NEWS
2023
2020
Nov. 18--This afternoon I sent submission #16 for the year. That exceeds my 2020 goal of 12. This makes me happy.
Oct. 20--Despite a day that seemed to conspire to divert me from doing any writing, I refocused my attention, redirected my efforts and sent out two more submissions. That makes submissions Nos. 14 and 15. That's three more than my goal for 2020.
Oct. 1--In July I met my submission goal for 2020. Today I exceeded it with my 13th submission, this one being a stand-alone excerpt from the novel I'm working on.
July 15--I met my Writing Goal of 12 submissions in 2020 this evening. I intentionally made it an achievable goal and will likely continue submitting manuscripts through until the end of the year, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless.
June 30--Submission No. 11 went out today. One more submission in the next six months and I will have met my goal for the year, but I'm pretty sure I'll exceed the goal.
June 10--Just sent submission No. 10 for the year. I'm two away from my 2020 goal.
June 3--Today is not only my birthday but publication day for my short story "A Scent Like Daphne" at fresh.ink. Here is a link: https://fresh.ink/magazine/8150
May 20--Today I sent submission No. 9 for the year. I'm closing in on the goal of 12 for the year 2020.
April 14--I just sent out submission No. 8 for the year. Four more submissions by the end of the year and I will meet my 2020 submission goal.
April 2--I just finished a submission ... after I had finished another submission ... which was after I had finished another submission. Yep. I sent out three, Nos. 5, 6 and 7 for the year. My goal is 12 this year, so I'm well ahead of schedule and hope to exceed it.
March 31--I just submitted a short story for consideration. That is No. 4 for the year, just a tad ahead of my one-per-month goal. The day has been good, and it's not over yet.
March 21--I'm late in posting this here, but I was notified that I re-sold my short story “A Scent Like Daphne.” It has been selected to be published at fresh.ink, a literary website that specializes in reprinting works. Earlier this week, I filled out a digital form for the publisher and signed the digital contract. Can't wait for it to go live.
March 10--Tonight I sent out my third submission for the year. I'm keeping up with my goal of sending out at least one submission per month in 2020.
Feb. 25--Keeping up with my writing goal of at least one submission per month in 2020, I just sent out my second submission this year.
Jan. 27--First goal of 2020 met: I completed my submission for the month. Otherwise, my semi-hermit writing mode continues, and so far it's going well. I have worked on my new novel while still maintaining the other important aspects of my writing, including reading and marketing. Though I still socialize during my semi-hermit mode, I've decreased such activity in order to maintain a writing work schedule of about 30 hours a week. So far, so good.
2022
2021
March 15--Submissions No. 13, 14 & 15 for 2023 went out today!
March 8--And just like that Submission No. 12 for 2023 went out just before midnight. I have officially met my annual goal.
March 7--Submissions No. 10 & 11 for 2023 went out this afternoon. One more submission, and I will meet my 2023 goal. Anything more will be icing on the cake. Mmm ... cake ...
March 3--Despite nearly being whisked off to Oz by relentless high winds today, I managed to send Submission No. 9 for 2023.
March 2--I sent Submission No. 8, getting it done in the eleventh hour. Four more and I will meet my goal for the year.
March 1--Submissions No. 5, 6 & 7 for 2023 went out today. I decided I needed to start making up for the 11 submissions I had to withdraw due to selling the short story that was a simultaneous submission to those 11 markets. I don't mind the trade-off one bit.
Feb. 27--I received an acceptance on one of my short stories today! "Dead Brown Boys" is slated to be published by ellipsis ... literature & art.
Feb. 21--Submission No. 4 for 2023 is in the books.
Feb. 7--Submission No. 3 for 2023 went out this afternoon.
Jan. 11--Submission No. 2 for 2023 went out this afternoon. This is a good start for the year.
Jan. 6--I sent my first submission of 2023 this afternoon.
Dec. 28--I just sent Submission No. 54 for 2022. Seeing as my goal for the year was 12 submissions and I managed to send more than the equivalent of one per week, I'm pretty happy.
Dec. 27--I guess I'm not done with submissions in 2022, even though I hit 52 this month and my goal for the year was 12. I sent Submission No. 53 this afternoon.
Dec. 20--Woo hoo! Just got word a poem of mine will be published in a forthcoming issue of Blue Unicorn
Dec. 15--At the first of this month I hit quadruple my goal of 12 submissions for this year, reaching a total of 48 submissions. Saturday I sent submission No. 49. Wednesday night and just after midnight this morning I sent submissions No. 50, 51 and 52, making my efforts the equivalent of one submission per week for the entire year.
Dec. 1--I reached quadruple my goal for 2022. Submission No. 48 went out today.
Nov. 30--Not long after midnight today I sent Submission No. 47 for 2022.
Nov. 14--Submission No. 46 for 2022 sent!
Nov. 9--Submission No. 45 for 2022 went out tonight. Now that 48 -- or quadruple my original goal -- is in my sights, I hope to hit that mark. But I won't be disappointed if I don't reach it, because, after all, I more than tripled my goal for 2022.
Nov. 8--Today I sent out Submission No. 44 for 2022. Well past my goal of 12!
Oct. 20--Submission No. 43 for 2022 went out today.
Oct. 11--Apparently I was not done submitting. Submission No. 42 for 2022 went out shortly after midnight this morning.
Oct. 10--Submissions No. 40 and 41 for 2022 have been sent.
Oct. 3--Tonight I sent Submissions No. 38 & No. 39 for 2022. It was a great way to wind down a productive work day. For my multi-generational family saga novel, I noticed I was closing in on 65,000 words, so I made it my goal to hit that word count. I finished at 65,044.
Sept 21--I sent out Submission No. 37 for 2022 today. I wasn't expecting to submit anything today, but sometimes you luck into opportunities.
Sept. 15--I sent Submission No. 36 for 2022 this afternoon. I have officially tripled my goal for the year.
Sept. 9--Not one but two more submissions went out today: Submission No. 34 and No. 35 for 2022. One more and I will have tripled my goal.
Sept. 8--On a roll: Submission No. 33 for 2022 is in the books.
Sept. 7--Submission No. 32 for 2022 went out tonight.
Aug. 31--I sent Submission No. 31 for 2022 this evening.
Aug. 10--Submission No. 30 for 2022 went out tonight.
July 20--Very early this morning (like, between midnight and 1 a.m.!) Submission No. 29 for 2022 went out.
July 12--Submission No. 28 for 2022 just went out.
July 3--Sent Submission No. 27 for 2022.
July 2--Submission No. 26 for 2022 has been sent.
June 29--Submission No. 25 for 2022 went out tonight.
June 16--I doubled my submission goal for 2022 a few minutes ago by sending Submission No. 24.
June 10--Submission No. 23 for 2022 just went out.
June 6--Submission No. 22 for 2022 went out late this afternoon! I'm really getting used to this!
May 25--Submission No. 21 for 2022 went out just a little while ago. This was a special accomplishment as events of the day knocked me off course and required me to put my submission process on hold. But I picked it back up and got it done. Ha! Take that unplanned diversions!
May 10--I sent Submission No. 20 for 2022 late this afternoon.
April 28--Submission No. 19 for 2022 went out very early this morning, like, not long after midnight. I wasn't expecting to do another submission, but when opportunity knocks ...
April 25--About 10 p.m. I sent Submission No. 18 for 2022.
April 21--Submission No. 17 for the year went out just after midnight.
March 31--Yep. Another one. Submission No. 16 for the year went out a few minutes ago. Also, I got in my writing word count goal for the day, so it has been a good day.
March 30--This afternoon I sent Submission No. 15 for the year.
March 21--Submission No. 14 for the year sent.
March 15--The trend continues: I sent Submission No. 13 this afternoon.
March 11--It's official: I've met my submission goal for 2022. Submissions Nos. 11 and 12 went out today.
March 9--I have definitely been in submission mode lately, but I have not ignored my writing either. Submissions Nos. 8, 9 and 10 went out today. Two more and I will meet my goal for the entire year of 2022.
March 7--Today I sent submissions Nos. 5, 6 and 7 for the year. Woo hoo!
March 5--I just sent submission No. 4 for the year.
March 3--I just sent submission No. 3 for the year. Though I'm on track to meet my goal of 12 for the year, I'm not doing as well as last year when I had more than twice as many sent out by now. But I'm OK with it as long as I meet my goal.
Feb. 23--I just sent submission No. 2 for 2022. I'm on track for my goal of one per month, but I still hope to exceed that goal before the end of the year.
Jan. 12--Less than two weeks into the new year and already it has been promising for my writing work. I just sent my first submission for 2022. Like last year, I have set my goal to 12 submissions. Also, my daily word count for Part 1 of my novel has reached a consistent new level that is higher than any day last year for the same section. So far 2022 has been a great year for my writing work.
Dec. 22--It's official: I sent Submission No. 48 for 2021, quadrupling my goal for this year.
Dec. 21--I sent out Submission No. 47 for 2021. If I manage to send in one more before the new year I will have quadrupled my goal of 12 submissions in 2021. I feel like I have to make it happen!
Nov. 30--Submission No. 46 for 2021 sent this morning. Yes, quadrupling my goal of 12 submissions in 2021 is a real possibility.
Nov. 23--I just sent Submissions No. 44 and 45 for 2021.
Nov. 17--This afternoon I sent out Submissions No. 41, 42 and 43.
Nov. 2--I just sent another submission. It is actually submission No. 40 for 2021 since I realized I hadn't counted the non-fiction submission I pitched and successfully sold. Considering my goal was 12 submissions in 2021, this makes me happy.
Oct. 21--Submission No. 38 for 2021 sent this afternoon.
Oct. 18--I sent submission No. 37 for 2021 this afternoon. I'm not sure how many more submissions I'll send this year, but since I hit my goal of 12 for 2021, it's all icing on the cake at this point. Mmm ... cake ...
Oct. 7--It's official: I just sent submission No. 36, tripling my goal for the year.
Sept. 24--Today I received word that I sold my article proposal and will be publishing it soon! Additionally, I sent submission No. 35 today. One more submission and I will have tripled my goal for 2021.
Sept. 16--In keeping with the trend ... Submission No. 34 for 2021 has been sent.
Sept. 15--Another good day. Submission No. 33 sent.
Sept. 14--Submission No. 32 sent. It is a good day!
Sept. 10--Sent Submission No. 31 a few minutes ago. I might end up tripling my 2021 goal of 12 for the year at this rate.
Sept. 4--I just sent Submission No. 30 for the year. I'll be much more excited about it after a bit of shut eye.
Sept. 1--And, just like that, Submission No. 29 went out today!
Aug. 31--Submission No. 28 sent.
Aug. 23--Submission No. 27 went out just before midnight.
Aug. 20--Submission No. 26 sent. That means I hit the point at which, even if I send no other submissions in 2021, I will have averaged a submission every two weeks. Not that I'm thinking of stopping ...
Aug. 18--I just sent Submission No. 25 for 2021!
Aug. 13--Yes! Submission No. 24 sent! I believe I owe myself a variety of tasty baked goods.
Aug. 11--I sent submission No. 23 for 2021 late this afternoon. One more and I will have doubled this year's goal. Then I think I deserve cake. Or doughnuts. Or both!
July 28--I sent out submission No. 22 for the year. A couple more and I will have doubled my goal.
July 7--Another submission sent. That makes 21 for '21. Fitting.
July 6--I sent submission No. 20 for 2021 just a few minutes ago. My goal had been 12 submissions in 2021, which I knew was not only attainable but which would provide impetus to exceed once completed. As expected, that has been the case.
June 30--I have sent submission No. 19 for 2021.
June 28--Submission No. 18 for 2021 went out today.
June 25--I sent submission No. 17 for 2021, and I have my sights on a couple of more possibilities. This is turning out to be a pretty good year for submitting.
June 8--I sent submission No. 16 for 2021 this afternoon. I might have to celebrate with ice cream cake.
May 21--Submission No. 15 for the year sent.
May 20--Just after midnight, I sent another submission, making that 13 for 2021. Then just before noon, I sent submission No. 14. I have officially exceeded my goal and will continue to seek markets for my work.
April 29--The past two weeks have been busy. I had a live virtual reading as part of The Heartland Review Press Literary Reading Series on April 22. Then, tonight, a video premiered which I was part of. I collaborated with The Hardin County Public Library for the second year in a row to present a roster of local authors to read poetry for National Poetry Month. Additionally, today I sent submission No. 12, completing my goal for 2021. I plan to continue submitting, of course.
April 20--The news on the deleted files got better throughout today. First, when I reviewed what the IT guy recovered, I had at least some version of most of my novel writing. Then, on a hunch, I checked a flash drive (you see, when I deleted the files by accident, I was in the process of backing up files to my external hard drive and was surprised I didn't have a copy of my writing work there already) and discovered I had, indeed, saved my Master Folder with my writing work up to March 19, 2020! It contains a lot of my other writing not recovered, like my short stories set in the same town and poetry. There is still material I wrote between then and now that is lost and other non-writing material, but the amount of writing material I lost has shrunk! Thanks for all the good vibes!
April 19--So here is an update on the files I inadvertently deleted last week including my writing work of the last three years:
I just heard from the IT guy working on my laptop to recover my files. He said they recovered most of the files including the folder of my writing work, but the files might not be the most recent versions. Obviously, he is not familiar with all the folders, so he can't be sure all folders are there, but he believes most are.
At any rate, this is pretty good news. It looks promising. I will pick up my laptop tomorrow. Thanks for the good vibes and keep them coming.
April 16--Tuesday morning I inadvertently deleted all my writing work I've done for the past three years. I also deleted the majority of various files I had saved in numerous sub-folders within a master folder. It was complete user error; I deleted the contents of one folder believing I was deleting the contents of another that I had just backed up, emptying the recycle bin. Ironically, I was going to back up that master folder with my writing work next. That's when I discovered my error. I spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday doing what I could to recover the files with very little luck. Thursday morning I took my laptop and external hard drive to an IT company to see if they could recover my work. I do have some portions of some of my work on an old laptop and on a flashdrive and can get copies of a couple of novel chapters I've submitted, but I have lost much of it. As you can imagine, I am pretty despondent about the whole thing, as is Becca, but I've tried to distract myself, and I wasn't ready to verbalize it for a few days. It literally made me sick to my stomach when it happened, but I can't blame technology because it was all on me, which makes it even more upsetting.
This morning the IT guy called to say they found files and are optimistic but still couldn't guarantee success because they have yet to determine whether or not the files are intact and not corrupted. They will be working on it and don't think they'll know the final outcome until Monday or later.
So I'm in a holding pattern, trying to keep myself from focusing too hard on things I can't change. Instead I'm focusing on other work and occasionally thinking of options for my continued writing life, whatever that might be. What I know for sure is that my writing life will continue. There is never a question about that.
In the meantime, I'm asking for positive thoughts and good vibes from anyone who cares to send them for the best outcome possible in the recovery of my writing. Thanks for hanging in there to the end of this long post, and thanks for the good vibes and thoughts.
April 5--Submission No. 11 has been sent.
March 17--I sent Submission No. 10 for the year just a few minutes ago, closing in on my goal of 12 submissions in 2021.
March 11--Just before noon I sent submission No. 9 for the year, edging closer to my goal of 12 submissions in 2021.
March 10--I sent out submission No. 8 for the year early this morning.
Feb. 24--I have sent submissions No. 6 and No. 7 for the year, edging closer to my goal of 12 for 2021, and I hope to exceed it. Though some have suggested I increase my goal because I seem to easily meet it, I plan to keep it at this level because the purpose isn't to challenge myself. The goal is to motivate myself through achievement while still completing a reasonable number of submissions.
Feb. 13--I continue to submit my work to meet my goal of 12 submissions in 2021. Today I sent submission No. 5 for the year.
Feb. 10--Just after noon I sent out Submission No. 4 for the year.
Feb. 1--I just sent Submission No. 3 for the year. I'm well on my way to my goal of 12 submissions in 2021.
Jan. 27--Submission No. 2 went out today.
Jan. 26--The first submission of 2021 went out today. My goal is 12 for the year.