They Keep Pulling Me Back In!

Taken by Moi in New Orleans and Yeah, It Kind of Looks Like the Way I Feel!

A writer's life is filled with deadlines, ghosts, and outlines and then somewhere in the midst of all that is actual story telling, right? No, I don't think so. Let's take a look at the obstacles that have plopped down in front of me in the last two weeks.

The first and foremost is that I didn't get my entry in the Marlene Contest submitted on time. Why? Well, it's my fault. I waited until 10 minutes before the deadline and sent it to the wrong email address (don't ask me how I did that when I thought I'd cut and pasted the email address) - but I did. So by the time I got the 'undeliverable' email notice it was 11:59 and guess what the deadline was? Yes. You got it! 11:59!

So that was January 15 - and since then, well let's see what else has hit the fan.

I got great feedback from my writing coach on 150 pages of story. But I also added at least 10 new chapters to the story via an outline that took me a day to write. At least tomorrow, I'm going to get help from my critique partner on the outline - the plot is a beast that's raging out of control.

Then there's my writing class. Yes, I signed up for another Gotham class, originally, it was going to be for feature article writing, but no I got out of that class. It would have required me to change my focus from fiction to journalism and even with feature articles, which is a lot less stiff than news writing - I didn't want to divide my time even more. So now, I'm in an advanced science fiction writing class, which I've taken before, but I feel smarter now:)...

The true dilemma in my life these days is not writing though. It's my day job. The one that pays the bills. It's lost its smiley face and that's disappointing and stressful. How do you balance that life and the writer me?

We'll just have to figure that one out won't we?

Happy New Year! And Let the Resolutions for 2010 Begin!

Photo taken by Denny S. Bryce 1/1/10 in Baltimore, MD

Good thing I'm taking a feature article writing course beginning next week. I swear some days I have no idea how to kick start my blog post. It has to do with how my brain works. I have at least a dozen story/article ideas a minute, all of which I think are good ideas at the time I think them. Then when I'm in front of the computer, fingers poised, I go through a kind of panic and I'm stuck.

And damn it - this post should be the easiest of the year. It's the first of 2010 and I have no reason to feel defeated about anything because nothing has happened yet.

Anyway, here's the deal. I'm hanging out in Baltimore, wanted a change of scenery for the New Year and wanted a neutral environment where I could reflect on 2009 without being reminded of failed goals (my living room sofa can do that sometimes). Top of my list, of course, is what's up with the manuscript. I'm somewhat frantic about it on a daily basis. I feel I have no control over when my writing mood hits (and 2 a.m. is getting old, people). So I need control, it's going to be one of my resolutions for 2010. Carve out a specific time during the day for writing, another time for reading, and another time for work (the gig that pays the bills). I'm going to make it easy on myself in the beginning. I am committed to writing (working on the manuscript that is, because I write all day long) a minimum of two hours a day. Those two hours cannot begin before I've exercised and had breakfast, period. The final resolution is the two hours can't start after 8 p.m. Today, I've completed the first two - exercised and ate breakfast (didn't get around to breakfast until 1 p.m., but day 1 is shaky on the 'resolution train'). So next I need my two hours of writing, writing, writing.

In the meantime, this weekend, I've got to complete my Marlene Contest application (PS...I guess I have to enter for real. I just paid the $25 entry fee!) and finalize my agent list. I've got two so far. But what should I do about the one I submitted to this past summer following RWA? I haven't heard from her since August. Should I resubmit? Anybody got ideas?

Also, I reorganized my blog this morning. Got rid of things I don't need on it - and kept things I do. It's definitely honing in on the real me. That is the Denny S. Bryce me. She's a writer of fiction, so anything that distracts me from that doesn't have a place on this blog. Okay!

Yeah. I thought you'd agree.

And Happy New Year!

The Marlene Contest

I've realized that when it comes to my writing, I can be a coward. And by the way, that is so not like me in other aspects of my life. But when it comes to my manuscripts, it's true. I hesitate, over-think, pause, procrastinate, you name it, I do it. Not so much with the writing of the story (okay, maybe that, too), but when it comes to following up with editors and agents? I'm like a frozen lake of nerves. It's been six weeks since I sent the near-future story synopsis and the first 40 pages to the editor who requested it at RWA this past summer, and only a month since the agent checked in with me, saying she'd read it after the holidays (Labor Day). Neither one of them has written and said send me the rest of the manuscript, and happily (so far) no one has said, darling, please don't write us again. So I sit and I dream, and I wonder...

Okay, enough of that hooey - it just makes me nervous putting my thoughts about this aspect of the writing world to paper (or computer). To add to my insanity though, I've decided I will participate in the 2010 Marlene Awards. Deadline is December 15 (or submissions open that day and close January 15). I'm shooting for the 15th of December - because, it will be better if I don't give myself too much wiggle room. I don't want to mess around and submit too late to be considered. I'm a deadline fanatic, and might as well go with the first deadline to make sure, right?

For the Marlene Awards, I will be polishing up one of my other WIPs (not the near-future vampire story set in DC and Las Vegas I sent to the editor and agent. No, this one is an urban fantasy (okay, I've just got to have the urban fantasy thing going) set in Chicago during modern times. It's sexy (I think), it's dark, the main character is broken, but hopelessly brilliant and heroic. The heroine is stubborn, sexy, and has no clue about the world of magic, wizards, or demons. And it's set in the world of police work (actually, the FBI). There's a serial killer, portal jumper, witches, vampires, you name it, and it's all set in the snow-covered, frozen tundra of my x-hometown - Chicago!

Challenge though. I'm thinking I have to change the occupation of my heroine (it's already 40,000 words long, and should end up around 80,000). Her being a reporter is just striking me as trite. She could be a bartender - very easy for me to recall from my early days in Chicago. Or, she could be a restaurant owner. I like the idea of her being a business owner (like moi in my real life). I can bring in all of the joys and stresses of running a business, too busy to have a healthy relationship, stressed out over staff, customers, deadlines, taxes, etc.

But even more fun, it will be a single title and feature a twisted romance, sex, violence, (did I say that already?). Bottom line there will be nothing within the realm of routine. And why do I feel I can do this? Well, there are just so many damn books out there that do whatever they want. My latest find is Chelsea Cain:)...She's on my friend's list on Facebook - way too excited about that. You've just got to check out her books. I'm reading her first one in the 'beautiful killer' series now, Heart Sick. Visit her website, and buy. Her first book was a memoir written in 1994 or so. I'm so jealous. I wish I'd started getting serious about writing earlier in life, or at least when I started five years ago, I wish I'd learned enough to actually be more aggressive about getting published. That bug just hit me, and it's because of Rebecca Walker. She's my writing coach. I participated in her writing workshop in Maui this past June, and can I just say I fell in love with Maui, her wisdom (yes, I have a girl crush), and generally, the energy she shares so easily with others. Go to her website, and just hang out, and if you're in San Francisco in March 2010 (or  Maui in December 2009) - sign up for her workshop, okay? Just do it!

Alright, it's like 3 AM on the east coast, and I need to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow work-wise, and writing wise. I will finish polishing Chapter Six (can you believe it's taken me three weeks to write it?).  But it's okay. Not mad about it. The next  ten chapters are actually written, but need a decent amount of re-working. But I know what needs to happen, and the two new chapters I've been working on for the past several weeks will make those chapters so much easier to clean up.

I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to finish those chapters in three weeks. I realize it might be dicey for me to finish polishing before November 1, but I've got to give it a real try. Who knows? The editor may email me tomorrow and ask for the entire manuscript, right? (hopeful is not always bad).