A writing and reading frenzy
Probably sparked by the 24-hour short story contest I entered last weekend, I became Obsessive Writer Woman in the past day! Last night I checked the web site of The First Line, a literary magazine I was published in four years ago. They have story submission deadlines on a quarterly basis, and each quarter's submissions must start with the same first line. The line for this quarter's submission period was, "Roy owned the only drive-thru funeral business in Maine." The submission deadline was today.
Even though I only thought of this last night, I decided to try writing a story to submit. And then I wrote two! I'm not sure my stories written in a day can compete with stories people may have worked on for a while...I definitely would have preferred more time to develop them. But I tend to write in bursts anyway, and sometimes do my best work under pressure. In any case, the creative surge was energizing, and I like a lot about both stories. I submitted both, so here's hoping for the best!
Oh, and I read a lot yesterday, too. I read E. Lockhart's novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, all in one day. It took me a little while to get into, with its formal, omniscient point of view that's rare in contemporary YA, but it turned out to be quite thought-provoking, and I think E. Lockhart always creates very real, well-drawn characters and situations. I'm not sure I mentioned here I also read
jenniferziegler's two published novels recently, Alpha Dog and How NOT to Be Popular, but I did and both were fun reads--I recommend them! (I also read part of her unpublished novel, but poor you, you'll have to wait for that one!)
Even though I only thought of this last night, I decided to try writing a story to submit. And then I wrote two! I'm not sure my stories written in a day can compete with stories people may have worked on for a while...I definitely would have preferred more time to develop them. But I tend to write in bursts anyway, and sometimes do my best work under pressure. In any case, the creative surge was energizing, and I like a lot about both stories. I submitted both, so here's hoping for the best!
Oh, and I read a lot yesterday, too. I read E. Lockhart's novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, all in one day. It took me a little while to get into, with its formal, omniscient point of view that's rare in contemporary YA, but it turned out to be quite thought-provoking, and I think E. Lockhart always creates very real, well-drawn characters and situations. I'm not sure I mentioned here I also read
jenniferziegler's two published novels recently, Alpha Dog and How NOT to Be Popular, but I did and both were fun reads--I recommend them! (I also read part of her unpublished novel, but poor you, you'll have to wait for that one!)