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Showing posts from January 29, 2012

The Unwieldybeest: Revising the novel

With this gorgeous expanse of time I now have on my hands, Project Numero Uno has been to finish revising the (dang) novel.  I have a personal deadline of Presidents Day weekend, as that is when I will be attending the San Francisco Writers Conference.  My goal in this (please let it be the last) revision is to add/remove/repair/ensure that were it to go out into the world as is, I would be proud of it.  I've had to remind myself on an hourly basis to stop asking "will it get published?" and start asking "if it did get published, would I be proud of it."  And I'm inching closer to that goal, but revising a novel is a hefty challenge.  And while I had to look up just what the heck a wildabeest actually is (click here for some beautiful images from National Geographic if you are curious), the image in my mind all week has been of wrestling the Unwieldybeest.  As if the novel were this enormous, part mammoth, part alligator-like creature that I have to somehow

A much anticipated change: Week One of Occupy Life

I have been waiting and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to finally, at long last, be laid off.  I kept hearing "you should know something next week," for so many weeks that I stopped believing I'd ever hear anything ever.  And then it happened: last Friday was my very last day.  Which makes this week Week One in my Occupy Life project (aka, the Year of Writing). WoooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooo!!! I realize anyone who has been laid off who did not want to be laid off might find my celebration odd, and to you I send positive thoughts and hopes that you find livable work soon.  For me, this couldn't happen at a better time in life to be able to take advantage of it to the fullest.  For one thing, it's been on the horizon for a while which means I've been able to mentally (and to some extent, financially) prepare for months and months.   I can't imagine how awful it would feel to be surprised by a layoff, that would be a terrible cruelty.  But not havin