I can’t believe another year (+ another month) has passed. I think this same exact fact every year. Yet, even though I know I’ll think the same thing next year, I’m always caught off guard each time I realize that a full 365 days have passed and we’ve entered yet another year. I mean, I still think the 90’s were just a few years ago.
This past year, in terms of my pursuit of a nascent career in writing, has been decent. I’m currently in a time of building & refining, distilling my style down to something that’s uniquely mine while at the same time trying to raise the quality of my writing. I know I have a long way to go before I can reach a point where I can say to myself, "Hey, you’re pretty darn good!" But, hey, everyone starts from somewhere.
I’m honored to have been featured in two fantastic publications, Still Points Arts Quarterly and a Siren’s Call anthology. However, I’ve received a fair amount of rejections to go along with my successes. Both states of success and failure are equally important in my life. Of course, I love to be published. What writer doesn’t? I love that I can share my views and stories with others, and I hope that they can bring pleasure (or, at least, thoughtfulness) into someone’s life. On the other hand, rejections are an important part of the refining process. I especially appreciate the rejections I’ve received that offer specific comments, so I can see my stories with new eyes and tweak them to bring out their own strengths. I love the learning process. Looking back at how my writing has progressed over the last few years makes me giddy, because I feel like it’s such a worthy pursuit.
I’m still working on my novels, of course. I’ve finished two, but they’re in coldsleep for now due to some fatal flaws I haven’t quite figured out how to fix. Perhaps, in the future, armed with the right techniques, I’ll resuscitate them and release them into the world. For now, I’ve begun a new novel which I’m quite excited about. I’ve developed the plotline so it works around any potential fatal flaws. We shall see what develops over the course of 2014.
Lately, I’ve realized how limited my time on the Earth is. Of course, I’ve always known humans don’t live much past 100 years old. I just never realized how quickly 100 years pass. I get my one chance at life, and I want that chance to be pretty darn amazing. That’s why my husband and I are currently travelling around the world. That’s why I’m seriously pursuing the things I love to do. That’s why I’m learning to be comfortable in the person I am and the person I’m meant to be. There’s no time for anything else.