Spring Gleaning

Having the attention span of a gnat in recent months, I haven’t read much.  But it’s Spring, so I’m attempting to de-clutter my brain as well as clean my room, maybe squeeze in some words…in baby steps.

So I’m grazing among 6 collections of short fiction, trying to read a story a day.  I’m slightly stuck on ZZ Packer, reading a third in a row <a href=”View” _mce_href=”http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2641579-mignon-ariel-king”>View”>http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2641579-mignon-ariel-king”>View all my reviews</a>

September Writing

I managed to send off the mss. of faction A Concrete Wish — an urban fable last month, then got slammed with a minor but voice-scraping bug.  Let’s see if I can finish the mss. of memoir edits by the 15th…while pounding the pavement looking for academic jobs that crop up at the last minute, finishing a proof job and looking for more, going to the dentist, posting the next issue of U.M.Ph.! Prose….  Can we say STRESS, boys and girls?

Say, maybe updating the Online Lit. of Note page will be relaxing.  It sure beats trying to concentrate when the sun is up.  I need a job; seriously, I get zero writing done during the day.  Employers, do you here that!  Former English teacher with obsessive organizing skills and ability to ignore everyone while slaving away 7 hours per day seeks income-bearing work.

Say, I feel much better now.  The power of writing, baby!

faction is fiction, so obviously based on a real person’s former or coulda-been life that it’d be dumb to play that coy writer’s it ain’t about me game.

Finished! What a Lovely Word

I’ve finally finished revising, proofreading, and title-paging my first novella.  Just have to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite the cover page for the book proposal, then send it to Publisher #1.  Let the rejection begin!

Always Talking Too Much?

Yes, I talk too much, but now I’m writing too much as well.  45,000 words.  That’s how long my “novella” is.   I remember when I couldn’t write a poem that was longer than a stanza.  Then the memoir was 33,000.  How could I possibly write that much?  And how bad is my Math that I underestimate these word counts so badly?  Eek.  Well, at least I feel productive as the past year of bare employment winds down.  There are worst ways to spend a year than editing together a 5-volume grand opus and starting two new projects.  But I’d better get cracking soon if I want to finish Moby-Dick this summer.  Might have to give myself a handicap and say this year since apparently I’m writing a chapbook of poetry about it.

Typingly I Roll Along

Whew!  I’ve finally finished a typed draft of my entire five-book collection, having edited, finally rewritten the ending of, and retyped the novella.  After a week of refusing to do anything creative, I’m editing the memoir yet again.  Funny, I’m primarily a poet, yet the three books of poetry are not giving me any trouble this summer.   Shouldn’t my “passion” be driving me crazy?

I don’t know how fiction writers can stand all that typing, typing, typing, knowing full well they might get to the end and go Phooey! then rewrite or toss half the darn book.  That’s dedication!

chapter two of my first novella

Chapter two on WHLR.

Chapter One of My Novella-to-be

Here’s a sample of my fiction, chapter one of a twelve-chapter novella.  I still can’t believe it’s finished.