Up, down, up, up - A day in my writing life

An up and down writing day. First, I had the time to work on 'Lita'. Did some editing, then added a page or two to the story. Feels good to be with the Farrells again. Then, the mail came and I received a rejection on 'Deborah's Story' from that agent, Andree Abecassis, that I met at the SSA conference in Sept. No reason why, just that it 'didn't quite work for me', then she wished me luck in connecting with another agent/publisher. Oh well, at least it was out there. Like my quote from Isaac Asimov says 'You must keep sending work out: you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.' Good advice. I need to listen to it and do it. Then, it was off to Dave's place for our one-on-one review of 'Draft' and 'Lita'. It's interesting because his novel is not something I would normally read and he would never pick mine off a shelf. So, we're learning a lot, at least I hope I'm helping him. Then it was off to Hastings Books for our monthly reading. Sue was the moderator. A dozen of us showed up, so there was a good variety. Unfortunately, not all of it was original work. Jilma's read stimulated a lot of conversation about the lack of support of our local newspaper and what we need to do about it. Best suggestion was a sub-committee of the writer's group to prepare a package of a sample column and submissions to present to the editor so they have an idea of the quality that could be delivered on a weekly/monthly basis.

Had a great call from Hailey last night. When she went through a 'Dare' program a few weeks ago, she had to write and essay about the program and about drugs. They had a PTA meeting at her school last night and she found out that her essay was selected as the best in her grade. She had to read it aloud to the PTA audience of about 400 people. She said she was nervous, but she did it. When she called me she said, 'Grandma, looks like we have two writers in the family.' I'm so proud of her!!

I'm reading more of Elmore Leonard's dime westerns and enjoying the hell out of them! His ability to 'show' character is excellent. Now, that's writing! I'm so jealous!

Another free day tomorrow, except for dinner with the Hollies, so I'm hoping to get some writing done! I need another 'accepted' to counterbalance today's 'rejection.'

Onward to Christmas

Not much writing over the last few days, in fact none at all. Almost hurts. Tomorrow I'll get something written for sure. I did get my movie 'Valdez is Coming'. I ordered it after reading the book by Elmore Leonard. The movie was surprisingly good and followed the book pretty closely. The book was better, but the movie is a keeper. They could have used a better actor. Burt Lancaster was a stretch as a Mexican. Tomorrow, I take my author friend Shirley Wolford out to lunch. She is blind, but still writing. She's amazing.

Daughter Kim, her husband and grandkids Hailey and Nick were here in Havasu from last Tuesday night until noon Sunday. WHAT FUN!!! We had a great time. Running around Havasu, swimming at the wave pool, seeing the movie 'Enchanted', eating turkey, going to the floating barge for lunch, touring the Desert Bar with the kids climbing all the rocky outcroppings, garage saling, going through old trunks, a trip to Scotty's and going to the Sunday swap meet. We were busy! We didn't even get up to Laughlin to see the Greene gang, but they were busy too, I guess, 'cause they didn't get down to see us. Sister Donna, BIL Larry, niece Melissa and her boyfriend Bobby came for TG dinner. Everything turned out nice and we closed out the day with some friendly bingo games. Hailey and Nick took most of the prizes!

Now, it's on to Christmas. Is it just me or are the years racing by???

Back to Lita & People

Finally got back to 'Lita' and moved the story along. Felt good. Grace, a local writer, sent me an email today to question what 'left flushed' meant. She's submitting a manuscript and hadn't heard of that format. I sent her a sample of what it looks like. Grace is a good writer so she probably has a good chance of getting her work accepted.

Weather is perfect again. Ruby's son made it to town today, so she headed back to Tucson. We had a nice visit. Went to Bob's for breakfast with Ruby and her son. I was still in my sweats from exercise and wouldn't you know it, I ran into four folks I know. Grrrr.

Talked with Kim today and they will start for Havasu tomorrow afternoon. I can hardly wait. She said the kids are all excited to be coming her for TG dinner and to be going to the Grand Canyon on Sat. Cleaning folks came today, so all is ready, except for the food. I'll get that tomorrow.

Had our MVPOA board meeting tonight. Nothing new. Only have to do it four more times. Yes! Tomorrow is the Pioneer meeting. Only one more of them. Yes!

Rejection-Guest-Surprise - All in One Day

Had a slow day at the writer's meeting on Saturday. Guess folks are getting into the holiday swing of things where time is scarce. My submission of 'The Farmer's Architecture' got good reviews. Nothing special, but good overall. I submitted 'Brownie' to Something called Dob Blessings last Feb. Got a rejection today. Said she enjoyed the read, but it wasn't what she was looking for. Another rejection. :-( Haven't been able to work on 'Lita' for a couple of days due to out of town company. I submitted 'Christmas Lights' to the writer's group for the next meeting. It's already been accepted at Apollo-Lyre, still I wanted to see what the local folks thought of it.

Another couple of perfect weather days. Ruby arrived on Fri. morning. Her son was supposed to pick her up on Saturday, but due to car trouble, she's still here. Oh, well, we're having a great time, so there's no rush. We went to the movies on Fri., saw 'Dan in real life', went to the Havasu Landing Casino on Saturday night and today we went to the swap meet, then over to visit her friend Sharon.

I forgot all about the trim-a-tree at the clubhouse today. I'm so embarrassed! I stopped by and the tree was all decorated, so I wonder who all showed up and if a good time was had by all. With Ruby here, it just slipped my mind.

Tyson called from Hawaii tonight to thank me for his birthday present. He just turned 17! He sounds like such a great kid. I was so surprised and so pleased.

Another week begins. It will be a busy one, so I hope I can find the time to make some notes here. Goodnight for now.

A No Meeting Day!

Today was a no meeting/commitment day, so I got to stay home all day. As a result, I wrote another couple hundred words of 'Lita'. Feels good to be back writing a novel again. Got feed back on my story 'Going Places, Doing Things on Desk Drawer, all good and glowing. Almost no feedback on 'What Are Friends For' on Flashxer and 'The Big Deal' on Flashers-Dozen. Neither story was a big hit. Got an email from a man who attended one of our LHCWG meetings last spring. He was an excop who wrote 'Among the Tin Cans and Broken Glass. He had published through KLAADD Publishing Co. He wanted the writer's group to know they did not live up to their contract and he has received no royalties for book sales. He hopes no of our local writers submitted anything to them and I don't think they have, but I'll tell them at our meeting on Saturday.

Weather is perfect today. Ruby is due to arrive tomorrow for a couple of days visit. Should be fun. I miss her and Tony. Got to sign off now and get some last minute chores done. But, two days in a row! I may get into the swing of keeping a journal after all. Two day, and I'm an optimist!

I'm Baaaaaccccckkkkk

As Robert Burns once said, 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'. So, my plan to be religious with my blog have gone awry. Life is taking control of me, instead of me holding the reins. Now, I've been asked to talk at a workshop about the ins/outs and dos/don'ts of a blog. So, I'd better get back into jotting down my thoughts/happenings.

Let's see, as for my writing. I just had another short story 'Christmas Lights' accepted by Apollo Lyre for their holiday edition. My short story 'The Clay Way' appeared in the hard copy anthology, Skive. I went to a conference in Tucson in Sept. and met an agent by the name of Andree Abecassis. She looked at a brief synopsis of each of my six novels/novelettes. At first she wanted to see more or 'Abby', but then decided she wanted to see three chapters of 'Deborah's Story'. I sent them to her at the end of Sept. and haven't heard a word from her as yet. Also, no word that James Wood of 'Shark' has read the copy of ATW,BTP that the Kelly's sent to him. I sent off a short story 'What Are Friends For' to the Writer's Digest short story contest. Would be nice to win, or at least place, in that widely viewed publication. I've started the story between ATW,BTP and 'Deborah's Story'. I'm calling it 'Lita' for now. Dave Bellomy and I doing a one on one crit of our books. He's reading/critting 'Lita' and I'm doing the same for his 'Drift'. His is hardcore crime and mine is romance which makes for a challenge for both of us. But, fun!

The next few weeks are going to be very busy. A friend, Ruby, is due to visit for a few days starting Friday, then Kim and family will be here next Tuesday for Thanksgiving. Signing off now. My plan is to be more regular. Well, that's the plan, at least.