First Story of 2016

Back to the tricky job of typing up a manuscript: I tend to edit while typing, making the first round of fixes and changes. The afternoon of January 13th, I finished the handwritten rough draft of "Wiggle-Wobble", my first story of 2016; it's the very definition of a cruddy rough draft, but I'll be fixing that as I commit it to pixels. I'm quite proud of it, especially the ending, which included some tricky action writing, which I'm never at ease with, but count this as an example of challenging ones boundaries and comfort zone. Also a woman going Mama Wolf on something that has endangered her family, and a male scream queen (though his cowering is also a means of covering and protecting a helpless person). I gave myself the challenge to write a new story every other week, as my energy and inspiration hold out and barring any unexpected mishaps (illness, work getting busy, other things otherwise defined).

Unfortunately, due to the level of tiredness that seems to have come as a side effect to this wretched cough I picked up last week, I missed one deadline for a quarterly magazine. But! I can try for the next quarter, or for one of several publications with continuously open submissions. As with life, so with writing, one must learn to forgive oneself when you've fallen short of the marks you set for yourself. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I get this little one ready to go out into the big scary world of publishing. As I tell people, the actual writing might bring me joy as I craft a tale to share with the world and thus, it doesn't feel much like world; the real work, what really feels like work, comes when you try and get published. But while the rejection letters might sometimes get to me, and it sometimes seems like I'm tossing things at markets without much sticking, I wouldn't trade this in for the world.