Right About Time - Freaky Friday With Kim

In this blog, I've mentioned Kim Sabatini before - my wonderful writing friend and fellow SCBWI Shop-Talker, and founder of C'RAP (Children's w'Riters Always Procrastinate!), our sub-group of Shop Talk writers. She's not only a talentd writer of charming kids' picture books and young adult spiritual-fantasy novels, but she's an enthusiastic advocate of childrens' literature and an avid supporter of childrens' writers.

She writes a great blog, Jess Free Falcon, here at Blogger (www.kimberlysabatini.blogspot.com) and on LiveJournal (www.kimmiepoppins.livejournal.com), where she chronicles her writing progress, reviews books she's read, comments on her favorite childrens' authors, and tells stories about her family life.

She's also started a very cool weekly post, "Freaky Friday," where she interviews aspiring, rather than published, authors. As she describes, "If you've seen the movie Freaky Friday, you know that its premise is about change and growth through role reversal. ... I thought it would be intersting to interview aspiring writers; the same writers who spend lots of time reading the interviews of published authors and dreaming of the day when they might get their book on the shelves..."

So far, she's interviewed her friend Janine Lucas, a young adult novelist, who I met at SCBWI's Mid-Hudson Valley conference in June; fellow ShopTalker and C'rapper Dean Pacchiana, who is working on a series of young adult mysteries; young adult fantasy writer Jessie Harrell, who I met at SCBWI's NYC conference; and several writers she's met online through Facebook and Verla Kay's Blue Boards: Mike Jung, a writer of mid-grade books; Amy Spitzley, who's written five young adult fantasy novels; and Hilary Sierpinski, who has completed a mid-grade novel and has several others in the works.

In her interviews, Kim talks with the writers about their writing background; writing habits; current projects; and favorite inspiring books, among other things. She shows a window into the minds and lives of other writers, and I think that's very inspiring. I love meeting and befriending fellow writers, and I'm always interested in their writing interests, their process and their projects. Kim's "Freaky Friday" blog helps to widen her community of fellow writers, and gives readers a chance to find out more about them and their work.

This past week, I was honored to be Kim's interview subject! I've written several interviews in the past, with musicians and writers, when I was a journalism student, and as a contributor to a couple of local entertainment papers in the '90s. But this was the first time that someone interviewed me. It was fun and interesting, to talk about myself and my work "for the record."
Kim's interview with me can be found on her post dated Friday, September 25, 2009.

I really appreciate Kim's interest in my writing, and her friendship and support. She truly does as much to promote her friends' and peers' writing as she does her own. I'm looking forward to reading more of her "Freaky Friday" blogs and meeting and learning about other writers in her wide network.

Thanks, Kim!

www.kimberlysabatini.blogspot.com
www.kimmiepoppins.livejournal.com

Right About Time - Written in the Stars

I've always thought horoscopes were interesting, but I don't usually read mine every day. Most of the time, horoscopes are vague and general and can apply to anyone. But once in awhile, I come across a horoscope that seems to be written just for me.

Like the one in today's New York Daily News, written by Jennifer Angel:

"It's time to get serious, Sagittarius. The end of the year is almost here, and your goals and New Year's resolutions are up for reevaluation. Tick off what has been achieved, and what hasn't, taking into account what was realistic and what wasn't. Set new goals now for the remaining three months of the year, but make sure they're realistic and achievable."

Wow. A straightforward admonishment, that I really needed to read and contemplate. A wake-up call that the year is running out, and it's right about time to reevaluate my writing and focus on my writing goals.

I have achieved some of my writing goals so far this year. I took a step towards a more professional view of my writing, when I went with Kim S. to the SCBWI NYC conference in February. For that weekend, I got to see just how large-scaled the world of childrens/teen publishing really is. The big-time. And I was inspired to visualize my place in it.

I also went, with Michelle, to the local SCBWI Mid-Hudson Valley conference in June - our sixth one now. That helped keep the momentum of inspiration going through out the summer.

But what about the actual writing? At the beginning of the year, I planned to focus on two projects - my tween novel, What Luck, and my time-travel fantasy for adults - and to finish them both by the end of the year.

I'm still writing and rewriting What Luck, but haven't reached the end yet. I realized I need to restructure the plot to deepen the story for my main character, so I've been focused yet again on the first half of the book. I know how it develops and how it ends, and I've outlined it all. But I have yet to actually write out the ending.

As for my time-travel novel, I haven't done much more than an outline, character studies, and notes. I know I need to focus on one project at a time, and I've committed to finishing What Luck, but I also want to give the time-travel book more attention.

So, it is now realistic to still hope to finish both books by the end of the year? Probably not, since there's just over three months left, and the retail holiday season, which always eats up a lot of my time and energy, is fast approaching.

I seem to be in the same spot that I'm always in, at this point every year. With time running out on goals set with good intentions. Usually, it's around this time that I give up, and look to the new year to set the same goals again for myself, and hope that I finally get a chance to accomplish them.

But I need to break this cycle. I don't want to set my writing goals aside until next year. I feel the long shadow of time behind me, and I know that I can't count on unlimited time ahead. It's time now for accomplishments, not just dreams.

What Luck is in pretty good shape - I realistically think that I can finish the first draft by the end of the year, if I devote a lot of my time to it. I'll give as much of my free time as I can to the project. I'll keep in mind that the SCBWI NYC conference is coming up again in February - that should give me incentive.

I won't be able to do much with the time-travel novel in the next three months, but I can keep the story in the back of my mind, and continue to add to my notes when I can.

And if I start to get off track again, I'll remember today's message, that seemed to be written in the stars, just for me.