YeeeeeHaaaaaa!!!

I have finished my three entries for the writing contest!!! Done! Done! Done! I just have to submit them via the online entry form and then forget about it until February.

How do I put this massive feat into perspective? First, you need to know that I am not exactly...employable. I can't keep regular hours, and too much activity stresses me out. Sometimes my nervous system just goes down and I need to sleep for a few days. I jump easily at noises and loud voices. I used to be a high-school teacher...can you imagine me going back to that? Noooo. I used to be a hard-driven academic grad-school student (ancient biblical languages and exegesis). Don't even ask.

Now I am a writer. I have set aside mornings to work. I work from about 9:00 until noon. I've been training myself and my friends and family to this schedule. I don't have to commute. The coffee is always fresh. And I can go to work in my pajamas if I want to. I have set myself the modest goal of selling something I've written to a paying publication. I'm hoping that it happens within a year, but whatever. It would be really great to make some kind of a living off what I do more naturally than anything else, besides knitting. It would be cool if something I wrote put a roof on our house or yarn in my stash. Doug wants a Mini-Cooper very badly, but I get ahead of myself...

So...this past two weeks, I have stuck to my schedule, and I have three pieces of work ready to enter in a contest. One is a collection of poetry, and two are personal essays. All three began as pieces I have written in the last four years, but all three required major surgery and editing to conform to demands of quality, clarity, and length. I'm surprised at the different directions each one took me. Like going on a journey on a familiar path and winding up somewhere else entirely.

It feels amazing to be done! I'm going off for a much-needed walk on what has turned into a glorious fall day. When I return I'm posting pix of what I saw.