Before writing a blog, I review my past blogs to make sure I’m not repeating myself too much, and to assess where I was at and where I thought I was going. My last blog was August 28th and I was all set with my “MFA course”, personalized for a student of one: me. Now it’s a month later and have I made any progress?
Fortunately, I kept my plan flexible, I can adapt what I’m working on as life happens. the truth is, I’ve hardly been home in the past month. Labour Day weekend was spent moving my daughter to Ottawa for school. I was also determined to attend the Eden Mills Writers Festival this year. I hadn’t been in about 20 years! But as an almost empty-nester, and the threat of covid fading (not to mention this is an outdoor festival), and a workshop with Gail Anderson-Dargatz, my former mentor—I wanted to make sure I attended.
[Unfortunately, Gail was unable to do the workshop due to the wildfire situation in BC. Instead, I attended a workshop with Hannah Mary McKinnon, How to Eat an Elephant…and Other Plotting Advice. It was well done and good inspiration for my upcoming novel.]
The following day, a friend I hadn’t seen since the pandemic and I, spent an hour and a half catching up as we drove down to Eden Mills. It was a great day and I certainly filled my well and my bookshelf. I bought about 6 or 7 books while I was there. It’s always a great idea to visit local festivals, meet authors you haven’t heard of yet and meet ones you already know. It’s hard for writers to get exposure in today’s media filled world. Support them when you can.
The following week I was off to a mediation retreat where I’d be putting my life aside, including writing. But just before I left, the Women’s Fiction Writers’ Association hosted an auction to raise money. There was so much to choose from! I auctioned and won exactly what I needed: someone to look at my query, synopsis and first 50 pages. KJ Dell’Antonia is looking at it and I’m waiting to hear back. (Always nervous to know a New York Times bestselling author is reading your work. Scary!)
After my meditation week, I drove straight from there to my university reunion. We’re all getting old, but apparently not too old to stay up until 5:30 am. Oh my! What a juxtaposition to my meditation retreat. Finally, I’m back home, a little weary from all the travel and a late night, or two.
My focus has now switched from my new novel to my old novel. I want to get that beginning fixed and back to querying while I work on my new novel. But when I’ve been away from my writing it’s always a slow start to getting back up-to-speed. And I wanted to quickly fix that beginning, from the problems that had already been identified. I had a week between my return and submission. While I’m waiting for comments on my old novel, it doesn’t seem enough time to jump into the new novel.
Can I work on multiple projects? I’ve never really had time to before, but something new is happening for me. I’m becoming semi-semi-retired. I’ve been working from home part-time for years, raising my kids. For various reasons, my work load is much less right now and I’m determined not to look for any more. This is my chance to move my projects forward. I’m working really hard NOT to fill the space with “things to-do” even if they aren’t work. I have more time and I’m going to use it to write.
For me, this is do, or die. Either get that bum in the chair, or realize that I’d rather be golfing. (Just kidding, that’s not going to happen.) The road to publication is long with little chance of results. It’s scary to spend so much time on something that might never see the light of day. But writing still brings me joy, as do the friends I make along the way. At the moment, I can’t think of a better way to spend my time as I slowly slip into retirement. Happy writing, happy reading!
Post Script:
I drafted this blog a week ago. Between then and now I found out my husband is set for knee surgery on the 18th of October. He had been driving my daughter to work while she works on getting her license. Which means I will now be driving my daughter. It’s a good thing I didn’t look for more work! But I just watched all that writing time go out the window. (2 hours of driving a day.) Oh well, there’s always January to March—the only time I ever get anything done!
The moral of the story is, life happens and keeps happening. But if you find joy in something, you’ll find time. Keep your goals in mind, but be flexible. Unfortunately for me, I think I’m back to one project at a time, at least until January.
