Bright Spots of "Color"

photo by Charla Finn of Collinsville, Illinois

        Like a lot of the country, we got a bunch of snow dumped on us. School was supposed to resume last Monday...but we had a snow day instead. Tuesday...another snow day...Wednesday...yet another snow day. I figured that surely we would return to work on Thursday, but it didn't happen. Friday--another day off, much to the surprise of the teachers dismay of the parents.

       With the weather conspiring against us, it was necessary to look for the bright spots buried under the white (and then dingy) blanket.

       * I sent off a letter to a friend. Without this long expanse of time off work, I'm not sure I would have taken the time--at least not this week.

       * Finishing a black scarf for my son--along with a blue one for one of his best friends--made me feel like I accomplished something as I knit and watched old episodes of Project Runway online educational documentaries. 

       * I got immersed in Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah. I'm in the middle of it and it's heartbreaking but compelling...

       *Pitching some things made me feel better, but when I found a gold box labeled Godiva and frantically opened it to see if a piece was hiding in the corner, uneaten, I felt foolish. I knew I had gobbled up every one of those delicious delicacies. Only David Copperfield could have made a piece reappear...

      * I submitted a few things---to start the new year off--and am sweating over working on a couple more. One is about a time when I played "donkey basketball" (yes, I rode on a donkey and "played" basketball in a high school gym). Hopefully I will be able to finish them and send them off before the deadline smacks me in the face.

     *  I was entertained by one of our Goldens. Foley, not the brightest of dogs, loved frolicking in the snow. He would deliberately head for the deepest drifts and come back with snow on his nose and a zip in his step.

     What positive things happened to you this past week? It's now a new year--what good things are going on in your life?  

Go, Go, Go--ReviMo!

      Do you have a picture book that is collecting dust? Do you have a picture book manuscript that needs some serious slashing and burning revising? Have you been procrastinating busy, and keep shoving that picture book draft to the side? If your answer to any of those questions is "yes," this is the nudge foot up your rear encouragement you need.

      Cathy C. Hall got me on the trail of Meg Miller's ReviMo. If you're interested, you need to register by Saturday, January 11. Different from the NaNo 30-day nightmare, you only have to focus on your picture book from January 12-18.

      I have a picture book manuscript. I have a long, tear-stained story about past publishing attempts (a story I will never tell) when it comes to this manuscript...but now I have a new publisher in my sights, which means I need to shine it up and get it as spiffy as possible.

    This is just the prodding I need. Thanks, Cathy and Meg. In seven short days, I will have a new and improved picture book (she said, as she pulled the draft out of a drawer and blew the dust off. Ooh, even a spider had made its home on one of the pages, the writing had sat there dormant for so long...).

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?