Wednesday, November 17, 2004
More update
Received rejection letter from EQMM for "The Middle of Life." Now the question is whether to turn it around and back to AHMM or to look for other venues. I don't feel like the problem is the story, which I do believe is pretty strong; rather, I think it's with the whole breaking-into-publication thing. By limiting submissions to those publications that I know, maybe chances for catching someone's eye are drastically slimmer. Have faith in my work and broaden my list of alternatives - yes?
Last week sent "Alla Petrovna" to an ezine that purports to have a 10-day turnaround. No word yet, but it's only been a few days.
Rotating work on three new stories, though I fear I've lost the thread of the idea for one of them. With any luck, writing through the "block" will prove helpful and I can get past the shadowy feeling that I know I had a great idea for this once... Note to self: make better story notes when an idea grabs you.
Regarding the job search, I've revised the resume and sent it to a few folks for feedback. A handful of job postings have caught my eye, and it's time to get those application materials ready to send out. I'm feeling more confident about how my credentials measure up in this field, and, given some recent developments, researching jobs has become more interesting.
And, *ugh*, please send Tums. I had some coffee this morning. What a bad idea!
Last week sent "Alla Petrovna" to an ezine that purports to have a 10-day turnaround. No word yet, but it's only been a few days.
Rotating work on three new stories, though I fear I've lost the thread of the idea for one of them. With any luck, writing through the "block" will prove helpful and I can get past the shadowy feeling that I know I had a great idea for this once... Note to self: make better story notes when an idea grabs you.
Regarding the job search, I've revised the resume and sent it to a few folks for feedback. A handful of job postings have caught my eye, and it's time to get those application materials ready to send out. I'm feeling more confident about how my credentials measure up in this field, and, given some recent developments, researching jobs has become more interesting.
And, *ugh*, please send Tums. I had some coffee this morning. What a bad idea!
Thursday, November 11, 2004
A New Look
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Into the Whirlwind
Week 12 of an average 3-month turnaround and so far no word from EQMM on "The Middle of Life." Is there any truth to the theory that the longer it takes to hear about a piece the more likely it is that it will be published? This writer can only hope. AHMM returned "Alla Petrovna" last week. Browsing Ralan's website for other venues for these stories. Happy happy dance in Borders last night when I discovered that an anthology I'd thought defunct isn't: ta-da! a possible venue for "Storyweaver." A few hundred words into a new story with the biggest plot elements outlined and discussed with my critique partner, Ed. With two weekends of travel behind me and things at work slowing down a bit, finishing the first draft seems like a very do-able thing. Yay!
What's been keeping me busy and the blog from being updated? A little of this, a little of that... As has been published elsewhere, Ed and I were in New York for Jeff and Marisa's wedding on October 31st. The wedding was lovely & the weekend was great. We met Harley Saturday morning and made a most memorable journey to West Point together. *grin* We met Jeff, his brother John, and his friend Dan for lunch and were able to hang out with these guys and catch up with Jeff for a while that afternoon, despite how busy they were with wedding preparations. While everyone else was at the rehearsal later that evening, Dan - who, like Jeff and John, grew up at West Point - led us on a tour of West Point and Trophy Point in particular. The weather had turned misty, and this lent a slightly eerie aura to the grounds. Back in town, we had dinner at another (the other?) restaurant that had eggplant fries on the menu: they had to be sampled and proved to be absolutely delicious.
Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we returned to West Point early enough before the wedding to explore Trophy Point in bright sunshine. The contrast of Trophy-Point-in-gray and Trophy-Point-in-yellow was amazing. It also still strikes me as odd to see monuments depicting famous men who are dressed in contemporary (more or less) clothing. Of Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur, Patton looked most soldierly and combat-ready in the statue that memorializes him. The wedding was in Cadet Chapel, which someone remarked looked like it belonged in a Harry Potter movie. The huge, dramatic space managed to hold a wonderfully intimate ceremony, and the service was really beautiful. (It's a bit cliche, I know, but other words just don't work as well!) The masquerade reception was festive. The costumes were delightful, although I felt terribly underdressed and uncreative in my oh-so-normal street clothes. I love this "tradition" of leaving disposable cameras on the tables for guests to use, and I hope that the photos we took turned out well because I did try to capture some of the festivity with the one on our table. :-)
I felt like I spent all of last week trying to catch up from missing one day of work (due to the return flight on Monday). Then the weekend hit, and it was time for more travel. On Saturday, we made a quick dash to Louisville for a surprise party that my brother K threw for his girlfriend, A. It was fun, and I'm glad to see K so goofy in love -- with the feelings being returned, which is kind of the important part. Midnight found us dashing back to Bloomington since I had to meet some folks in order to leave Sunday afternoon for a conference in Evansville. I fulfilled my volunteer obligations for the conference, and I was also able to attend several informative sessions, as well as meet some people working in the field. I got a couple leads on job openings, too. We'll see what happens. What I find most important is that nothing I heard during the conference made me start to think for even a moment that breaking into this field is the wrong move for me to make. I feel more encouraged, actually, that this is a good decision and that it's simply going to be a matter of finding the right niche. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be completing several packets of application materials in the hope of finding the right niche sooner rather than later.
So now I'm back at work, armed with a plan for the job search and also facing another challenge - maintaining time for (OK, paying serious attention to) writing. A twenty-four hour day just runs a little short sometimes.
What's been keeping me busy and the blog from being updated? A little of this, a little of that... As has been published elsewhere, Ed and I were in New York for Jeff and Marisa's wedding on October 31st. The wedding was lovely & the weekend was great. We met Harley Saturday morning and made a most memorable journey to West Point together. *grin* We met Jeff, his brother John, and his friend Dan for lunch and were able to hang out with these guys and catch up with Jeff for a while that afternoon, despite how busy they were with wedding preparations. While everyone else was at the rehearsal later that evening, Dan - who, like Jeff and John, grew up at West Point - led us on a tour of West Point and Trophy Point in particular. The weather had turned misty, and this lent a slightly eerie aura to the grounds. Back in town, we had dinner at another (the other?) restaurant that had eggplant fries on the menu: they had to be sampled and proved to be absolutely delicious.
Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we returned to West Point early enough before the wedding to explore Trophy Point in bright sunshine. The contrast of Trophy-Point-in-gray and Trophy-Point-in-yellow was amazing. It also still strikes me as odd to see monuments depicting famous men who are dressed in contemporary (more or less) clothing. Of Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur, Patton looked most soldierly and combat-ready in the statue that memorializes him. The wedding was in Cadet Chapel, which someone remarked looked like it belonged in a Harry Potter movie. The huge, dramatic space managed to hold a wonderfully intimate ceremony, and the service was really beautiful. (It's a bit cliche, I know, but other words just don't work as well!) The masquerade reception was festive. The costumes were delightful, although I felt terribly underdressed and uncreative in my oh-so-normal street clothes. I love this "tradition" of leaving disposable cameras on the tables for guests to use, and I hope that the photos we took turned out well because I did try to capture some of the festivity with the one on our table. :-)
I felt like I spent all of last week trying to catch up from missing one day of work (due to the return flight on Monday). Then the weekend hit, and it was time for more travel. On Saturday, we made a quick dash to Louisville for a surprise party that my brother K threw for his girlfriend, A. It was fun, and I'm glad to see K so goofy in love -- with the feelings being returned, which is kind of the important part. Midnight found us dashing back to Bloomington since I had to meet some folks in order to leave Sunday afternoon for a conference in Evansville. I fulfilled my volunteer obligations for the conference, and I was also able to attend several informative sessions, as well as meet some people working in the field. I got a couple leads on job openings, too. We'll see what happens. What I find most important is that nothing I heard during the conference made me start to think for even a moment that breaking into this field is the wrong move for me to make. I feel more encouraged, actually, that this is a good decision and that it's simply going to be a matter of finding the right niche. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be completing several packets of application materials in the hope of finding the right niche sooner rather than later.
So now I'm back at work, armed with a plan for the job search and also facing another challenge - maintaining time for (OK, paying serious attention to) writing. A twenty-four hour day just runs a little short sometimes.
