Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I'm not dead yet!

I was going to link to the original Monty Python movie clip ("I'm not dead yet, I feel fine!") but then discovered that SPAMALOT had an entire "not dead yet" musical number. Enjoy!

I would like to apologize to my readers for simply disappearing for over a month. But sometimes the in-real-life issues just have to take priority.

Here's what's going on:

I've closed my Twitter account for now. Maybe I'll come back, but it was a time suck I just couldn't handle. Twitter's like a cocktail party -- if something funny happens, you really have to have been there at that moment because everything moves so fast that there's no real way to explain it or participate in the joke after the fact. Which means I felt a need to be online at all times so I wouldn't miss those awesome moments. Also, if you're feeling down, and you go to a cocktail party looking for your friends, and they're not there or they're all talking with other people, that's super-depressing, right? The same thing can happen on Twitter. Sometimes it's a delightfully social experience, and sometimes it's oddly isolating. I need to free myself from all of that right now.

At the end of last year I did another round of edits on my first novel. I'm never sure how much of this kind of thing I should put online in the public eye, but let's just say that these edits were guided by the advice of an industry professional and her assistant. These women are super awesome and even if this doesn't end up leading to representation, I'm incredibly grateful for the time and energy they have given me. LADIES, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. YOU ROCK AND I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU.

I'm submitting my short stories to various literary magazines. No new publication credits yet, but I got a personal rejection with a request to submit again from a very prestigious magazine that's basically my "dream market." Squee! Now I just have to write another piece that suits their submission guidelines. Dang.

I'm still doing the show notes for Mur Lafferty's I Should Be Writing podcast. I even called in to the show with a question of my own (see Feedback Episode #180).

Special thanks to my internet friends who've checked in on me during my mysterious internet absence: Patty Blount, Harley May, The Rejectionist, and Maine Character.

I hope to once again start blogging on a semi-regular basis, but my family life and fiction writing have to come first. I'm still trying to figure out the right balance. Once again, I hope you'll hang in there with me.

11 comments:

  1. I got lucky when a friend gave me a ticket to a traveling production of Spamalot. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I'm not dead yet, either. Good to see you around--whenever.

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  2. Sounds to me like you're doing exactly what you need to. Find that balance and stick with it.

    Thanks for checking in, and congrats on the request to submit again!

    There were only two things without which I couldn’t live: mother my children and write books. Then I cut out everything that didn’t have to do with those two things.
    - Toni Morrison

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  3. Thanks for the lovely entertainment this AM. LOVE Spamalot.

    Write away. We'll be here when you get back. I'm a great believer in taking regular breaks from social media. It can be such a huge time-suck.

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  4. Congratulations!Sometimes you just have to pull back. See you around.

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  5. Huzzah! Thanks for letting us know. Go ahead and stay off the nets. You can be an inspiration to me, who hasn't figured out how to do that yet.

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  6. Welcome back!

    I'd be interested in hearing more about your whole novel editing process, if you ever have the time or inclination to blog about it!

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  7. Carrie!! So good to see you back. I had been concerned and didn't know if I should send you an email or what. I've been watching your space on my sidebar waiting for you to post something and finally you are back and I am happy that you are.
    Hope everything is coming together for your writing. Sounds like it is. I'll be watching for the good news.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  8. Yay you and all that you are!

    You're a precious thing, Carrie.

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  9. I feel you on the need to have writing and family come first, darlin'. Well...I don't mean *literally* feel you. that would be creepy. I...oh, never mind.

    Never apologize for doing the important things first. That is all.

    (P.S. Yay for personalized rejections from dream markets!)

    (P.P.S. Yeah, okay, when I said "that is all" the first time, apparently I wasn't serious. This is really all.)

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  10. Wise choices. I think we all need to unplug and take a step back sometimes.

    I'm intrigued by your "dream market." Maybe when you come back you could do a post on it? I'd love to read a bit more about other short story writers and where they are submitting.

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  11. Just stopping by to say "hi" and wish you well!

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