IWSG - March 2016

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group, which was started by the ninja-captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Check out the IWSG page to see the list of others who participate (or to join!).

I totally initially titled this post "February 2016"... So that's a good indicator of where my head is at right now :)

I successfully submitted a story to an anthology for the first time yesterday! So that's exciting. Now, of course, we wait to hear if it will be accepted, but I'm mostly ok with whatever happens. I put something good out there, and if this anthology doesn't want it, there are always others, right?

There's part of me (a masochistic part? are all artists masochists in some ways?) that is actually looking forward to possibly getting a rejection. I guess it feels like getting rejections is part of being a 'real writer'. Someone who has been tempered and tested, so by the time there is an acceptance there is a little bit more legitimacy there. It means you've put yourself out there, had work critiqued by the industry, and been encouraged to keep working. Keep skill building, learning, reading books and taking classes. 

Not that I need any encouragement to keep learning things.

But.

Little nudges never hurt.

What little nudges have you had lately?

My "very messy chores" pants!

Look out world, it is a 'very messy chores' pants kind of day! #jeans #paint #bleach #homeownership

A photo posted by AJ Lauer (@ayjaylauer) on Jan 23, 2016 at 7:45am PST

This IG post is a little old, but I've been wearing my getting sh*t done pants a lot lately. :)
In relation to last week's post... These pants have been around for a good 8 years. Adulting. Just sayin'.
Also come follow me on IG!

What do you do when you need to tackle your to-do list? Drink caffeine? Make epic lists? Run and hide and watch TV instead?

First #atozchallenge Twitter Chat is tonight!

Hi friends!
A quick note to let you know that our first #azchat of the #atozchallenge season is tonight at 9pm Eastern/7pm Mountain time! Lots of cohosts and helpers will be around to answer questions and generally celebrate the upcoming A to Z awesomeness.

Hope to see you there :)

I'm getting old.

Aww look at that baby face!

I remember once when I was a kid, an adult telling me she'd had a pair of jeans for over five years. And of course, to my still-growing and quite tomboyish self, that was unfathomable. How could you possibly fit into a pair of jeans for so many years? Furthermore, how could jeans last so long without being utterly destroyed??

And then.. I ordered new glasses this week. And I realized that I've been using the frames that are in this picture for almost ten years. I bought them the summer I taught English in South Korea. And I absolutely have jeans that are more than five years old.

I remembered that childhood conversation and thought, How did I get so old?! How is it possible that the summer I spent in Korea was ten years ago? I do have a birthday coming up, so age is on my brain a bit, but still.

Have you ever had one of those "where has the time gone?" moments?

IWSG - February 2016

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group, which was started by the ninja-captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Check out the IWSG page to see the list of others who participate (or to join!).

Well, I'm making good progress on the goals I set out in January! My short story for submission needs one more rewrite and a couple beta readers to tell me what they think, and then that will be good to go. And my writing group is tackling one of my manuscripts for each of the next three meetings, so hopefully that will give me some ideas and a rekindling of passion for the project that I can use to try to actually finish it!

I also got my Independently Published Authors Liaison membership through the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers this month. So that's fun :)

I've been reading The Paris Wife, which is about Hemingway's first wife Hadley. It's a beautifully written novel and I highly recommend it. But it's also providing me with a little discomfort, which has been interesting. Hemingway is depicted (as, I think, are many prolific/successful artists) as being wholly, life-consumingly, devoted to his art.

I guess this is a variation on the oft-bemoaned modern frustration with not being able to just do art.. But, I very rarely feel totally consumed by what I am writing. Certainly not to the exclusion of my relationships (or food!). But when I had the time, I didn't lose myself in my writing either. I had six months last summer to dedicate to writing, and while I learned a lot and did get some stuff done, it wasn't like I was obsessive. Does that make me less of a writer? Mean there's less chance that I have what it might take to be successful? Or is it merely a reflection of having more facets to my self than just my writer identity?

Not really sure what the answers to those questions are.. But there they are.

How are y'all doing this month?

2016 April A-Z Challenge sign-ups are OPEN!!

Friends, it is one of my favorite times of the year! Sign-ups for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge are open! This will be my fifth year participating in the Challenge and I am so excited to start.

We have some awesome things in store for y'all this year including a newsletter and more #atozchat madness on Twitter, so stay tuned :)

But first, if you want to participate, you need to sign up! The official instructions are as follows:

Please read and follow the sign-up instructions outlined below so you sign onto the list correctly!

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behavior.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 4 is “C,” and so on. You can use a theme for the month or go random – just as long as it matches the letter of the alphabet for the day. 

The A to Z Challenge is a great way to get into the blogging habit and make new friends. For more details and its history, go HERE

We recommend short posts, turn off Word Verification, and visit five blogs (or more) a day beginning with the one after yours on the list. 

Blogs must be on an open platform – no Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. – and comments enabled. Please make it easy for visitors to comment on your blog.

To streamline legitimate blogs from advertisement blogs, the Co-Hosts will be visiting each blog on this list throughout the Challenge. Once the Challenge begins, blogs showing no activity or those that miss five days in a row will be removed. 

Please note your blog name and number in all correspondences. Remember that as blogs are removed, your number WILL change. 

There are categories for those looking for like-minded blogs. Select ONE category code and enter it after your blog’s title/name. The code applies to your blog, not your theme for the Challenge and is purely optional. See the first few blogs on the list for examples. However, if your blog has adult content, you MUST mark it (AC) or it will be removed from the list. Codes are as follows: 

ANIMALS: (AN) 
BOOKS/REVIEWS: (BO) 
CRAFTS/ART: (CT) 
CULINARY: (CU) 
EDUCATION/SCIENCE: (ES) 
ENTERTAINMENT: (ET) 
GAMING: (GA) 
HISTORY/MYTHOLOGY: (HM) 
HUMOR: (HU) 
LIFESTYLE/SOCIAL: (LS ) 
PERSONAL: (PR) 
PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH)
POETRY: (PO) 
TRAVEL: (TR) 
WRITING/STORYTELLING/MEMOIR: (WR) 
ADULT CONTENT: (AC) 

Be sure to grab the badge and display it in your sidebar so we know you are participating and link to the A to Z Challenge Blog.

For more information we recommend you follow the A to Z Challenge Blog and the hosts: 

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Heather M. Gardner
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts
AJ Lauer
Pam Margolis @ An Unconventional Librarian
Damyanti Biswas @ Daily Write
Zalka Csenge Virág @ The Multicolored Diary
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

We also have a Facebook Page
Email address is contactatozteam@gmail.com
Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge and Twitter id is @AprilA2Z, with weekly chats at #atozchat

Sign up below and join us for a month of alphabet fun!
(When you sign up, you agree to receive A to Z related emails.)