Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: Dreaming of spring

Friday FareFriday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.

I guess the biggest news of my week is that in August, I’m going to be caravan-ing with some fellow members of the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime and will be attending the Writers Police Academy in Green Bay, WI.  Or, as one of my fellow toddler moms/writers IM’d me: writers + guns + weekend without kids = AWESOME.

Have you written a good short story and want to submit it somewhere?  Check out this article from the Mystery Writers of America – New York Chapter. (While this is from an MWA chapter, there are some listings that aren’t limited to the mystery genre.)

If all goes well today, I plan on visiting this old coot tonight (Friday, 2/26/16) and cheer him on at his latest book signing.

Why yes, Chrissy Teigen’s new cookbook has nothing to do with writing, but this cookbook is going to make its way into my collection soon.  I just love her philosophy on food and her smackdowns on social media typically border on awesome, if not epic.

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Listening to: I’ve become something of a YouTube junkie.  I love to listen to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and shows from KEXP, a Seattle radio station.  This song from the Dave Rawlings Machine has been in pretty heavy rotation lately.

Reading: I read another J.D. Horn book in a day.  Then I revisited childhood with some a recent Christopher Pike novel.  (I was OBSESSED with him when I was a teenager.  I actually ordered one of my favorite books of his to rediscover why I liked him so much.)

Fiction Update: I finished my short story and I feel pretty good about it.  Even if it doesn’t make it to the anthology I’m pitching it for, I think it has legs and a chance elsewhere.  I really enjoyed the process of discovery with the story and characters.  I also enjoyed the discipline of taking something that started out at 5,700 words and trimming that down to a lean 3,900.  In terms of my larger projects, I ordered this book in preparation to start editing the next draft of AL.  That’s been on the back burner since July – I think it’s past time that I revisited it.

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: Back on the horse

Friday FareFriday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.

Eeesh – after the last Friday Fare’s whiny lament, I’m glad you’re back.  I promise I’ve been reading good things and that I’m more productive than I was the last time we met.

I don’t know if it’s surprising, per se, that I’m posting this article about Sylvester Stallone, but if you know me, you’d probably not mistake me for a rabid “Rocky” fan.  Because I’m not.  But … one of my all-time favorite movies is “Cop Land” so I’m always happy to see Mr. Stallone get the respect that he’s due.

I’m not going to lie – the idea that The (surviving / non-estranged) Monkees are getting together for a 50th anniversary and are releasing a new album brings me much joy.  I may try to be all cool and relevant with the music that I listen to (ha!), but at heart I’m just an 11-year-old girl listening to my Monkees cassettes in my cluttered farmhouse bedroom, mooning over Davy Jones some 20 years after his heyday.  (I’ve said it before … I’m usually behind on trends.)

This weekend is Valentine’s Day.  I foresee heart-shaped pancakes and heart-shaped pizza in my future.  And maybe this cake.  Because … cake!

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Listening to: I’ve been listening to the YouTube again.  This concert is one of my favorites and always helps me get a lot of work done in my day job.  And I’m not going to lie, Gordon Lightfoot in 1972 makes me wish that time travel was reality so I could have seen Mr. Lightfoot in concert in the 70s.

Reading: Honestly, I haven’t read much lately.  It’s busy in the proposal world right now, which is a good thing, but doesn’t give much time for more than work and family time.  I don’t achieve a lot of balance during these busy seasons.

Fiction Update: I’ve been working on a short story for consideration in an upcoming anthology and although it’s been taking me a long time to get it to coalesce, I’m excited about the direction that it’s going in and I think that I’m going to have a decent story at the end of this process.  Even if it doesn’t find a home in the anthology, I think it’s one I can shop around elsewhere.

I also met with my Twin Cities writers group earlier this week.  I didn’t have anything to share (see comment above, re: achieving balance) but I’m liking the energy that I’m getting from the group and think I’ve found a good group of folks to exchange stories with.

Wherever my readers are, I hope you are well and happy.  Happy Friday!  We made it through another week!

Fiction, Process, Random

Hel-lllllllo!

Digger

I guess if I had a spirit animal in the writing world (beyond the grumpy feline that’s in the picture above), it would be a snail.  Because it’s February and I don’t have much of a (personal) word count to show for it.  Writing is a marathon and not a sprint, but I still need to show up to practice every day and that’s what’s been lacking lately.

We’ll catch up on Friday.  **Muah!**