I’m back to timed writings as my m.o. Going without sleep makes me nonproductive and resentful, so the answer is use the daytime hours and go back to the “if you have five minutes, WRITE” way of living. I’ve been doing timed writings all week, getting a good flow established, and I’ll just keep it up. For those who haven’t tried timed writing before, you pull up your WIP, set the timer for however long you’ve got, and write nonstop until the time is up. I always tell myself “I can revise or cut if it’s crap,” but it’s honestly surprisingly how much of it is good as is, or just needs a little polish and refinement. Try it, you might be surprised yourself.
On the Read for Relief front, while I’m in love with the idea I’ve come to realize a couple of things. One, it’s badly named to have ongoing viability and I also don’t really have the time to spare to get a new business established. And two, people are on Katrina overload. So I think the best way to achieve my long-term goal of ongoing support where it’s needed (and it WILL still be needed five months from now) is to go ahead and pull Catalyst, re-release it with Cerridwen and continue to send all earnings from the book to help rebuild.
Shannon Stacy had contributed a book which is absolutely outstanding, and I’ve begged and bullied her to submit it to CP as well. Go bug her about it, too. The Second Time Around is a terrific read, an emotional and deeply convincing story about two (or rather, three) people who get a second chance to be a family. Usually I find reunion stories unconvincing; if they were so perfect for each other, why didn’t it work the first time? The answer to this central question tends to get glossed over. In this case, there’s a very clear and understandable answer to that question and the way they resolve their differences and come together in the end is so thoroughly satisfying that even non-reunion fans will enjoy the journey.
If she doesn’t submit it elsehwere, we can go ahead and put it up on RFR because readers need a chance to enjoy this story, but that will be the end of the site and we’re closed to future submissions. I highly encourage others to make a long-term commitment to helping in the aftermath of Katrina, because in spite of media saturation which has us all numb and lots of trumpeting about FEMA and the Red Cross taking care of everything now, the reality is that help is still needed and will continue to be needed for some time.
Recent Comments