You Can't Always Get What You Wa-ant!

     But if you try sometimes...you'll get what you need.

    Okay, I'm almost always in the mood for a good dose of Rolling Stones, so forgive me. My fourteen days off (holiday break) has been extended by another day (today) and I'm wondering about tomorrow, with the big dump of snow and the wind chill. And more snow is supposed to come on Wednesday.

    If you're in the St. Louis area, you should be working on your Listen to Your Mother story. They're accepting submissions for the next month or so...

    Chicken Soup is looking for stories about forgiveness. I don't know if I can forgive myself for eating the small smallish not-jumbo sized box of Godiva chocolate I got from a skinny friend as a Christmas gift (the gift that keeps on giving, 'cause cellulite's forever), but perhaps there is a story in there... 

     I got an email that a story (written for the upcoming Chicken Soup Alzheimer's collection) has made it through the first set of hoops. My fingers, my eyes and my feet are crossed. (Wait. Sorry. My feet are almost always crossed and twisted-up.) However, I had sent in several stories, and really wanted a story written about a family friend to be chosen. They didn't pick that one, but am I going to argue and beg and plead with them to change their mind? No way.

                                                          

      If you're a writer, what are you working on? If you're snowed in, what are you doing to keep yourself from going all redrum-crazy? Do you have some Godiva sitting around? Send it...I'm all out.

All You Need is Nudg..ing

         I've had a virus for the last three days. Feverish. Hacky. Phlegmy. (Do you want more info? I thought not...)

          This week was supposed to be dedicated to working on my report cards activities done to avoid working on my report cards making some headway on my 2012 NaNo/2013 NaNo Rebel project. It hasn't happened. It's difficult to type while curled up under several quilts...dozing off sometimes...teetering on delirious (Wait. Writing while in a not-quite-lucid state might result in better stuff than I've accumulated so far.)

          Nothing has gotten written this break except a submission for the St. Louis Writers' Guild "St. Louis" anthology. Nothing else. No NaNo work. I had no desire...until this afternoon.

          A blogging colleague (Never met him. Don't even live on the same continent that he lives on--most of the time. I just follow him and envy that he travels. and. gets. paid. for it. AND he writes a lot.) offered to be a beta reader for me if I need it. Thanks, Sean. I appreciate the offer. I won't say I'll never take you up on it, (Sean McLachlan, do you really want to read a chick lit novel about a bunch of menopausal women writers who vent and dream of what they could do with an commercial-sized wood chipper? Really?) but I will say your offer nudged me into writing.

          The Beatles claimed, "All you need is love." But what is a kick in the butt nudge, if not love?

          How was your New Year's Eve? What kind of nudging--and in what directions--are you getting from your friends and family?

What's Your Dream for 2014?

       It's almost the end of 2013. Of course, the older you are, the faster time passes. When we were kids, summers seemed never-ending and now a season passes by so quickly, you'd better not blink or you'll miss it.

       New Year's resolutions are silly (in my opinion). They don't last for very long before they (along with our resolve) crumble at the wayside, forgotten.

       But dreams and goals are different. You can think about and fantasize about and work toward fulfilling a dream or achieving a goal.

       What are your goals/dreams for 2014? Inquisitive minds want to know...

Have You Been Naughty, Or Have You Been Nice?

       At the end of 2012, Donna Volkenannt wrote a post chronicling her year as a writer. She listed her submissions and her acceptances/rejections. It inspired me to keep a planner and I faithfully mostly remembered to make a notation when I sent something off.

     Hey, Donna! I just bought my new planner for 2014. Hopefully I will submit something in the first week of January to start things off.

     And now, here is how my year went: (And if you want to avoid all the writer mumbo-jumbo and go straight to the earth-shattering revelations mildly interesting details, scroll past the bullet points.)

In January I submitted: 

• a story for the NYMB law enforcement anthology. (I haven't heard yet)
• a story for the moms-to-be NYMB anthology.
• a story for NYMB about the first meeting of the WWWP's (no news yet)
• a guest post for writingwithoutwalls--it was published
• a guest post for WOW--The Muffin called "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." (it was published)
• a story for the "Cupid's Quiver" collection--was published
• a story for Sasee's March issue--rejected
• a story for Chicken Soup's Just Us Girls anthology--published

In February I submitted:

•  a story for LTYM--was rejected
• a story for Chicken Soup's "Lemon to Lemonades" collection--was rejected
• another story for CS's "Lemon to Lemonades"--rejected
• a story for Chicken Soup's Holiday Stories--rejected
• a piece of flash fiction to an ultra-short competition--rejected

In March I submitted:

• a piece to Sasee for their May 2013 issue--rejected
• a story for CS's "Miraculous Messages from Heaven"--rejected
• a short story to Bayou magazine--no news...still
• a story to Chicken Soup's "The Dating Game"--accepted
• a memoir piece for NYMB on Cats--???

In April I submitted:

• a story to Silver Boomer Books' "Longest Hours" collection--rejected
• a story for CS's book on cats--???
• a story for Gloria Gaynor's anthology--rejected

In May I submitted:

• a story to Chicken Soup's "Just Us Girls"--published
• two stories to "Thirty Days to Sanity"--both rejected
• a story to the NYMB on Dieting--???
• a story for CS's book on holidays--???

In June I submitted:

• a story to CS's "Multitasking Moms' Survival Guide--published
•  a story to CS's "Positive Kids"--accepted
• a manuscript to Guardian Angel Publishing--rejected
• another story to CS's "Positive Kids"--rejected
• a story for NYMB on Special Occasions--???
• a story for CS's "Rebooting" anthology--???

In July I submitted:

• a story for Chicken Soup's book on dogs--???
• a story for NYMB on Moms--accepted
• a guest-post for WOW--The Muffin--published
• a story for NYMB on Family--rejected
• a story for Sasee's September issue--published
• a story for NYMB on Moms--rejected
• a story for CS's dog anthology---???

In August I submitted:

• a story to NYMB on Moms--rejected

In September I submitted nothing. Yikes.

In October I submitted:

• a story for CS's "Overcoming Challenges" piece--???

In November:

• I worked on my NaNo project from 2012 and got into the mid 70,000's
• I submitted a story for CS's "Home Sweet Home"

In December I submitted:

• a guest post for WOW--The Muffin--published

      I discovered several things. One, I know there are pieces I forgot to jot down. I will try to be not as naughty next year and instead be more meticulous.

       Secondly, there were some months where submissions were sparse. April, May, August, September (none), October, November and December. I am going to try and be more vigilant and look at my planner, week by week, and see if I need to ramp up my submissions. For some of those months, I can make excuses rationalize why I didn't submit much. April is a busy month for me, teaching-wise (state testing). May is a crazy month for me, teaching-wise (the end of the school year/report cards). August is back-to-school month and September is parent-teacher conferences. October? Perhaps I'm too busy gobbling up Halloween candy before Halloween...November I completely understand. My priorities were with my NaNo (still not done). December--another crazy month teaching-wise (report cards are looming).

      Third, (I already knew this) my rejections far, far outweigh my acceptances. Donna Volkenannt did a nice job of tallying up her rejected pieces vs. her published pieces. I'm too full of Christmas crap right now to do that. However, I think for every 942 pieces that got rejected, 3 got accepted. It seems I've been a lot naughtier as a writer than I've been nice.

         Do you keep track of your submissions digitally, via a calendar/planner or some other way? Do you have a bit of advice to kick some (like me) in the butt?
     

This Day Will Go Down in History

      Thirty-four years ago, minus one day, I was in great pain. But after gathering together my family and close friends, the pain stopped.

      "What should I do now?" I asked my osteopath. He said, "Walk. Walk as much as you can. The act of walking with begin things again."

       It was unseasonably warm on December 20, 1979--just like it was yesterday during the day. I walked the streets around my Maplewood home and eventually, things did start up again. The contractions returned and again my family and friends were summoned. When the evening of December 21 arrived, so had my beautiful daughter.

     After my baby girl was checked out and declared perfect, the doctor and my mom--along with my mother-in-law and my adopted grandma--had cake and coffee. I cuddled up with the best early Christmas present anyone has ever gotten. *

     Happy birthday, Virginia. You're the most wonderful daughter and the best mother.

* Note: In the 1970's, I worked at St. Anthony's Hospital and discovered that women were shaved (not their armpits) and an enema given before delivering. This was standard operating procedure.

Since I wanted to be a little more control of what happened, I chose to have my baby at home, without drugs. An incredible osteopath, Dr. Fred Duhart, did home deliveries. He delivered my daughter and eight years later, delivered my son.

 And if you want to take a break from holiday shopping on Monday (Dec. 23) and you live in the St. Louis area, Lynn Obermoeller and Linda O'Connell will be reading their "I will survive" stories from the Gloria Gaynor collection. It's at the Gelateria, 3197 S. Grand and begins at 7:00. 

Ice cream and some great writing? What can be better than that...  

The Brain and the Heart

       There are books that have--at their center--a character that is the heart of the story. That character is the conduit of the emotional current that runs through the book.

       Currently, I am working on writing a story and have--as the main character--a woman with a bruised heart. She has some twisted schemes up her sleeve. I'm hoping that as the tale evolves, the connecting thread will hold it together...

       A week ago, I saw the movie Twelve Years a Slave. One reviewer said that the Solomon character was the brain of the movie, but the Patsy character was the heart. I could not agree more...

       Imagine you are free. You have a family--a wife and children. You are respected in your community. And after he makes a single choice, he ends up enslaved...for the next twelve years.

       I highly recommend this film. It is emotionally draining. It focuses on a dark period of American history, and is based on a true story. But the acting and the cinematography is impeccable.