Skip to main content

Wherein I Get a Tiny Thrill

I realize that my tiny thrill will seem tame to non-writer people.

You are expecting that I jumped on a zip line or petted a shark or something.

But, for me, it was reading (on Anne Elisabeth Stengl's blog) the line, "After all, one of YOU might be a featured author this time next year."

Believe it or not, I don't think about this much.  My focus is on my stories.  I write.  I edit.  I edit again.  Then I submit, and I wait to find out whether I earn the right to do even more editing.  I don't think about thrill you feel when you check the announcements page and find out you won.

Maybe it's because I'm not sure I will win.  Or maybe it's because I'm trying to pace myself for the long haul -- a lifetime of writing and editing and submiting.  Who knows.

But then I read the "After all...YOU."  And, zing! Adrenaline rush!

The thought that Emily
                        or Skye
                           or Jack
                              or Ana
                                or Emileigh
                                    or Janie
                                        or KS
                                            or Rachel
                                                or Mary
                                                     or Kiri
                                                         or any of you
                                                               or me
                              could be featured in next year's collection sends my heart skipping.

Does it do the same for you?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...