The Pen of a Ready Writer

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....

No, I'm not talking about Christmas presents. I'm talking about the stories for the Rooglewood contest.  In two days is the deadline for turning in your submission forms -- so if they haven't already been sent in, you have 2 days to get them postmarked and on their way. I finished my drafts and some edits on all of my stories earlier in the fall.  Then I got terribly overwhelmed and decided to hide and pretend that there were no stories waiting for me on my computer.  I was like the little frilled lizard on The Rescuers Down Under, with my hands over my ears, dancing around singing, "Dadabaduba, dadabaduba, I can't hear you!" Which, as cowardly as it sounds, was probably a good thing.  Because, essentially, I was taking the recommended break so that I could come back with fresh eyes.  I just didn't know that's what I was doing.  I thought I was procrastinating. But then, last Tuesday, I sat down and read through AAM.  With a big gulp, I decided...

I went to Grand Caverns last week, mostly to help my sister with her homeschool field trip but also to do some research for TCK. The beauty of the caves struck me again.  Seriously, pictures cannot do justice to the magnificence of being there. I stayed on the paths designated, but in my imagination I roamed through the many  levels of the cave and climbed the paths that I was only allowed to look at. Thanks to our wonderful guide I got to see what the cave would look like if explored with a handheld light instead of installed cave lighting.  It's still every bit as glorious and amazing. Thanks to our wonderful guide I got to ask questions on some technical things, such as ventilation (yes, based on what our guide said, the people in my story could breathe just fine in their cave without making special arrangements). And I watched a video of the exploration of a previously undiscovered part of the caves.  So cool!!! If you have not toured a cave, I high...

For the next week, I will be studying for a big exam.  As much as I want to work on SPINDLE and AAM and TCK, they will have to wait. This is part of real life and having to juggle writing with other career plans.  And it's something that probably all of us have to do. So, mwah, sleep well, my beauties...until next week. P.S. I am still going to write the next installment of The Mental Ward for you guys.  That much, I think, I can fit in.  :) P.S.2.  The title refers to the feeling of studying for the exam.  You college people know what I'm talking about. Adios!

"Three?  What would I do with three?" "The same as you do with one!"           ~A variation of the argument between Tevye and Lazar Wolf [Fiddler on the Roof] I have three barebones stories in my head for Sleeping Beauty.  One is set long, long ago and far, far away.  One is set in modern times.  And one -- well -- I can't even measure in earth years because...yep...it's on another planet.  How's that for variety? So my plan is to work on these three for a little while and see what happens.  Maybe one will automatically take the lead.  Or maybe I'll polish up all three. Once I get them settled into story form, I'll probably try to ask some friends what they think of the stories.  Friends can say "this is perfect" or "this needs more work," but if they say "regardless of how fabulous this story is I don't think it sounds enough like Sleeping Beauty" then it will probably be scratched from the running. A...

     I pulled out TCK again today.  I have 3 critiquers, and they are all moving through the story at different speeds (which is great).  One is in chapter 1, one is in chapter 3, and one is in chapter 6.     Thanks to my critiquers, I am doing some fun things such as: 1. studying lizard skeletons 2. building better descriptions to prompt a reader's imagination 3. researching Masai lion hunters 4. adding polish to each chapter How about you?  What are you doing in your edits right now?

Getting ready to head home after running some errands at work.      Life is pretty exciting around here these days.  I left TCK to sit for a few weeks, and now I am plunging back into edits.  I found that a couple of my themes were nebulous, and nebulous is never good.   Subtle is good.  Nebulous?  Not so much.  With my material, I could take the theme one of two ways.  So I am trying to decide where to go with it.      I sent TCK to one of my beloved beta-readers on April 1st (along with a plea, begging her not to pull any April Fool's stunts on my story -- I can take criticism like a champ but jokes are too much when my baby/story is involved).  And I sent it to a couple other readers later in the week.  Can't wait to get all their feedback and work on my story again.      Pouring over the list of "what I should have done" (aka, an editing checklist) always sparks my imagination for storie...

Greetings, all!  I have returned for my final installment of cave pictures...for now.  Today I bring you more places to explore. Right this way, folks... Knock, knock.  Does somebody live here? Almost home... A special place, perhaps? There are things to see everywhere you go. (Ignore the railings and electric lights, please) Maybe this would be a good place to sit and think? Thank you for joining me, everyone!  And I hope you now have an idea of the world that is so special to Amos.  See you around!  If you missed the other posts on cave pictures, you can check them out here: Scenes from Deep Underground Cool Rock Formations The Water Scenes Glow Worms and today's post: More Rooms to Explore