March 31, 2018 – You’ve probably wondered where I’ve been.

         No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth.  I will admit I am still having difficulty grieving my Mom.  She was and will always be such a big part of me.  I can’t hide it, I don’t want to hide it, and I must learn to embrace it in a way that doesn’t make me sad. That is one challenge I have been battling.

Then, I have been working on projects, painting insides of kitchen cabinets, cleaning closets, trying to get this packrat clutter under control with the theory: ‘Less is More’.  I’ve made a good yearly dent in it.  I have to learn it is a daily thing, not a seasonal or yearly thing.  It takes a while for this old dog to learn new tricks.

         What I have really been doing is - writing, but not my blog.  Taking a friendly challenge from a lovely friend back in January, I have dusted off my college Novella and I am in the process of re-writing it in order to submit it to a publisher. Big challenge, bigger than I imagined.

WHEW.  Talk about work.  After about three weeks, I realized I didn’t have a clue how to “re-write” it to get it into something good enough to put before an agent or publisher.  As a result, I’ve spent the better part of February and March reading all types of writing critique books way into the wee hours of the morning. 

         I’m amazed at what I have absorbed and have now looked at my little Novella with discerning eyes.  I am asking myself:

Is it fixable? Don’t know yet.

It is a story-Yes.

Has a climax and has an ending – that’s good.

My characters are a bit thin. Fixable.

I do have a handle on dialogue, needs to be better.

Manuscript typing – got that under control.

A theme, a concept, sub plot - not so sure.

Marketable, who knows.

My husband made a comment about my typing the other week that I will share with you:

“If I could type like that, I’d be a writer to.”

That gave me a smile and inspiration – typing is the easiest part!

         The biggest thing I have learned is an author has to crank out four to eight attempts before one is publishable.  It is a learning process by doing.  So, I am doing and being remiss at blogging.

         A few of my followers have asked, “Where are you?” Above is my explanation.  Thank you for visiting my blog and following it and I hope you continue to do so.  I do love your comments, keep sending them to me.

         I am here, and I will renew my blogging as much as possible while I learn how to be an author, and then hopefully a ‘published’ author.

         Even as this blog hits the universe today – I am at a writer’s workshop.

Stay well and Happy Easter to you on April Fool’s day tomorrow.