Spring Cleaning

With the novel done (well, almost, almost), and with the snow finally melted, and with the baby not puking anymore, it is the time for spring cleaning. I'm inspired to declutter. I toss things out ruthlessly, but things do accumulate or rather shift around the house--this is the house of kids, after all. But this spring I'm more committed than ever, and I'm fighting moments of frustration and despair with the help of this blog.

Done with the revisions!

I even managed to have the cover page without a page number on it. In the New Word (aka the biggest PITA) there's no simple option of not displaying page numbers on the cover page. Instead, there's an add a cover page option, where it gives you a number of garish cover pages--thankfully, they are easy to edit.

This, of course, calls for a celebration. I wish I were in Iqaluit today, because there, according to my google page, is SPRING. While here in Halifax it is still very much winter. Forget the melted snowmen. My kids have been storing bags after bags of the "last snow" in the freezer.

"At the Foot of the Mountain"

I blogged about the process of writing this flash almost exactly two months ago. I am really happy to see it live in SLQ. If you click on the illustration you can see it in more detail--I love it!

I've never had a favourite flash before, but this one became a favourite. Maybe because I was so intently aware of its creation.

Final Revisions

Final revisons are completed--on paper. Now, page by page, I decipher my notes and transfer them into Word.

Now Halifax has everything I need

The store Olha's Ukrainian Foods offers less selection than the stores in Toronto, but satisfies my cravings just fine. I still call this "Russian food," out of habit, but the point is the same--this is the food of childhood celebrations. Food available (sometimes, if we were lucky) for New Year's Eve, or someone's birthday. Pickled red tomatoes, vegetable spreads, "syrki" (I introduce them as mini chocolate covered cheesecakes, only better, to my Canadian friends), zefir (like marshmallows, only better, way better)...Ah...I just ate way too much of good stuff.

A sure sign of spring

Mid-march revisions

I'm half way through my revisions. This week the tempo is slower--my 6 year old is attending almost daily early morning art classes, one hour away...The weather's nice, and I'm tempted to meet up with friends in Local Jo's. After two years in Iqaluit, a nice little organic cafe is a very necessary treat on the first days of spring. I'm also emotional--after this, the novel will be truly finished, and the next revisions will be with an agent or editor. No, I'm not "too confident", I'm only trying to remain optimistic. Which means I'm not optimistic, but I'm trying to stay positive and keep on writing.

This morning I took a walk by the Alderney Landing in Darthmouth. The sun was already warm, and the wind lost its yesterday's bite.

An empty spot on the kitchen counter

The betta fish we've been fish-sitting for the last 2 months is safely home with his owners. I'm glad and relieved he made it, and a little sad not to be able see his inquisitive little face.

God is everywhere. Leave a message.

You'll have to call long distance. You have about 6 months to do this. I first read about it in a local newspaper, and the number was listed. Now I can't find it in the on-line articles.

Read about the project here.

Still progress

Another 500 words, and some ideas on what scenes I still need. Yesterday I thought I was done adding scenes, but now I see that was a bit premature. I'm both excited with the new scenes and the information they provide, and worried that I might be making it all too contrived. I hope to know the difference when I finally print it out and read the whole novel on paper.

I just ordered 12 Russian books for my children to read from a store in Ottawa. I take pride in being the store's biggest shopper, at least I think I am. I still manage to read to the kids mostly in Russian, even if books in English are much more accessible, and much cheaper too. I, on the other hand, mostly read in English for pleasure. I can't justify spending so much money on myself.

More progress

Today I had to make myself to work on the revisions. I didn't want to. To be honest, I wanted to be done. I wanted to send it out. I wanted to be writing my current novel, which is in that exciting stage of being fresh and new, flowing and unexpected. I'm proud of myself for forcing myself to get back to "Swearing." The word count is probably around 200, but these were the most important words.

In the next days I'm going to read through the whole novel again, making sure everything is consistent with the new additions, and making corrections as I go. Then I'm going to polish the newly added segments, and then I'll be done for certain.

500!

Five hundred words today, and some other major developments. I realise now my changes won't take up as many words as I thought. What a relief.

In addition we also went to the pool, which in itself is quite an achievement. Not the swimming / splashing part, but getting dressed without anyone crying, whining, screaming, or complaining. Yes! A bus driver told me today, "Your hands are full," (Which is pretty much the only thing I hear when I'm out by myself with three kids. I respond with "Not as full as my heart."), and I replied, "Sometimes." I meant, of course, that sometimes they are a handful, but most of the time they are a joy. When we got off I realised he probably thought I was babysitting.

My neighbour told me today about the time change. I love our life--we haven't even noticed.

Oh nooooooo. Oh yes!

So you thought I finished my novel? I thought I finished my novel. Then, the day after reading and critiquing my friend's novel, I woke up knowing with certainty what I had to do to strengthen mine. This realisation scared me--I've considered my novel finished for the last several months. "Finishing" it wasn't a rushed decision. I workshopped it, rewrote, revised. It has been put away and revised again.

But I'm also exhilarated, because I think I'm right, and another revision is in order. I'm developing another story line!

I made a deal with the kids--unlimited play time in the morning; unlimited reading time in the evening. But in the middle of the day, while the little one naps, it is my working time. Today it worked out perfectly. I wrote 900 words. I made countless notes and comments. I'm making progress!

Here he is

82 Markets

March! I love this month. New beginnings. I haven't been submitting my short stories aggressively enough in the last year--new baby, new novel, a move cross country, another novel. I've been busy writing and living, and the little ugly aspect of actually submitting my work was on the back burner. This morning I went back to duotrope.com and hit my search criteria: literary fiction, short story, payment token and up, print publication, electronic submission, simultaneous submissions allowed. 82 markets.

I'm picky about where my short stories go. While there are great markets on-line for flash fiction, I still stubbornly think that short stories belong in print magazines. One reason for my bias--I think that flash is best suited for the Internet. Flash is easy to read on screen. But when I want to read a short story, I want an actual magazine in my hands. I want to be able to walk away from it and come back, without scrolling and going into my favourites. It is just a different feeling. Another reason--flash is infinitely more accessible on-line. I can send my links to my friends (and strangers); I can post them on my blog. I like how a flash piece becomes alive on the internet.

As for my short stories--I'll try a submission a day for the month of March.