Subs Pending
I submitted two stories today. (Two flash fictions to two online magazines.) Here's hoping.
Selena on 01.27.05 @ 05:51 PM EST [link] [1 Comment]
I’m addicted to books. (I’m also addicted to JJill but that's another post.)
Yesterday I loaded up my shopping chart at http://www.qpb.com with six books I want. I had to stop when the total topped $70. I managed not to buy anything though; just left them there in the cart. Gotta pay the rent and bills first I had to remind myself. Still the books sing to me.
Selena on 01.21.05 @ 07:20 PM EST [more..]
A lot of writing books talk about how to be a successful writer. They say you have to learn to put “butt in seat” and stay there. Basically, the theory is that to be a writer you have to write. You have to shut up with all your excuses and just sit down and write.
The books will give you advice on how to stay there at your desk, how to keep your “butt in seat.”
Here’s a method I use:
One way to keep “butt in seat” while you write is to set a cat in your lap.
It works. The cat won’t want to move. You won’t want to move the cat. It’s cozy. Plus cats are good muses. (I have three.) Every time you start to get up out of your chair, the cat will make an annoyed, complaining meow. So, you’ll stay there just a little bit longer.
I guess you could call it the "cat in lap" method.
Of course once your legs and feet fall asleep, it’s time to get up - annoyed cat or no.
Selena on 01.20.05 @ 10:44 AM EST [link]
Below are two great quotes about failure that can be found in the book Ten Poems to Change Your Life by Roger Housden. (Another book I heartily recommend.)
"Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt - marvelous error! -
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
From my old failures."
- Antonio Machado
Part of his poem “Last Night As I Was Sleeping”
(version by Robert Bly)
"Imagine the possibility that every single turn of events, however dark or
disappointing the outcome, can in some circuitous way be the raw material
for something that eventually surfaces with the sweetness of honey."
-Roger Housden
Selena on 01.18.05 @ 09:30 PM EST [link]
It’s January 15th and already I’m failing at my New Year’s resolutions.
I had resolved to eat healthy and exercise more. But yesterday I had cheese and Triscuits for breakfast, then snacked on goldfish and raisinets throughout the day. For dinner I started well, with a salad, but then followed it with a bowl of tomato soup then a plate of cheese nachos then hot chocolate for dessert. All in all - pretty bad.
Selena on 01.15.05 @ 09:33 AM EST [more..]
I’m reading a really great book on writing. It’s called Page After Page and is by Heather Sellers.
I bought it because it professes to be about how to “start writing and keep writing no matter what”. All writers want to learn that, right? I was hooked. Out came the visa check card.
Selena on 01.13.05 @ 10:15 AM EST [Page After Page">more..]
I am unreasonably glad to have today off. Just being able to sleep until I feel like getting up is heaven.
People think it’s weird that I’ve structured my work week so that instead of having the weekend off, my days off are usually one weekday and one weekend day. Also I almost never work five days in a row. I’ve found that I do better and my job feels less stressful if I split up my week into 3 and 2, or 4 and 1, ANYTHING but 5 days straight! (How do people do that?!)
Having a weekday off is great! I highly recommend it if you can swing it. It’s the perfect “errands and personal appointments” day because most people are at work.
I went to the mall last Saturday with a friend for lunch and shopping. As we walked around I kept thinking “Man, where did all these people come from?” I thought it was strange that it was so crowded. I mean, isn’t January supposed to be a slow time? Then I remembered that it was Saturday. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been out shopping on a weekend. A-ha. And that’s why I love a weekday off – no crowds.
Selena on 01.13.05 @ 09:32 AM EST [link]
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