Like a sleepy bear, I am emerging from my winter hibernation cave once again. I have not blogged for nearly two months and, although it may be a relatively short time, it feels like an eternity. Some of you may have noticed that I have disappeared for a longer stretch - this was because on the advice of a wise friend I chose to limit my viewing access from potential couplet thieves (see morning couplets). With that said, if any of you wish to be removed from my blog list, please let me know.
As with the start of every year, I am full of writing ideas and hoping for the stamina to see them all through. My first goal is to finish my novel manuscript (on draft #3, and counting) and ship it off to a literary agent by summer 2009. This is going to be a year of creation. I have a novel to complete, a novella to work on, poems to polish and send out (I received another rejection letter recently, but the rejection had a surprisingly encouraging tone), and short stories to ponder.
In my wildest of dreams, I am continuously scheming a way to either have a day job that I passionately love (publishing leaps to mind), or set myself up so that I can become a full-time writer at home (years in the making)! In the meantime, I aim to connect and reconnect with writing friends and groups. I know I can't do it all, and life/work balance is always a challenge, but this is my endeavour.
In the midst of the Christmas craziness and, well, work and home life in general, I have neglected my writing lately. I've been stealing away poetic couplets on post-it notes at work and journal when I have the time and energy, but I have to admit that the rest of the time I've been a slave to the great winter past-time: television (or the idiot box, if you prefer). However, I have been reading steadily, with a stack of books awaiting me. I also managed to pull off a few book reviews in the fall that can be viewed in The Pacific Rim Review of Books. The current issue isn't posted online, yet, but you can visit the site at: http://www.prrb.ca/.
In the end of November 2008, I attended my annual poetry retreat at Glenairely with Patrick Lane and a group of both familiar and new writers. We spent a glorious 4-day session wringing poems out of us that we weren't sure would come. They leaped forward with pure magic, along with our new found connections and stories. The space itself lends a certain kind of magic, one that is hard to imitate once we all find ourselves back at home in our own quiet writing spaces.
I intend to make good use of my writing space this year, for as long as I can; to embrace it unabashed and with full force. I am surrounded by shelves filled with imaginative words in this room from the living and dead. If these books can't talk to me, or if I can't find inspiration here... well, that would be the unthinkable.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment