bec: the queen of submission

I'm like the queen of submission lately, so much so, that if I was in porn, that might be my alias. But alas, I am not in porn, well, not yet, and mostly because I don't have the time. Between writing and job applications and taking care of the kids and barely taking care of the house, well, I really just don't have the time. Because, as I've stated before, I'm just the queen of submissions. (As opposed to submissiveness, which, I guess I would have to practice for those fetish circles of which I'm not a part.)
Anyway, so I just submitted a piece entitled Women Infants Children to an anthology. I'm excited about it and I'm hoping it'll get it in but if it doesn't, I do know where I'd like to submit it next. I've never submitted to an anthology before so I'm pretty stoked. Sort of like in a Miss America way: "I know I didn't even make it to the science project competition because I missed on swimsuits, but it was such a great experience just being here!" (What do you mean, there is no science project competition?!!?)
As for "Reunion," which was submitted and accepted to The Chick Lit Review months ago, I am getting ready to shop it around elsewhere, as The Chick Lit Review closed just before publishing. The good thing is that it gave me the chance to review and revise and fix those tiny things I didn't catch months ago. The bad thing is having to start the process over. The good thing is that now my bio has more stuff, so maybe I can get it into a paying market. I really hope so. It will also mean having several stories out there right now, looking for homes.
Something interesting that I've found lately is that everything my professors said about writing is absolutely true. It's totally like a muscle that if you don't use, will totally atrophy. I've been writing excessively lately. Most of the stories I'm writing are for this short story collection I hope to be able to publish. At some point, I must have set an unofficial deadline that I'm working toward, although I'm not really sure when it is, just that I've got to get it all written.
As for my play, well, that's also on its way.
So, I apologize. You won't find me while window shopping in the Red Light District these days. This queen of submission will be submitting to you on paper only.

the black death. voted best disease of the 14th century one hundred years in a row!

So I've developed an unhealthy relationship with the Bubonic Plague. Yes, the plague. The Black Death. Yersinia pestis. Yes, that one. From the middle ages. The one that spread across Europe like the plague. Oh wait. It was the plague. Never mind.
I'm reading Ann Benson's book "The Plague Tales" and liking it immensely. As a student, I became obsessed with the plague but that was before the internet's arrival. Dare I say it was a good thing, otherwise I would have spent many a night researching it instead of studying or watching TV.... Anyway, I'm not yet done with the book, but aside from some slight details regarding the writing that only another writer would pick out, this book is excellent. There are two major plot lines going on, one taking place in the 1300s in Europa, the other set in the future, in England. Benson paints a frightening picture of a world that has been ruined by antibiotic resistant bugs and a complete depersonalization of the medical and related fields and what happens when the plague hits again. As a fan of the Black Death, I am finding this book to be incredibly goiterlicious.
As far as my own writing, I just finished the first draft of "Last Night." Definitely a difficult story to write, and one that I've been trying to write for years. Yes, this took a long time to develop into something I felt comfortable putting down on paper and it still needs some work. The one problem that I'm having is trying to make time to finish editing my play, apply for work, and continue working on the book I'm writing. I'm not complaining. I consider myself very lucky to have all of these writing projects going on and the creativity to sustain them.
Happy writing, folks.

the play's the thing....

It seems that every time I decided to blog, I also decide to write, and then the importance of the writing outweighs the desire to blog and the next thing I know, I'm engaging in total neglect and all I can think is that I'm glad this blog is not a child.... 

Anyway, it was just suggested to me that we get a lie detector to detect the lies of the kids in the house, but I'll have to decline as I wouldn't want it to be used on me. Not that I lie, but I mean, I write fiction. Technically, I lie all the time. I can't be trusted. I'm like a loaded gun, ready to lie at any time. I can lie on a moment's notice. If you were to ask me what it is that I'm thinking at any given second, there's a good chance that it's all lies. I think about lies that I've told, lies that I'm currently telling  and lies that I have yet to tell. I'm just a liar, waiting to lie.

So, I'm currently at the point of formally finishing my play. It's done, but I'm now editing for format, which would be much easier if I was using a program, but since I don't have one, I have to do it all manually. Yes, it's a pain in the butt. Yes, it's tedious. Yes, I've been putting it off for a while. However, in putting it off, it's given me the chance to write other things and get the play out of my head for a bit. So now, as I'm editing for format, I can read my play with a fresh perspective. You know what? It's hilarious. I actually caught myself laughing out loud. I still have more editing to go, and I'm also fixing minor problems that I come across in my rereading, and I finally have a title. It's exciting. To make things more exciting, I even called a playwright/director/producer/lyricist with whom I once did an intership, and he gave me some sage advice on getting my monster produced. I am going to follow his every word. It's good to be able to speak with someone in the industry and it's even better to have a plan and direction and drive....

I'm making it happen.

The only problem I can foresee with my play is that I have too many characters. I think that they  are all important, however, more characters make a play more expensive to produce. As I do this formatting edit, I'm able to discern what is and what isn't important. Hopefully, I'll be able to cut some corners, although the only thing that makes sense is having some minor characters played by the same people. At any rate, we'll see what happens.

I'm off to finish this edit and then I'll probably spend some time lying.