Writer-In-Progress

woohoo! Just finished up and send my (sparse…I think there were only like 10 max) galley edit changes back to the editor. Not bad, since I promised them no later than today. I actually did them yesterday while working at the yoga studio but couldn’t stay awake to type them up.

I remember hearing an author once say that even though you send in a final proof of a story (novel, in her case, I believe), you never feel like it’s really, completely, 100% finished–I’m finding that. I had the urge to send a note to the effect of “oh, and if I can keep it another week, I can make all kinds of descriptive changes….” but I resisted. Guess that’s what I shoulda done before submission, right?!

Anyway, it’s a relief (a good one) to have gotten the story back in such a fast time frame. Now I have time to work on that letter to the editor I mentioned…

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I’m hot.
And bothered.

No, no. Not like that. (That’s another post for a different blog, anyway).

I try (oh, so hard) not to read editorial letters in the Columbus Dispatch. Really, I do. And I try equally hard to maintain a level head when anyone insults my Buckeyes. I’ve been hit by frozen marshmallows and pennies in Michigan Stadium (God’s cereal bowl), pennies at Camp Randall in Wisconsin (thank heaven college kids don’t make much money..quarters would hurt), been the recipient of a littany of rhyming words at Penn State (we are the BUCK-eyes..use your imagination here), have endured the annoying biting shadow hand-puppet of the Wolfpack (hey, you had Chuck Amato…I understand your need for simple entertainment), to name a few.

Even when the ex-president (affectionately referred to as Karen AHole Brook by my 15 year old son) of a university makes a sweeping statement that the entire college population of said university is a “riotous culture”, I bit my tongue. But as usual, some idiot in C-bus had to validate AHole’s assumption that just because there were isolated riots by idiots a few years ago, we’re all a bunch of rabblerousers, and I couldn’t hold back.

I read the letter to the editor this afternoon and just had to share that I crafted what might possibly be the a)fastest, b) most alliterative and c)best quality piece of writing I’ve done in a long time to send to the Dispatch. Don’t worry–it has all that trademark sarcasm my editorial fan club (see: When it Rains) has come to expect in my pithy editorials.

Like I didn’t have enough to do with making cookies for tomorrow’s tailgate or proofing the galley…but if you’ve learned anything from me, you better learn never to hack me off about the Buckeyes…or piss off a smart-alec writer. Forget sticks and stones…I’m about to level someone with words.

Fingers crossed the editors calls to confirm my details (with a snicker in her voice)…

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I feel like when I say “galley”, I’m aboard a pirate ship cooking fresh-caught fish…haha…but not so.

For those non-writers of you in the audience, galleys are the final copy for proofreading a story or book before it goes into actual publication…kind of like that final draft you dreaded when your 8th grade English teacher assigned it for homework over the weekend. Yeah, so I’m a geek…I’m more excited about my galleys than I am about an upcoming birthday party for a friend…ah well!

My galley arrived today in my email…a sight for the weary as the day job has really worn me down this week. I only had time to print and glance at the cover (on my website if you wanna check it out…I love it…) but will snuggle in with it tonight, along with my trusty red pen. (Old classroom habits die hard).

I’m still tossing around the mental disbelief that someday soon, those words on my page will be out in the public eye. Now that’s scarier than any red-pen-marked-up-assignment…as any writer will tell you. I think having the courage to put out your babies (writing babies) before the public is the ultimate form of soul-baring (or sadomasochism, in some ways). We’ll see how it goes….

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On and off this summer, I’ve been reading two books. One is The Secret, an interesting book focusing on how the power of direct, intentional thought can bring things into your life. The other is The Circle, which is a more detailed interpretation of the same theory.

I’ve always held the belief that intentionally visualizing something in your life will bring things to fruition in your life in due time. Now, before you think I’m visualizing holding a million dollars and lifetime Ohio State football tickets in my hand (hey, this is MY visualization), I don’t think it just *poof* magically appears. I believe you still have to work for it, but if you just take the time to notice things around you, to become aware of your surroundings, you just might get a little something to help you or point you in the right direction.

Some of my friends ascribe to this thought to some degree, some think I’m crazy. (a little from column A, a little from b…). More than once, this theory has come into play in different ways, this last time (today) in direct relation to my writing. So in case you don’t believe me…

I was contemplating how I really am missing writing nonfiction and freelancing for magazines right now. (Writing begets writing, remember?). One area I’ve wanted to get into is using my background in language acquisition to help inform school administration. As luck had it, I visited a school this week and while waiting for a meeting with the principal, found a brand new issue of an administrative magazine on the waiting table. Checked their website on a whim and found they were looking for new writers. Called up the editor to ask about their editorial calendar yesterday and had a very nice conversation so hopefully she’ll remember my submission.

Problem was, I didn’t have any ideas (at the time). They’re looking for more local and state level type stories, and I was stuck more in the mode of teaching strategies. I gave up on the idea mill this morning while at a meeting and thought I’d get back to it when I got home.

When I least expected it (as I discussed lunch with the girls in the office), I found I’d been invited to a meeting I hadn’t known about. I wasn’t too thrilled but went anyway…only to be presented with a district-level story so amazing I outlined an entire article five minutes after the meeting ended.

I missed lunch but remembered one of the unwritten rules of being an author: keep the faith. If you wish it long enough, it will come…now if only the assignment from the editor would come I’d be all set!

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Yeah, yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged but I find it hard to believe anyone has noticed! If you have, then you should be spending more time outside in the beautiful sunlight while it lasts (at least here in soon-to-be-chilly-cold-dark-wintery-Ohio). Blogs can wait. Life cannot.

Anyway, while you’re here, I may as well entertain you with a little writerly update. Let’s see…where to start?

The good news is that I’m still writing. The writing slowed down drastically over the summer, partly because I knew I’d be doing tons of stuff (four weddings, a fun family vacation, a few Cleveland Indians games, summer camp, floating around the pool like a lazy bum) and didn’t really find any freelancing gigs that drew my interest enough to worry. Not that I didn’t think about writing every day, and not that I didn’t write…I did, just not anything with great coherence. I’m glad to say I’m hard at work on my second short story to be (hopfully) submitted after the release of my first, which brings me to the REALLY good news…

I got my first fiction cover yesterday via email. It’s so way cool and absolutely beautiful I put it on my webpage so I can narcistically look at it (and show it off) when I feel the urge. I have to admit, getting the first TWINS magazine with my title on the cover was way, way neat but seeing my name on the cover of an (e)book with a beautiful setting (romance set in the office) was amazing. Just imagine when it’s a full-blown paperback cover I get to autograph for readers..woohoo!!

Not sure when the story will be released yet. I’m still awaiting the galleys to proof, but that’s one step closer..which reminds me I need to have another story to submit, so I need to get back to writing.

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