Submission

And after all that huffing and puffing about something new to submit to the Toolbox, I ended up submitting the first chapter of my complete novel. Would I rather submit something from my new YA urban fantasy? Sure. Is it ready? Hell no.

Compromises, compromises.

It was very satisfying to re-read my thesis from start to finish again. I find that I like the ending more than the beginning. Maybe I'm just trying to shoot myself in the foot... in any case, I did the logical thing and submitted the first chapter. It's well under the maximum word count, but hopefully it will give the other 'Boxers (oh yes, I'm making up terms!) time to really critique the whole thing.

Even after several workshops and rounds with the insightful (and astoundingly patient) Jim Blaylock, I know this book still needs work.

The best part? I still want to work on it.

The worst? I also want to work on the new book. Also, my family seems to be really excited about it, but no surprise there since the scenery is all Big Sur.

My submission makes 8 total. I plan to read Nova, This Is Not a Game, Voices of Dragons, and Steal Across the Sky this week. Next week will be for submissions, so that they are fresh in my mind.

Homework, man. I thought I missed it.

Acceptance

It's every writer's dream to spend two weeks writing in the company of other writers, holed up in a remote location.

Or at least, it definitely is my dream.

This June I'll be spending two weeks at Taos Toolbox, a writer's workshop for advanced writers who need a little shove in the right direction. I might need a bit more than that...

When I first received my acceptance letter from Walter Jon Williams, I fluttered around the apartment, gooey-eyed and chattering too fast for my brain to keep up. Luckily my mind's the turtle in this race, and eventually it crossed the finish line.

Oh crap.

Two weeks.

In New Mexico.

With writers better than me.

What was I thinking???

The panic lasted much longer than the elation, I'm sorry to say, but here I am now, a week later, working on something new to use as my submission to the workshop. It's going to be messy, and I'm going to have to swallow my pride, but every day that brings Taos closer, I get a little bit more excited.