Not Bad

I’m feeling pretty good today. I’ve officially completed 21,203 words of the 50,000 I need to complete by the end of the month. Fantastic. I’m 7800+ words ahead of schedule. Let’s just hope I don’t hit any walls in the next three weeks.

Meanwhile, I’ve gotten a little feedback on articles I sent out last month.

My parenting article, Weapon Worry, about the dilemma of whether or not to allow toy guns in your home was picked up by a couple of parenting publications in the midwest (hopefully coming out in December). But last week I got a message from the editor at Georgia Family Magazine. I’ll let you read the feedback yourself below, but it seems that I need to figure out how to add more “meat” to the article for some regions where guns in schools are a much bigger issue than in my school district.

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Hi Lorraine:

Is it enough that toy guns be brightly colored? At least 54 Bibb County school students and 28 Houston County students were disciplined during the past two years for bringing a real or toy gun into their schools. Both these counties are among the counties served by Georgia Family Magazine. We need an article on the subject, but we need one that has considerably more meat.

Thank you for your consideration.

 Regards,

Olya

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In my defense, my article didn’t just suggest that guns be brightly colored. It also suggested that each family come up with a routine plan to make sure toys guns don’t end up in school back packs, as well as provided links to parenting guides and childrens books about gun safety. But I feel flattered that she took the time to reply at all and see this feedback as positive. It seems to say that if I could figure out how to beef it up for their region, she might give it a look. I just haven’t decided if I’ll do that or not. At least not until NaNoWriMo is over.  The article took me three weeks to finish because I was so torn up about the subject matter. I’m not sure how long it would take me to make it even better.

I also heard back today from Women’s Adventure Magazine after waiting only about a month. Again, I’m flattered to hear back at all since that’s not always the case. But I was really hoping to hear that they wanted my piece right away. This isn’t exactly a rejection, but definitely not a sure thing. I’ll definitely figure out where else I can send my scorpion story.

Here’s the e-mail and thanks for reading!

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Hi Lorraine,

Thanks for the story. I’m not sure I’m able to use it in print, but it’s most appropriate for our summer issue, so I’m going to file it away and take another look as that time approaches. If I’m not able to use it in print, or we decide against it for some other reasons, I think it’s a funr ead and would consider using it online… but I’ll check back with you beforehand either way. Thanks again and have a great day.

-Kristy Holland

Write Away

I submitted a revised humorous personal essay this morning to Brain, Child about how the cell phone has changed mommy culture in the United States. It’s a great magazine and I’d be honored to appear there.

I also got a standard rejection letter from The Sun Magazine on my scorpion sting story this week. I’ll plan to revise it and submit it elsewhere, perhaps Outside Magazine or Women’s Adventure Magazine.

I’m really jazzed this week because one of my writing buddies from Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Conference, Kim Kircher, was offered contracts from both an agent and an editor in the last few days for her memoir, The Next Fifteen Minutes. She writes about how her exciting life as a ski patroller, EMT, and avalanche explosives expert helped her cope with her husband’s devastating liver cancer and transplant. She’s worked hard and I’m so excited for her as she takes this wilde 🙂 new ride. You can follow her blog (listed in my blogroll to the right) for details and updates. Way to go Kim!

I’m really enjoying my experience with Christina Katz Dream Team, an on-line and monthly conference call acocuntability group. We set and share our goals, and then check in on Facebook and the phone to see how we’ve done. Its and excellent motivator. It helped me reach and surpass my goals for last month. Very exciting.

Tomorrow, I’ll be checking out a weekly critique group to see if its right for me. I know I could benefit from some feedback on my work! Wish me luck.

Tell us what you did this week that got your closer to your goals, or what you’ve got in store for next week that will push you over the hump.

Thanks for reading,

Lorraine Wilde