Cozy in Whatcom County

When I was asked to develop ideas for indoor activities for visitors to my area, it was easy to come up with a list of my favorite places. Many of them I’d already written about. Independent film, live music, indoor climbing, performing arts, and pub crawls are just a few of the options. Check out my Bellingham Experience Insider blog, 5 Ways to Stay Warm and Active in Bellingham this Winter, soon to plan your next visit to the Bellingham and Whatcom County area. One look and you’ll see why I chose this place to call home.

When winter is keeping you inside, there are a lot of options for cozy fun.

 

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Name the Subject. I’m In.

Jenn Sewell, owner of Run Those Dogs, and her dog, Lilo.

I love being a writer. I get to be creative, express myself, share my voice and thoughts with the world. Yes, it sometimes feels like talking into the void, that I’m just a stream in the Matrix, but it brings me joy. I wish everyone could do what they love. Perhaps there would be a lot less hate, anguish, and anxiety in the world?

I’ve been expanding my business, Wilde World Communications lately, dedicating myself to it full time and loving it. In addition to creating social media content, press releases, and simple web sites, I’m also blogging to help small businesses and organizations be seen, be heard, be discovered and appreciated by new customers. I’m helping them stand out from the other streams in the Matrix.

Snohomish County’s Run Those Dogs is a new client I’m excited to be working with. Owner Jenn Sewell and I will be developing blog content for her site to help her find new customers and connect with colleagues. When she asked me to write about using hemp seed oil in pet care, it didn’t matter to me that I hadn’t used it before. She had used it for her dog Lilo, and I was excited to learn more in order to share her story.

Please head over and read my blog post and be sure to like her page on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Writing Contests

If you remember, this winter I entered my first writing contest, the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Contest. I was dissappointed yesterday when I received the news that I was not a finalist in the contest, which was one of my goals, but another goal was to get feedback from the judges. My scores were high, which makes me think I had some strong competition, and the feedback was very positive. It makes me feel good to know that there are some very specific, minor aspects of my work that can be tweeked, and now I have additional direction on how to hone the work.

The critiques that we received along with our scores included some positive comments. One reviewer gave me a 10/10 for narration. His/her comment was “loved the narrator,” and I received highest scores in mechanics, facts, dailogue, and setting. Perhaps next year I’ll try again with work in another category, or I’ll try another contest, as there are many.

Criticism can feel like rejection if we let it, but instead, I’m going to use it like a checklist on how to make the work better than ever.

Year End Inventory

One of my writing mentors, Christina Katz suggests cataloging your accomplishments before setting goals for the new year. Give this a try before setting your New Year’s Resolutions.

Here are my writing-related accomplishments during 2010:

• I published 10 articles in local and regional publications
• I have 12 articles already written that can be circulated as reprints and published elsewhere
• I took two classes: Writing & Publihing the Short Stuff and the Dream Team
• I completed edits for a personal essay, Finding My Way, that will be published in the anthology, Bless Your Heart, due out in Fall 2011
• I wrote ~70,000 words of my memoir, and polished about 10,000 more
• I blogged at least 3 times a month right here on my own blog all year long and converted my old blog to WordPress (highly recommend it)
• I joined my county writers and publishers group, Whatcom Writers and Publishers, and attended two meetings
• I joined a critique group and connected with at least 4 other writers in my town. Some of them are in my blog roll to the right.
• I opened a separate bank account to hold earnings from writing
• I started telling people that I’m a writer when they ask what I do
• I narrowed down the kind of writing I’d like to do in the future to two niches: assisted reproduction and environmental conservation & toxicology

I’m sure there are a couple that I missed but that feels like a lot of success for one year.

Looking ahead, I came up with these goals for 2011. Please let me know if you would like to help me acheive any of these aspirations.

• Publish more than ten articles this year, hopefully at least one will be in a national publication
• Finish the draft of my memoir and revise it until I am satisfied, and then submit my proposal to at least 10 more agents
• Earn some money writing this year
• Increase my blog readership, and explore blogging strategies, such as guest blogging
• Consider taking a personal essay class and/or a class on platform development
• Start publishing small stuff in my newer niche: environmental conservation & toxicology
• Attend two conferences this year, Pacific Northwest Writers Association meeting and Chuckanut Writer’s Conference
• Meet and get to know the owners of my local book store, Chuck and Dee Robinson at Village Books
• Publish a personal essay or short story in an anthology—I’ll check out Chicken Soup for the Soul, Cup of Comfort through Adams Media, and Seal Press

I hope that your year has been as productive and rewarding as mine and that you will achieve any goal you attack in 2011.

Happy Holidays!

Lorraine Wilde