Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Smacked in the face

I was smacked in the face today by 2008.

Two-thousand eight! Blows me away to actually write that. It's probably because, with the holidays, a lovely little GI bug we passed around, company in from out of town, and a busy time at work, I haven't written much of anything. I know, I know, excuses, excuses, excuses... but it's life! It's the way it is! Sometimes I need a break, right?

Today I got an email from FutureMe.org, a site that I occasionally log into for the purpose of sending myself emails at some future time. Usually those emails pose questions like, "So, published yet?" and needlers like "You can't get published unless you submit something, Patti." Today's email was of the latter variety. And it needled me well.

A few days ago, my sister-in-law who I haven't seen since the summer, asked if I had currently anything submitted to publishers. She knows of my quest to be a published author, and not just a writer with an MFA in writing. She's a physics professor, so her question is a bit elevated from the usual, "How's the writing going?" that I usually get from friends and relatives who are interested.

I was embarrassed to answer her. I was irked by my own email. I have not, in fact, submitted anything in a while. I got a response a few weeks ago on a piece I sent out last spring... and it was nice of them to respond to me, even though it was a denial. But I won't even be getting denials unless I get moving and write more. I'm a writer, so that's what I should be doing! I've got some great stories started. But it isn't good enough. I need to get some great stories finished.

In 11 days I will be off to Vermont again. I am looking forward to it. But, there's reading and writing to be done. I can get a lot done in 11 days, and I don't just mean laundry.

My mantra for 2008:
Write! Right? Right. Write!

-PLB

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