grateful to Betty, Natalie and Sheila for their input. (Thanks guys!) But it’s time to wrap up this latest revision and send my baby away to be polished even more. (Fingers crossed that this all works out with the contract and continued interest in the story.)

I’m nervous about this next step. Instead of dealing with it, I’ve been submitting like mad and writing new flashes and polishing poems and writing letters. Someone needs to push me, I think. I’m afraid I’ll fall so I’m dancing close to the edge of ‘the next step’ but well within the cordoned off area. Maybe in the next two weeks I’ll have crawled over the fence and plunged in without fear. Or I’ll be waist high in tomatoes and decide I need to make salsa and sauce…anything to make this wonderful summer last a little bit longer.

I believe I could take off ten pounds simply by standing outside today. Fifteen if I were willing to exert myself in anyway. In case we aren’t Facebook friends, last week was phenomenal!

I received an acceptance from Thematic Literary Magazine. They are using “Where Is the App for This?” in their forthcoming  “Smitten” issue. It was a piece I wrote a long time ago, originally called “Is the Mute Button On?” I changed it from a land line to a cell phone, had it rejected once and it was picked up the next time I submitted it.

Then, I received notification that my poem “I’ll Tell You This” was chosen for a Distinction Award in Midwest Literary Magazine. My poem, “What Are Friends For?” came out in Sex and Murder Magazine and Girls with Insurance took two of my poems. As an added bonus,  I wrote a poem I just love called “A Mistress Muses Over Tea” — Lady Heather on CSI was the inspiration for part of it, Samantha of Sex and the City for another part. I suppose it’s not that surprising that those bits fit together as well as they did…

This week is more normal with a few rejections so far.

Actually, it’s not that normal at all. We’re going to be picking up our niece from the airport on Friday night, throwing a get together brunch on Saturday morning then heading down to Pennsylvania to drop our niece off at her Dad’s home. But it’s early yet. Those plans could go out the window.

I’ve made a lot of progress in revising the novel. I’m debating whether I should take it with me on the trip to PA. I rarely get a chance to write when I’m there, though I did manage to write most of a letter the last trip. Everyone was cheering on the Steelers while I used their high speed internet to watch YouTube videos, but there’s only so many cute kitten tricks a person can stand before they want to do something else, so I wrote a letter.

At the moment, I’m washing laundry and contemplating “the mental diminishing return to publishing.” It’s something I hadn’t considered before, but recognized the symptoms in myself immediately. Ah well, I think it another form of ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’ *Sigh*

Off to load the dryer.

Stay cool if you can!