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Friday Fare: Dreaming of spring
Friday 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.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Friday Fare: Back on the horse
Friday 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!
Friday Fare: What a sh*tty week
Friday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. As evidenced below, I barely read jack sh*t this week.
I’m not going to lie: I’m one of those ridiculously “the glass if half full and there for the filling” kind of optimists that should probably be committed for half of the lunacy I inflict on the ones that are nearest and dearest to me.
But this week was hard. Getting to this afternoon has been a long slog of early wake-ups, endless coffee cups, irritated IMs to co-workers, and garden-variety shenanigans that managed to wear on me.
And David Bowie. And Alan Rickman. Cancer sucks and only robs the world.
I’m grateful that it’s Friday.
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Listening to: My favorite Bowie song is “Heroes.” The Wallflowers did a passable cover of it for the Godzilla (1998) soundtrack but will never come close to the urgency of Bowie’s voice in the original. Thursday morning also found me musing about the first time I ever saw Alan Rickman on screen. In all honesty, it was probably “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” (I remember one reviewer skewering Kevin Costner’s “So-Cal” accent, so out of place in Sherwood Forest.) But I prefer to think that my first Rickman movie was Anthony Minghella’s “Truly, Madly, Deeply.” Truly, it was this scene that was in my head when I read the news that Mr. Rickman had died.
Reading: I started and put down Brene Brown’s “Daring Greatly.” I’m torn between my mother-in-law’s adage that there’s too many books in the world to get stuck reading one that I don’t want to read and another writer friend’s recommendation that I really need to read this book. (i.e. – could be another “Big Magic” for me.)
Fiction Update: Had a meeting with my writers group on Tuesday evening and tried out the first scene of the short story that I’ve been working on. Got some great feedback – hoping I’ll find a couple quiet hours this weekend to work on finishing. (Like I told my group – I know how it begins, I know how it ends, it’s the middle that needs work. Oh – and I have a 4,000 word limit.)
Where does your mind wander?
Friday Fare: Welcome 2016!
Friday 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’ve read a lot this week, but the only article that really resonated with me was J.T. Ellison’s Annual Review.
And yeah … that’s about it. SO … without further ado – let’s go to the more concrete part of my week!
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Listening to: Dawes is currently keeping me company. Love this song.
Reading: I’ve been pretty obsessed with William Kent Krueger’s “Cork O’Connor” novels lately. He has 14 out right now and I’m on #4. However, I also have a huge pile of books that are checked out from the library, so I need to catch up with those too!
Fiction Update: Dragonfly and working on a short story for an upcoming anthology. It’s going. It’s not a sprint, but it’s going.
Out with the old, in with the new
As I mentioned before, one of my favorite things about the end of a calendar year is the influx of posts that talk about the “best of.” Best recipes, best songs, best books read, etc. On the flip side of that are the articles and posts that recap the year in review – what was done well, what could have gone better, and how the lessons learned frame the upcoming year.
First and foremost, 2015 marked the year that I really started to take this blog seriously and I came out swinging with the announcement that the first 50 pages of my story “After Life” received the Hugh Holton Award from the Mystery Writers of America – Midwest Chapter. It took a few more months, but a beta draft of “AL” was distributed for critique to some trusted friends in July.
March found me dabbling in marketing ideas.
I was MIA in May, June and July – I would have been knee deep in edits for AL, as well as in the middle of moving with my family. The item of note that I missed out in blogging about was that in May, I went to see Old Crow Medicine Show in Mankato. That concert is up there in my top 5.
In August, I returned and was full of apologies. The blog took a turn for the dull during the fall as I did a 30-day writing challenge that I’m still mentally recovering from.
That brings me to December – I told you the books that have stuck with me during 2015 and then I took a bit of a digital sabbatical of sorts as I spent a week-long vacation with my family between Christmas and the New Year.
That’s the blog recap. In terms of my writing life, there was progress: A finished draft of AL that’s about ready for the next round of edits. A short story that was completed, but rejected, for a short story anthology. Work on another WIP called “Dragonfly.” And the hatching of a new short story idea over my Christmas holiday. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on all of my floating threads of ideas, but progress!
If there was a “theme” to what I wanted to accomplish in my writing life during 2015, I feel that I’ve succeeded. One of the things that I wanted to do in 2015 was to intentionally network with other writers and continue to build a tribe for my writing life. There are two more people in my circle of friends and they are both there because of our shared writing interests. I also got a chance to meet several members of the Mystery Writers of America – Midwest Chapter during June’s Printers Row Literary Festival and am grateful to have made those contacts. I’ve also been attending Twin Cities Sisters in Crime meetings and have met several awesome folks through that group as well.
What’s in the cards for 2016? My “concrete” goals are as follows: 1) I want to get “AL” in query-ready shape by the fall and attend a conference that has a “pitch session” to meet potential agents. 2) Attend one of The Loft Literary Center’s more “intensive” courses and either workshop/polish “AL” or attend a course on short story writing. 3) Read more – short stories, classic mysteries, you name it … but read more.
In terms of this blog itself, I’ve been trying to post on Tuesdays and Fridays. I don’t see deviating from that formula – Tuesday features a post that’s more “in depth” while Friday is a round-up of the articles that engaged me over the week, as well as what I’m reading, listening to, etc. I’ve broadened my social media scope and have added Instagram. (That has everything to do with a pre-Christmas purchase of a better phone. 🙂 Yay for better technology!) You might see more pictures on this blog – my To Be Read (TBR) piles, random pictures of my cat … that sort of thing.
I’m hoping that 2016 will be a productive year. One of the things that bothered me about 2015 was my (perceived) lack of efficiency when it came to my writing. And as I’ve ruminated about last year, I realize that I tend to set broad goals for myself that aren’t always quantified. I’d set deadlines to have edits on “AL” done by April 1st, miss that date, then push them back to July 1st. What I found was that it didn’t matter the date, I’d sail by those deadlines. One way that I hope to change my approach this year is to think about the milestones I need to hit to make my deadlines – whether that’s write 1,000 words a day (even if it’s shit) or to set up a calendar that breaks down the chapters that I need to edit to hit a fall deadline for pitch conferences. I’m still figuring out what my approach needs to be.
2015 was a good year. I’m looking forward to see what 2016 holds. Thanks for being on this journey with me!
Friday Fare: YOU SHOULD BE DRINKING EGG NOG
No Friday Fare today! I’m going to be in my hometown, drinking bad coffee, and opening presents with my family. I wish all of my readers peace and light during this holiday season! Thanks for reading!
Friday Fare: Excuses, regeneration, and shenanigans
Friday 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’ve had a wonderful week that hasn’t left much room for reading, outside of books I’m trying to get through and the regular news / gossip that I consume on a daily basis. Last weekend, my mom and I took a girls weekend and went shopping. Which was ridiculous – I’m not fond of shopping, but I adore my mother, so the opportunity to just hang out with her (something that doesn’t happen a lot now that *I’m* a mom) was wonderful.
On Tuesday, I had dinner with a dear friend of mine who’s a watercolor artist. We respect each others’ creative processes and we’re kindred spirits, so hanging out with Cathy is just a treat.
This weekend, I have a phone date with my former college roommate / soul sister. She’s a ridiculously awesome and busy corporate attorney, so our phone dates are infrequent, but necessary. And then the Urban Family is coming over for dinner on Sunday, so that’s another event that I need to prepare for. But hey – the holiday cards are stamped and addressed, my Christmas presents are basically purchased and are just waiting to be wrapped, so I’m (tentatively) ahead of the eight-ball.
Unfortunately, this busy period (and my regular work deadlines) are hell on my writing regimen. But other than figuring out how to clone myself or inventing one of J.K. Rowling’s “time-turners,” I gotta figure out where I can carve out more writing time and how I can better guard that time. Because yes – I’m very busy, but I also spend way too much time on social media. So the time is there – just gotta work on the discipline part. But having said all these things, I’ve so enjoyed the time I’ve been spending with friends and family lately, I think it’s recharging my mind in different ways.
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Listening to: Prince did a killer cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” Check it out here.
Reading: Just finished Alexandra Sokoloff’s “Huntress Moon,” the first of her FBI Thriller series. Sokoloff is known in the fiction world for taking the lessons she learned from screenwriting in Hollywood and utilizing them in fiction. I’m not sure if that background knowledge that was in my head when I was reading “Huntress Moon” or if this is just the reality of my life, but I really read books anymore as a writer. I’m intrigued to see how a writer described a character or unraveled a plot line. Very fascinating.
Fiction Update: I was feeling antsy the other day and I realized that too much time had passed since I had worked on edits for “Dragonfly.” (And “too much time” is only a matter of days, but that’s how I feel about writing on a daily basis. [Sidenote: Wish I felt this way about exercise. Sigh!]) So I tackled a chapter and it didn’t go great. But … I’m going to back the truck up and take another run at it.
michellekubitz 