Entering Contests — At Last

                                                                        

These pictures may look familiar to you. This is how my desk usually looks when I        

 haven't tidied it up, and I seldom think to take a picture of it looking neat. This is how it looks again, because I've been insanely busy, and a mess doesn't seem to call for new photos.

Between this week and last, I have submitted 2 stories, 3 flash fictions, and 12 poems to contests. Yup. I'm celebrating that. And this is why I did it: I'm staring work on part two of an old book that bogged down when I got stuck. It's an MG novel, and you know how long a novel can take! Now I'm on fire with this WIP again, but I have learned from experience: 

When I work on a novel, everything else just sits in the filing cabinet: stories, flash fictions, poems. And they nag at me. Besides, my copy of Poets & Writers was giving me the accusing stare. I'm always interested in thumbing through the magazine's links for general submission deadlines — that I often don't do anything about — but this issue (March/April) is chock full of contests with  deadlines in March, April, and May. 

 So. I decided, get those little rascals out of the cabinet and into the cybersphere so they aren't hanging over my head, interfering with the present novel I want to work on in peace. It was a matter of clearing the slate. It isn't too late to get your own copy of Poets & Writers, even go to your local library, and check out deadlines you can still make. There's quite a few in April & May.

Now I can even clean house (way overdue, since I was doing research for the novel.) Yup, it's clearing out time in general.

How about you? Have you taken on any "clean sweep" type projects? Have you taken the plunge to submit to contests? What are you celebrating this week?

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain,  L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate.)

Celebrating Reading

 

I'm a little late to the blog hop this week, but good fortune has been happening to my writing friends, and I'm celebrating their accomplishments.

First, JaNay Brown-Wood's new picture book, Grandma's Tiny House, will be released August, 2017, but you can pre-order it here:  JaNay is front and center in this photograph. And here is her charming book.

Second, Rosi Hollinbeck's poem, "Sky Zoo," has been purchased by Highlights Magazine, although they haven't announced the publication date yet.  Rosi is to JaNay's left. Both of them are in one of my awesome writing groups. (The other members are Paddy Lawton (behind Rosi) and Marsha Sylvester (to JaNays right.) I am the one peeking into the selfie camera in the lower righthand corner. We have all been together for several years, now, and what a great group this is!

Third, I belong to, Sisters in Crime, an organization of writers of adult mystery fiction, and the local chapter, Capitol Crimes, has just published a collection of mystery stories by some of the members. I bought my copy and am enjoying it. Here is a picture of the flyer.

If you are in the Sacramento area, you can attend the book signing on December 17, at 4:00 p.m. at Avid Reader, at 16th and Broadway in Sacramento.

You can get a copy of the 2017 anthology here:






Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain,  L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate. I recommend it, because it's always fun to see news that others are celebrating, and to share your own as well. )

How about you? What are you celebrating this week? Do you belong to a writing group? More than one? Are you interested in poetry? Picture books? Mysteries? What is a favorite read in one of those categories?