I was off from work yesterday, so I spent the day watching wall-to-wall TV news coverage of President Barack Obama's historic inauguration from the comfort of my couch. I sort of envied all the people who made the pilgrimage to Washington DC - they'll always be able to say they were there to witness this pivotal moment in time. But it was cold there - 26 degrees - and I don't do cold weather well, so I'm glad I could still view the occasion from home, with the heat turned up high. I felt chills at the moment when Obama took the oath of office, though the feeling of renewed hope warmed me as well. It's right about time for positive change to come to the U.S. and the world!
I did venture out in the cold for a moment, to the mailbox on our front steps. And I found a letter from SCBWI, confirming my registration for the NYC conference. I'd been feeling anxious that I didn't send in the registration in time, so I felt a warm rush of excitement as I ran back inside to call Ian to let him know that I got in. I emailed Kim last night to let her know, and she wrote me back with a big "WooHoo!" I'm sure we'll have a productive, informative, and fun weekend. It's right about time for me to take this step to help bring my writing to a higher, more professional level.
So I made it into the NYC conference, and the Obamas are in the White House. Yesterday was definitely a great day!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Right About Time - Creative Opportunities
I reached for a writing opportunity today – I sent out a registration for the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. I have attended the Mid-Hudson conferences for the past five years, and have always wanted to go to the NY conference, but I’ve felt it was beyond my grasp.
I feel pretty comfortable at the local conference – it’s held every June, and has been at the Best Western in Poughkeepsie for the past few years. It’s convenient – only about ten minutes away from home. It’s a comfortable size – usually a few hundred writers and illustrators, and about a dozen renowned professional authors, illustrators, editors and agents on the faculty. I go every year with my close friend and fellow writer, Michelle, and we always see several members of our local SCBWI Shop Talk group. It’s an all-day event, and though I usually feel a little tired at the end of the day, I also feel very inspired and motivated to keep on writing.
To me, the NYC conference seems like the “Big-time” in comparison. It’s a 2-day event, at the Grand Hyatt, near Grand Central Terminal, and I’ve heard that there can be about 800 writers and illustrators in attendance. And on the faculty, there are about twice the number of top-names in writing, illustrating and publishing as there are at the Mid-Hudson conference. It’s also more costly, given that it’s almost twice as long, and since it’s further away, transportation expenses need to be figured in. So although I’ve always been interested in going, I always put it off for sometime in the future, when I might feel more creatively and financially ready.
But I’ve decided that it’s right about time to give the conference a try, whether I feel “ready” or not. I’ve looked at the brochure over and over and it looks too good to pass up. I’m looking forward to hearing many of the speakers, especially Jay Asher, whose first YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, has won several honors and was one of the best books I read last year. There is also an opportunity to attend a session presented by an editor who made an impact on me when she was on the faculty of the local conference a couple of years ago. So I hope this conference will be just the thing I need to help me take my writing to a higher, more professional level.
I probably wouldn’t even be considering this if it wasn’t for my fellow YA writer friend and SCBWI member, Kim. She has been encouraging me to attend ever since the brochures came out some months ago. She went last year, and gave a great account of it, complete with pictures, at the following Shop Talk meeting. She has been working diligently at a YA paranormal fantasy novel and has a completed draft ready to start making the agent/editor rounds. I’ve read an earlier version, and I think it’s wonderful – very imaginative and inspiring. Her enthusiasm and optimism are infectious, and she’s fearlessly outgoing and sociable – much more of an extrovert than I am. So it will be great to tag along with her! She has also asked me to be her roommate at the hotel; I really appreciate that offer. So thanks, Kim – I’m sure it will be a fun, inspiring, productive and memorable weekend!
Ian also helped me decide to go to the conference. And I encouraged him to sign up for a regional photography portfolio review event, in February, at the Center for Photography in Woodstock. He will be able to meet one-on-one with at least five professionals in the local arts community – gallery owners, curators, magazine editors, and agents – to get feedback of his work. I think this is just the opportunity he needs to help bring his photography to the next professional level.
We talked about it over the weekend, and we both agreed that each New Year’s we make resolutions to take the steps to further our career goals in our creative work. We always take small steps – I have a sample manuscript critiqued at the local SCBWI conference each year, and Ian has participated in group shows at some of the local galleries. But each year, we still consider ourselves to be “aspiring” to attain our creative goals, and each year, those goals still seem just above our reach. I think that these two events will be big steps for us, and hopefully, they will bring us both closer to becoming professionals in our creative fields. And even though we have to re-appropriate some of our money to fund these events, I think it will be worth it. We can think of them as long-term investments.
I know Ian has been motivated to look over all of his recent photo projects, to pick the series that can best represent where he’s at in his photography right now. And I’ve been inspired to go back to my YA book, What Luck – I did some work on it this morning, before I had to work at the store. And now I feel motivated to write and re-write even more, and to see the book to its end. Hopefully, the NYC conference will be just the thing I need to help me get there.
I feel pretty comfortable at the local conference – it’s held every June, and has been at the Best Western in Poughkeepsie for the past few years. It’s convenient – only about ten minutes away from home. It’s a comfortable size – usually a few hundred writers and illustrators, and about a dozen renowned professional authors, illustrators, editors and agents on the faculty. I go every year with my close friend and fellow writer, Michelle, and we always see several members of our local SCBWI Shop Talk group. It’s an all-day event, and though I usually feel a little tired at the end of the day, I also feel very inspired and motivated to keep on writing.
To me, the NYC conference seems like the “Big-time” in comparison. It’s a 2-day event, at the Grand Hyatt, near Grand Central Terminal, and I’ve heard that there can be about 800 writers and illustrators in attendance. And on the faculty, there are about twice the number of top-names in writing, illustrating and publishing as there are at the Mid-Hudson conference. It’s also more costly, given that it’s almost twice as long, and since it’s further away, transportation expenses need to be figured in. So although I’ve always been interested in going, I always put it off for sometime in the future, when I might feel more creatively and financially ready.
But I’ve decided that it’s right about time to give the conference a try, whether I feel “ready” or not. I’ve looked at the brochure over and over and it looks too good to pass up. I’m looking forward to hearing many of the speakers, especially Jay Asher, whose first YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, has won several honors and was one of the best books I read last year. There is also an opportunity to attend a session presented by an editor who made an impact on me when she was on the faculty of the local conference a couple of years ago. So I hope this conference will be just the thing I need to help me take my writing to a higher, more professional level.
I probably wouldn’t even be considering this if it wasn’t for my fellow YA writer friend and SCBWI member, Kim. She has been encouraging me to attend ever since the brochures came out some months ago. She went last year, and gave a great account of it, complete with pictures, at the following Shop Talk meeting. She has been working diligently at a YA paranormal fantasy novel and has a completed draft ready to start making the agent/editor rounds. I’ve read an earlier version, and I think it’s wonderful – very imaginative and inspiring. Her enthusiasm and optimism are infectious, and she’s fearlessly outgoing and sociable – much more of an extrovert than I am. So it will be great to tag along with her! She has also asked me to be her roommate at the hotel; I really appreciate that offer. So thanks, Kim – I’m sure it will be a fun, inspiring, productive and memorable weekend!
Ian also helped me decide to go to the conference. And I encouraged him to sign up for a regional photography portfolio review event, in February, at the Center for Photography in Woodstock. He will be able to meet one-on-one with at least five professionals in the local arts community – gallery owners, curators, magazine editors, and agents – to get feedback of his work. I think this is just the opportunity he needs to help bring his photography to the next professional level.
We talked about it over the weekend, and we both agreed that each New Year’s we make resolutions to take the steps to further our career goals in our creative work. We always take small steps – I have a sample manuscript critiqued at the local SCBWI conference each year, and Ian has participated in group shows at some of the local galleries. But each year, we still consider ourselves to be “aspiring” to attain our creative goals, and each year, those goals still seem just above our reach. I think that these two events will be big steps for us, and hopefully, they will bring us both closer to becoming professionals in our creative fields. And even though we have to re-appropriate some of our money to fund these events, I think it will be worth it. We can think of them as long-term investments.
I know Ian has been motivated to look over all of his recent photo projects, to pick the series that can best represent where he’s at in his photography right now. And I’ve been inspired to go back to my YA book, What Luck – I did some work on it this morning, before I had to work at the store. And now I feel motivated to write and re-write even more, and to see the book to its end. Hopefully, the NYC conference will be just the thing I need to help me get there.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Rite About Time - New Year's Day
I began 2009 by listening to U2’s “New Year’s Day” – my first song of every new year for the past 25 years. Ian also joined in this rite – when I woke up, he’d already been up and had the track cued up on our stereo. It’s always been one of my favorite U2 songs – I love the driving beat, Edge’s ringing guitar and melodic piano lines, and Bono’s soaring vocals. We listened to it before breakfast, and then to the rest of U2’s “Best of 1980 – 1990” CD.
January 1, 1984 was the first time I played the song for the new year. I had just come home the night before, after living for three years in Boston. I had been a student at Northeastern University for three semesters, until my financial aid ran out. I stayed on for another year and a half, working jobs in retail stores and nightclubs, and for a music agency; and living in half a dozen apartments, first with a boyfriend, and then with different roommates. I’d hoped to save up money to go back to school, at least part-time, but I was actually just scraping by. My last roommate moved out suddenly in December ’83 (she’d met a guy and was staying at his place) and I didn’t have time to find a new roommate and couldn’t afford the rent on my own. So my parents and sister helped me move back on New Year’s Eve. I remember sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car, feeling dejected, already missing Boston and wanting to somehow get back there as soon as I could. The next day, I pulled out my vinyl copy of “War,” and set the stereo needle on “New Year’s Day” – the first song of the year. I thought of seeing U2’s amazing live show at the Orpheum Theatre, just months before. The song helped me to still feel connected to Boston and its music scene that I’d become a small part of. Listening to the lyrics, “I… I will begin again,” I felt like I could start over, too.
My 21-year-old self would probably be appalled that I never did move back to Boston. I was going to move back that summer, but my plans fell through. I still hoped to return, though, and played “New Year’s Day,” on January 1, ’85 as a motivator. But instead, I started over again back here in the Hudson Valley, hanging out with new friends at Berties, a club where the local music scene finally caught up to the big cities’. I worked at several different jobs and took classes at Dutchess Community College. As I started to feel rooted here, I slowly grew to appreciate living in the Hudson Valley again. And now it feels like home once more.
25 years later, U2 is still one of the biggest and most important bands in music. Their early songs seem just as relevant as their current hits. As a longtime fan, it’s been great to see them develop musically, socially and politically over the years, and to hear their influence on modern bands, like Coldplay and Keane. And at the start of each new year, I still play “New Year’s Day,” as a rite to usher in the year to come, and to focus on the possibility that “I… I will begin again.” But now I see it as more of an idea about the hope for renewal, on a personal and also global level, no matter what the odds may be. “New Year’s Day” will always be my first song of every new year.
January 1, 1984 was the first time I played the song for the new year. I had just come home the night before, after living for three years in Boston. I had been a student at Northeastern University for three semesters, until my financial aid ran out. I stayed on for another year and a half, working jobs in retail stores and nightclubs, and for a music agency; and living in half a dozen apartments, first with a boyfriend, and then with different roommates. I’d hoped to save up money to go back to school, at least part-time, but I was actually just scraping by. My last roommate moved out suddenly in December ’83 (she’d met a guy and was staying at his place) and I didn’t have time to find a new roommate and couldn’t afford the rent on my own. So my parents and sister helped me move back on New Year’s Eve. I remember sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car, feeling dejected, already missing Boston and wanting to somehow get back there as soon as I could. The next day, I pulled out my vinyl copy of “War,” and set the stereo needle on “New Year’s Day” – the first song of the year. I thought of seeing U2’s amazing live show at the Orpheum Theatre, just months before. The song helped me to still feel connected to Boston and its music scene that I’d become a small part of. Listening to the lyrics, “I… I will begin again,” I felt like I could start over, too.
My 21-year-old self would probably be appalled that I never did move back to Boston. I was going to move back that summer, but my plans fell through. I still hoped to return, though, and played “New Year’s Day,” on January 1, ’85 as a motivator. But instead, I started over again back here in the Hudson Valley, hanging out with new friends at Berties, a club where the local music scene finally caught up to the big cities’. I worked at several different jobs and took classes at Dutchess Community College. As I started to feel rooted here, I slowly grew to appreciate living in the Hudson Valley again. And now it feels like home once more.
25 years later, U2 is still one of the biggest and most important bands in music. Their early songs seem just as relevant as their current hits. As a longtime fan, it’s been great to see them develop musically, socially and politically over the years, and to hear their influence on modern bands, like Coldplay and Keane. And at the start of each new year, I still play “New Year’s Day,” as a rite to usher in the year to come, and to focus on the possibility that “I… I will begin again.” But now I see it as more of an idea about the hope for renewal, on a personal and also global level, no matter what the odds may be. “New Year’s Day” will always be my first song of every new year.
Third Blog is the Charm
It’s New Year’s Day, and one of my resolutions is to work more on my writing projects, and to put more of my writing out to the public, so I’m starting a new blog. It’s my third attempt at a blog, for the third year in a row.
My first blog, “Write to the Finish Line,” (www.writetothefinishline.blogspot.com) existed from January to August 2007, and focused on my effort to finish one of my many books-in-progress. I committed to writing a teen novel, What Luck, that I’d started in the fall of 2006, and I made some good progress on both the book and the blog. I got about halfway through my first draft, and I posted 27 blog entries, until computer problems derailed my writing. By the time my boyfriend Ian got a new computer, the holiday season had started at the bookstore where I work, and I had no free time to write until the new year. So in January 2008, I started a second blog, “Write to the End,” (www.writetotheend.blogspot.com), as a do-over of the first blog. But that blog fizzled out, after only 4 entries, at the end of March. I didn’t make much new progress on my book, either. My writing took a back seat to stuff that was happening in life.
So this is blog number three. And hopefully, the third time will be the charm, as the saying goes. This time, I’m opening it up so that the topic won’t be so narrow. Yes, it’s still about my endeavor to finish writing a book – it’s “right about time” for me to accomplish this goal. But I also want to “write about time”, a subject that fascinates me and has informed much of my writing and thoughts about life. And I’m interested in the “rites about time” – the rituals and observances people use to mark the passages of time and life.
Some basic info about me: I live in the Hudson Valley, NY, with my boyfriend, Ian, who manages a photo lab and is working on a career as a fine-art photographer. I’ve been writing ever since I learned to read and write, around age 5. I wrote my first full-length book, at 10 years old, as a fifth-grade writing project. Both my fifth and sixth teachers encouraged me in my writing, and it was easy to write for fun while imagining a career as a writer when I grew up. I studied journalism and communications at Northeastern University in Boston, and later got a 2-year professional certificate in journalism from New York University. But I haven’t pursued a career in journalism, because I realize that I’m a fiction writer at heart. I’m a member of SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) – its local chapter meets every month at the bookstore where I work. I’m in a writing group, the “Wildwood Writing Group,” with my close friends, Michelle, Rich and Lisa. They are excellent and creative writers, and our monthly meetings are always inspiring. I have two novels in the works now. My young adult novel, What Luck, is about a 13-year-old girl who relies on following her great-grandmother’s superstitions as a way to cope with all the uncertainties and changes in her life. I’ve also started an adult modern-fantasy novel, Crossed Currents, about a woman who meets up with her 20-years-younger self. I hope to finish both manuscripts by the end of this year. Hopefully, this blog will motivate me to reach these goals.
So here’s to a productive and successful 2009. Happy New Year, everyone!
My first blog, “Write to the Finish Line,” (www.writetothefinishline.blogspot.com) existed from January to August 2007, and focused on my effort to finish one of my many books-in-progress. I committed to writing a teen novel, What Luck, that I’d started in the fall of 2006, and I made some good progress on both the book and the blog. I got about halfway through my first draft, and I posted 27 blog entries, until computer problems derailed my writing. By the time my boyfriend Ian got a new computer, the holiday season had started at the bookstore where I work, and I had no free time to write until the new year. So in January 2008, I started a second blog, “Write to the End,” (www.writetotheend.blogspot.com), as a do-over of the first blog. But that blog fizzled out, after only 4 entries, at the end of March. I didn’t make much new progress on my book, either. My writing took a back seat to stuff that was happening in life.
So this is blog number three. And hopefully, the third time will be the charm, as the saying goes. This time, I’m opening it up so that the topic won’t be so narrow. Yes, it’s still about my endeavor to finish writing a book – it’s “right about time” for me to accomplish this goal. But I also want to “write about time”, a subject that fascinates me and has informed much of my writing and thoughts about life. And I’m interested in the “rites about time” – the rituals and observances people use to mark the passages of time and life.
Some basic info about me: I live in the Hudson Valley, NY, with my boyfriend, Ian, who manages a photo lab and is working on a career as a fine-art photographer. I’ve been writing ever since I learned to read and write, around age 5. I wrote my first full-length book, at 10 years old, as a fifth-grade writing project. Both my fifth and sixth teachers encouraged me in my writing, and it was easy to write for fun while imagining a career as a writer when I grew up. I studied journalism and communications at Northeastern University in Boston, and later got a 2-year professional certificate in journalism from New York University. But I haven’t pursued a career in journalism, because I realize that I’m a fiction writer at heart. I’m a member of SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) – its local chapter meets every month at the bookstore where I work. I’m in a writing group, the “Wildwood Writing Group,” with my close friends, Michelle, Rich and Lisa. They are excellent and creative writers, and our monthly meetings are always inspiring. I have two novels in the works now. My young adult novel, What Luck, is about a 13-year-old girl who relies on following her great-grandmother’s superstitions as a way to cope with all the uncertainties and changes in her life. I’ve also started an adult modern-fantasy novel, Crossed Currents, about a woman who meets up with her 20-years-younger self. I hope to finish both manuscripts by the end of this year. Hopefully, this blog will motivate me to reach these goals.
So here’s to a productive and successful 2009. Happy New Year, everyone!
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