It's been a couple of tough weeks for me, so I haven't been on the blog, as you may have noticed :) I completely forgot I was even doing it for a while. But, I'm back. As far as writing, it's been a little sketchy. I never heard back from Reins magazine, so I think I'll try again and see what happens. I continue to read On Writing and Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul, which always inspire me.

There is a writing exercise my daughter Kayla and I like to do on occasion. We both use our iPods, putting them on shuffle and take turns bringing up a song. The challenge is to write for the duration of the song using some kind of info or inspiration from it as a theme. You have do your writing about a particular story, or in my case book, you are writing. These little pieces of writing are called drabbles. Kayla's writing had to do with a fan fiction story she is writing and my writing was about The Attic - big surprise. By the time the chosen (or I should say shuffled) song is over you are supposed to have finished your drabble. Well...that never happens, so we just continue to write after the song is over. We do this ten times and then we share what we've written. Sometimes it's fun & sometimes it's stressful for me. This time is was really stressful - not sure what was going on with me, but I stopped before the last song. The sharing part is lots of fun and we enjoyed reading our drabbles to each other. So...if you're a writer...give it a try. It actually has helped me to develop some of my characters or find some new quality or insight about them.

Also, one day, Kayla and I were looking through some poetry books and we took turns reading poems to each other that we thought were interesting or funny. That was fun and inspiring also.

Today, I'm actually writing my book, which I am excited about. I am so close to being done with this draft and to getting the actual ending completed. I was hoping to finish today, but I don't think it will happen.

Thought for the day:

"The fear of rejection is worse than rejection itself" (Nora Profit)

The above I know. But this issue is one that I continually face. Finishing my book, The Attic, is a given for me. It was a gift from Spirit and the vision or dream that came to me in the middle of the night with the title and idea for my book was so unexpected, so wondrous that there is no way I will not finish it, but sometimes I have trouble writing for a long period at a time or I become tired when I'm writing or I just can't seem to get to it as often as I'd like. My knowing is that this happens because of the "F" word, a much more powerful word than the one you're thinking (naughty :). The word is FEAR - in caps because it is so powerful and can be so debilitating. These thoughts of not being good enough, about being rejected, about the 'fact' that no one will want to read my book and by the way, who do I think I am?? All those thoughts are roiling beneath my radar making it difficult for me to believe in myself and my book. Also, because I am an avid reader and have been reading a lot of young adult fiction, which is what I am writing, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing myself to other writers...argh! Don't do it!

Writers and artists of all types are plagued by these kinds of fears. The Fear keeps so many of us from doing what we love or if doesn't keep us from doing it, it probably keeps us from sharing it. You have a gift you can offer the world...one that will benefit others. You don't have to publish, but if you want to and you aren't doing so, then join hands with me and let's work on our stuff and move forward together. Share your creations with the planet -- we can use more beauty out here. XO

This weekend's writing escapades have been mostly around finding places to send short stories and/or poetry. I checked out the "2010 Writer's Market" online. The reviews about this year's edition seem to be less than stellar. So, I'm not sure whether to get the 2009 edition or try something completely different. In doing research I came up with a few possibilities, but nothing great as yet.

I did re-find my copy of Rein's Magazine. I originally found it at work and wondered if they accept short stories. I looked through the whole magazine, which is beautiful visually, but I'm still nto sure if they will allow me to submit fiction. It's a fairly new and local magazine, so I e-mailed the regional manager to see if he is interested and gave a sentence or two about a story that I have about horses. I was compelled to write this story many years ago when I was home from college and worked at a racetrack for most of one summer, until I realized that horses were being mistreated. Then I quit and wrote a fictionalized story about it. That's the story I entered in Redbook's young authors contest. If Reins is interested then I'll send it and see how it goes.

I looked on a couple of websites to find some places to submit my work, but nothing much came of my search as yet. I did find a website called Stickman Review where I found a story called "Winners" that I really liked. There was quite a bit of poetry as well.

I looked through my old copy of The Childrens Writer's & Illustrators Market and found some possible places to publish. I'll have to check out their website for updated info because the edition I have is from 2005. That's it for now. XO

It's Friday night and I haven't done any writing this week. I did come up with some new story ideas--not for The Attic but for other possible books or short stories. I'm still reading several books about the craft of writing and enjoying those immensely. Also, my daughter pretty much twisted my arm to get me to read Wicked, which I am now doing. What I would REALLY like to do is to be able to take her to see Wicked on stage...she would soooooo love that!! But, I don't have the bucks for that right now. She loves the music from the show and just finished reading the book. It's a thick one--something you can really sink your teeth into (perhaps literally if you're Elphaba).

Okay, I plan on writing more this weekend. I shall return. XO