Simply Writing

I have just picked up this blog after a couple of years of leaving it by the wayside. I will be posting blog entries regularly again, as well as updating my list of publications. I look forward to continuing the writing journey!

That quote is by Albert Camus. Autumn is my favorite time of year. With the dying of the leaves, I find a new inspiration, a new source of energy. I'm not sure where it springs from, but it moves me to read, to write, to cook, and to remake my living space. It is an energy, not merely creative, but for life in general. I want to clean out my rooms. I want to rearrange for more comfort. A cleaner, snugger space. It seems like it should be a spring event, but I prefer to do it when it's cool. When I can throw open the windows and let the spice of autumn into the rooms. I am not excited for Christmas presents, or vast feasts, or parties. I am excited to feel the air, alive with cold. I am excited to bring warmth back into my fingers after long walks outside, and to drink hot cider or tea while staring out at trees, a litter barer each day. I am excited to harness this energy and use it to finish a novel, to write a short story, to create an article. I am excited to wrap up i

As the weather warms, both my husband and I are drawing inspiration from the outdoors (and we are trying to lose winter fat at the same time!) We go to the park regularly for long walks, and on occasion he takes his easel to paint a quick landscape while I read in the grass. ( follow him on his own blog ) It's peaceful and the fresh air is wonderful! The hard part is avoiding those summer storms. They spring up out of nowhere, and it seems to have been an especially rainy May. Anyway, since we have been outdoors more, I've taking note of sights and sounds and smells, which will all be useful for descriptions in my current work and in future ones! Sometimes just a few jotted notes from a particularly memorable day will help me get into a scene and really begin to describe it. I have no new stories to share at the moment. I am still editing and rewriting my book, which is in the second draft stage. As usual, I have already thought of many changes I want to make to the pages

Well, writing has been going just swimmingly. I am chipping away at the second draft of my book while continuing to write short stories and flash fiction pieces. I am making regular submissions to literary journals and other venues, and I have a list of upcoming contests to enter. My latest little piece was written for a contest on Wattpad: #MyHandmaidsTale. I have never used Wattpad before, so that was a new experience, but Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors, so I couldn't pass up the chance to enter the contest (which has Miss Atwood herself on the judging panel!) And Wattpad so far has been wonderful. I love writing communities that encourage and inspire, and I've already gotten several comments and notes from readers. Check out my entry here With all the craziness in the world, writing is my refuge, and though it is hard work, I take pleasure in achieving daily, weekly, and monthly goals, and I delight in seeing my progress (and those around me) as I conti

This is the beginning, and as with all beginnings we'll see where it goes from here! To check out my publications thus far, see the Fiction Publications page. My journalism work will be posted soon as well, but for now I only have fiction up.  I have written everything from fiction to marketing content to newspaper articles. I have blogged for others (quite often for companies), but never for myself. I have several short stories in process (meaning they are in editing, sent out to publications, or waiting as dust gathers on their pages for me to do something with them). I am in also in the rewrite phase on a book.  And I've decided to add blogging on top of that. Here's to starting something new and different. "The scariest moment is always just before you start."  - Stephen King, On Writing