Twisting Back

I've been battling demons, of late, but I think they are on the run. I spoke with my editor this morning about the critique I received at the conference. She shared that she was not happy with either one of her's. She had turned in two books; one to one editor and one to another. We commiserated with each other. I told her I wasn't going to submit at a conference again. She said she made the same vow awhile back and still put the two in this time. We laughed. 

I told her I was seriously giving thought to not going the publishing route. She chided me, said my work was good, and that, if not the traditional route, I should try the internet one. I'll see. She did revive a wee bit of my self-worth.

I got a new printer almost a month ago and it has been sitting on my dresser gathering dust. It needed new print cartridges. I think the empty cartridges spoke to me, like I was empty, too. I decided to get new ones today after speaking with L. I came home from the store excited. That felt good. I put the cartridges in and printed off the next two chapters of 'Blue.' My friend D came over and we had a good time going through them. She was effusive. Had some great thoughts for making the chapter better and I feel good about the suggestions.

I caught the tail-end of a PBS program about birds. The sight of huge condors flying against this gorgeous sky caught my breath and I knew I had to put a similar scene into 'Blue.' Except -- the sky is green, of course, and the flying creatures, though not dragons, are not good. 

So I think I'm back on the path of enjoying writing again. I am putting thoughts of publishing off for now. Except for the giraffe story. There was an editor at the conference who sounded just delightful. What can I say? I am a glutton for punishment.

Life is good. 

PS - My computer is working again without spluttering and loosing whatever I write. Life is indeed good.

Dichotomy

I find life is full of these little buggers. Good and evil. Short and tall. Fat and skinny. Subtler ones like fire, life-giving and life-ending. 

I find dichotomies pop up everywhere. It's a great tool for writers. We can have such fun with our characters - drive them mad. *g*

I think the subtler ones are the most fun. A thought popped into my head yesterday. Muse probably. I was thinking about the wildfires that ran rampant this past summer and how terrible they were. And yet, fire is so necessary for life. You know the drill, cooking, warmth, security, love, all kinds of things.

I'm going to use fire in 'Blue' to help my character grow. It's going to start out with horror, then turn to warmth and a hand offered in friendship, and then back to the horror - this time with a volcano. 

There are so many ways we can use dichotomies. They are a fun tool. Find one for yourself and have a go with it.

I've been having another health issue. Trying to write but I am sleeping constantly. Investigating. Hmm - I wonder if I should tackle my health issues like I tackle my characters, or setting, or plot, for that matter. Might be better than relying upon my doctors.

Life is too short and too long. *g*

PS - My son popped over today and seems to have fixed my computer problem with wi-fi. Now if he could only figure out my Skype.

Reading X 100

One of the presenters at this past week-end's conference told us to read our MS 100 x's. And then some more. I thought it was really great advise. When on earth will I make the time? I must. If I want it to be the best, if I want to breathe, feel, live 'Blue' I must.

Met with D tonight to share some of the wondrous stuff from the conference. Still reeling with the Barnhouse and Irvin Kuns presentations. 

We then went over the critique I received for 'Blue.' I was disheartened, as I always am, by the review, but D had a different perspective. She thought it was a lovely critique and showed me the good parts. The parts that I thought were bad, D said were wrong. She went over some of the parts marked on the MS and showed me her beliefs. I agreed. With some reservation.

As for having friends as a writer, you know I've written before at how important they are. Well, once again I say, find writer friends and cultivate them and they will uplift and help you through anything.

Will write more tomorrow when I have my papers in front of me.

For the time being, D and I are going to try to connect with Kuns. She lives somewhere in my state. Must see if she is willing to chat with us. That would be awesome!

Blessings.

Life is awesome!

Two Second Window

I probably only have a 2 second window to write this. My computer has gone daft. The wi-fi keeps disconnecting. It looks all perfectly wonderful and then I get messages saying I've lost my connection. Gotta get my 'helper' out here on Monday, God willing and the creek don't rise.

The SCBWI conference was great. The folks at the Sheraton were superb. I have never in my life seen so many smiles.

Rebecca Barnhouse had lots to teach us about character development. I'll share once the computer is truly up and running. 
http://www.rebeccabarnhouse.com/

Andrea Welch is an agent. Extremely helpful and gregarious. She is a truly interesting and gripping speaker. She works for a small imprint of Simon and Schuster. 
http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/beach-lane-books   

This next link is not for the conference I attended. I attended the North Ohio SCBWI conference.This link is for the California conference this past summer but it highlights Andrea. 
http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/2009/08/andrea-welch-meet-beach-lane-booksnew.html

But the very best was a double session with author, Judith Irvin Kuns. We did writing assignments and self-study and truckloads of other stuff. The two-hour session was the fastest and the best. Really made me think, made me reconsider why I'm an author, and just plain felt fun. Some of the other one-hour session kept me struggling to stay awake and one down-right flummoxed me.
http://www.jacketflap.com/bookdetail.asp?bookid=B000C4SHDQ
http://www.jacketflap.com/profile.asp?member=Jirvinkuns

All in all - it went well and my back did not kill. I went in late, stayed for the sessions I wanted, and went home early Friday to rest. Saturday I did the same thing. 

I learned so much and I can't wait to share it. But, experience with this stupid wi-fi being what it is, I am going to sign off now while I still *fingers crossed* have a connection.

Life is limbo.