Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone,
I have always struggled with the month of February, spelling it, I mean. The month itself if nothing offensive, short, but so am I! With my daughter’s birthday being this month, I think I’m getting better at spelling February (I’ve spelled it three times now, correctly, so there’s something).
Besides spelling the month, I hope that you are all enjoying the chilly second month of the year. Today, I hope that you are treated with your favorite treats, buy yourself flowers or chocolates or beer, whatever floats your boat (I got myself flowers).
I’ve never been a big Valentine’s Day person, but that changed last year. This time last year I was in the hospital in early labor with my daughter. She waited until after Valentine’s Day (good for her!) but there is definitely a different feeling to this cheesy holiday. It’s still a bit too many hearts and pink for me, but there was a smiling fact this morning that enjoyed her red carnation (though the balloon her grandparents got her was a bigger hit than the flower). And we get to celebrate her first birthday in a couple days!
So Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Don’t forget to treat yourself :)
Publishing Update
This update was almost a week late! I have been getting back into submitting my short stories to magazines. Submitting to magazines is one of the few ways I partake in traditional publishing. There are some fantastic magazines out there, literary, genre, and more.
I started with platforms that accept reprints (stories that have already been published somewhere else, but I still have rights to the story). One of the publications I discovered is Plotopolis. Plotopolis is an interactive fiction platform. They’re doing some really cool stuff! I was drawn in by the dialogue nature of their stories (they are told in a chat exchange). The platform also provides learning and resources for writers who want to submit their own story, so I proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole of interactive fiction. I confess, I’m still in that rabbit hole. The tabs are many across my window and I’m flipping back and forth, working on refocusing…
I’m intrigued by the interactive fiction! My initial plan for the year was to submit the short stories that have been piling up on my computer and draft out a novel (more on that in the writing update), but maybe I want to pursue some interactive fiction? Might be worth spending some of my precious writing time on. Anyone know any good podcasts about interactive fiction?
Writing Update
I’ve already given my writing update for the most part. I’m working on a novel! Right now it’s titled “Ghost Story 2024" and I’m less than two thousand words in. It’s a start! I am finding it challenging to get back in the groove of long form writing. I think it’s mostly having the time, time to write, time to plan. I’ve always been someone who jumps between projects. It helps when I sit down to work and I find that one project isn’t working. I then just jump to another and don’t run into writer’s block or procrastination (as much). This worked well when I wasn’t a parent. I met goals, produced lots of writing. Now that I get an hour a day to write (on a good day, honestly, it’s usually more like 20/30 minutes), time has become a huge commodity.
So the novel writing will be a slow process. I’m practicing flexibility and forgiveness with myself. As long as I keep showing up when I can, the writing will get done. That’s all that matters.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Marredbury in a couple weeks!
Check out Episode 6 before then, if you missed it. Or the table of contents for another previous episode.
Thanks for hanging with me for a bit! Enjoy your week