Since “hope is on the horizon” for me (as my writing group put it) I’d like to spread the good vibes. Here are some great links and opportunities:
- This one’s a little short notice (sorry!) but the Kenyon Review is running their annual short story contest through Feb 28th. Final judge is Louise Erdrich, and grand prize is publication AND a scholarship to their 2010 writing workshop. I went to the workshop in 2009 and loved it.
- My friend Mary just started a new blog called Out of Texas (“and into the rest of the world!” – hehe, so cute). Unfortunately the shiny fun newness of it is making me want a Tumblr too. Because, you know, I don’t have enough social media outlets. o_O MUST RESIST.
- The fantabulous Kiersten White and Natalie Whipple participated in a round-table with two other writers, and the resulting discussion CHARMED MY PANTS OFF. (Not literally. Or at least not that I’m admitting to.) It also introduced me to Sean Ferrell, a friendly, funny guy whose book Numb sounds awesome.
- Sigriddaughter’s 7th Glass Woman contest is seeking short fiction and creative nonfiction submissions from female writers. I actually know, via WritingForums.com, the woman who won last year. I had even critiqued her piece there! We’re not BFF or anything, but it was totally cool (and a little surreal) to read her piece and realize I already knew it. It also makes the possibility of winning seem more real/attainable, you know?
- And last but definitely not least, Writer Unboxed is looking for an unpublished writer to contribute monthly. WU is a great resource for writers of all genres, and features a rotating panel of authors, from YA writer Kathleen Bolton, to NYTimes Bestseller Allison Winn Scotch, to podcast-to-book deal extraordinaire J.C. Hutchins. Click here for details on how to apply, and yes, I’ll be tossing my hat into the ring.
Okay, now back to my regularly scheduled work/writing/Olympics-watching mayhem. (PS: How awesome was Yu-Na Kim last night?! And Mirai is just adorable. I can’t wait to see the free skate programs tonight.)
WIP update: I’ve written Chapter 1 and have been wrestling Chapter 2 for days. Yesterday I finally got him in a headlock, and today he’s going down for the count! Then it’s on to Chapter 3…
First, thanks to everyone for your wonderful and supportive comments about the stories/scenes I recently posted! I’m so glad I put them out there, even though I was hesitant because they’re so rough. I have a tendency to blog about writing in general, as opposed to my writing specifically, but reading Kiersten and Natalie’s blogs made me realize that I should probably open up a bit. Because it’s fun to share (like secrets at a slumber party!) and your responses are so encouraging.
To that end, I have a confession to make: I’ve started a new book. I’m excited about it, so if you think it sounds stupid, please don’t tell me.
In a nutshell:
A twenty-something couple seeking adventure in order to revive their stale relationship gets more than they bargained for when they are whisked away to a strange and possibly dangerous other world.
Think Alice in Wonderland meets Princess Bride meets Spirited Away meets real life. Or something like that. I’m only 2,200 words in right now, but I’ve hit my word goal every day this week, so I’m feeling pretty good. I’m also going to employ alpha readers on this project, and it’s the first time I’ve ever had alphas (well, besides my thesis adviser Hilary Masters) so I’ll talk more about that next week.
In other news, my friend J—- (I’ll fill her name in later if she gives me permission) has started blogging flash fiction once a week at 52 Tales. J—- is awesome, and a very talented writer! (We met at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop.) Most of her current tales are about Austen Clark, a California lawyer who ran away to Micronesia for some mysterious reason involving a sawed off shotgun. There’s humor and adventure and even (I’m anticipating) a little romance. It’s like LOST, but without plane wrecks or polar bears or time travel or crazy conspiracies! In other words, not very much like LOST at all, except that it’s set on a cool island and is fabulous. Check it out.
Another friend, Mandy, recently blogged about how everyone’s pressuring her to get a backup plan. See, she recently quit her job to do freelance writing full-time, and apparently a lot of people think she’s going to fall on her @$$. What I love about Mandy is that she’s bold, so her response to those people was a big fat SO WHAT?
I don’t want to make a back up plan. I don’t want it to become THE plan as soon as things get tough and I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I want to struggle (a little). I want there to be times where I realize I need to hunker down and crank out some work if I want to pay my student loan. I want to make myself nauseous from the procrastination I’m doing to myself, and I want there to be days when I’m up until 4am finishing up work because I sat around all day reading blogs.
If I have complete security and comfort, which so many of us see as a level of “achievement,” like we’ve all suddenly reached our goals and can sit and be there and stay there, what am I going to get out of it besides the cash? What’s going to teach me, tempt me, freak me out, or make me squirm in discomfort? I know in the end we all want that feeling, but thinking of the day where I sit back and say “yep, this is it. This is where I’m at and how it’s going to be for the rest of like, ever…” makes me realize how I’m not ready to be there.
See? Bold. And brilliant. And totally going to rock the freelance thing.
Me, on the other hand… I compromised. I quit my job to write, but I got a safety net (a part-time job). Granted, it lets me spend a lot more time writing without making me a charity case, but sometimes I wish I were as fearless as Mandy.
(And sometimes I think I still will be… If 2010 isn’t the year, I think I’m going to have some tough decisions to make.)
So. Snow. We’re supposedly getting a lot of it in Cincinnati today. This is Not Good. Normally it would be Okay, but today I need to fly to Houston for my almost-sister’s wedding. Snow+Roads and Snow+Planes both = Bad, apparently. Bad=Not Good.
Sigh.
In an attempt not to think (i.e., stress) about the snow, I’m going to work on a little story for Natalie’s contest. As much as I love her, I wasn’t sure I was going to participate, until Sonja brought up that I could think of both Natalie and Nathan’s contests as writing exercises and then post them here, like I did for my Kenyon Review workshop pieces. Since “exercises” are much less scary than “contest entries,” that’s what I’m going to do!
First up, my entry to Nathan’s contest:
Dear Diary,
Two minutes never felt so long.
While I sit on the toilet to wait (with the lid down, of course) I can’t help thinking of all the ways my life could be ended by a mere mathematical symbol. In two minutes, I’ll either see a plus or a minus. Suddenly tomorrow’s calculus test doesn’t seem so intimidating…
Read the rest of “Plus or minus” here.
Also, I recently had the honor of guest blogging on the Guide to Literary Agents website. My post “New Adult – What Is It?” went live yesterday, if you care to check that out. And greetings to any new readers who came here via there! New Readers=Fabulous.
This is the last of my Kenyon Review Writers Workshop pieces. The exercise is called “Keep the Engine Running” because the requirements are to have 2 characters in a car, which stops 3 times for 5 minutes each time, and at each stop at least 1 of the characters must interact with another person. The engine must be on during the entire story. The characters must have a destination, but they cannot reach it. And, because all that isn’t crazy enough, my Kenyon “posse” and I decided to honor Michael Jackson (who had died the day we got this assignment) by including a reference to his music in each of our stories. I think mine is obvious, but can you spot it?
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Caroline stared in shock at the car that her best friend Greg had blown his entire summer earnings on. And “car” was too generous of a term. More like piece of shit on wheels. Caroline shook her head at the rusted bumper and peeling paint, but she didn’t want to hurt Greg’s feelings, so she kept her mouth shut.
He insisted on a quick trip to the diner on the far side of town. From his house it was only a twenty-minute drive. Even the old clunker could handle that.
They made it the first two miles without issue. Then, in front of the MacArthur place, they heard an extraordinary whump. Greg braked immediately.
“What the hell was that?”
He shrugged, and they both glanced into the rearview. There in the middle of the road sat a dingy metal bumper.
“I got it.” Chuckling, Greg pulled over and got out to retrieve the part. With the car still humming—well, choking really—beneath her, Caroline wondered if the bumper had the right idea. Jump ship while you still can.
“Oh, we’re okay!” Greg called out, and Caroline looked out her window to see who he was talking to. Leonard MacArthur had come out onto his porch and was gesturing angrily at them. Caroline couldn’t understand why, until she noticed the row of tulips that had been smashed into the ground.
“I don’t think he was too concerned about us,” she said when Greg returned. He had stowed the bumper in the trunk. “You could have pulled over up there.”
“I didn’t see the flowers, sorry.”
Of course not. There was a lot Greg didn’t see. But Caroline just sighed, and they continued into town.
They’d gone no more than a mile when they saw a shiny red truck coming from the other direction. Greg honked a friendly greeting, and the two vehicles slowed. When they were side by side, the truck’s driver leaned out the window.
“Nice ride, buddy!”
It was Trevor Criswell, their high school’s star quarterback.
“Thanks, man,” Greg said in his best impression of cool. He tried to rest his elbow on the thin lip of the rolled down window, but he slipped and caught his armpit instead. He winced as he pulled himself back into the car.
“Careful!” Caroline said.
At the sound of her voice, Trevor leaned down. When he saw her, he winked. She made a noise of disgust and turned away.
Trevor returned his attention to Greg. “So you gonna drive this beauty in the Homecoming parade?”
Caroline scowled when Greg’s face lit up.
“Hey, yeah! I hadn’t thought of that. It’s what, like a week away? Sure, yeah, I will!”
Trevor took another appraising look at the car, and then drove off laughing.
They went past the church, the post office, the inn, and the other church, before Caroline said anything.
“I don’t know why you talk to him.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“‘Cause he’s a jerk, that’s why.”
“Oh, you’re too hard on people,” Greg said, as if he was just the right amount of tough.
They paused at a red light before turning left. Trees arched over them from either side of the street, regal and picturesque. Or at least it would have been, if a dark cloud of smoke hadn’t been trailing them. Caroline saw it in the side view mirror.
“Let me out.”
“What?”
“Let me out,” she repeated.
Greg was so surprised that he simply obeyed. They stopped in front of the Parkers’ house, where Caroline used to babysit for their twins. As soon as Caroline placed her feet on the pavement, she felt better. But that didn’t stop her from slamming the door. Or kicking the tire. Or pounding her fists against the hood.
Greg watched her outburst with no discernible expression on his face. Just as Caroline expected. She went around the whole damn car, raining abuse upon its offensive mass, and Greg sat there. It wasn’t until Mr. Parker came down the front walkway that Caroline slumped against the trunk, her breath coming out in pants.
“What’s goin’ on here?” Mr. Parker demanded.
“Nothing,” Greg answered. Suddenly he was by her side. Greg smiled at Mr. Parker until he left. Then he put his hand on Caroline’s shoulder.
“Don’t stop ‘til you get enough,” he said. Then he went back to the driver’s side to wait.
