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Are we there yet?

Remember those words? We all drove our parents mad with them on those long summer holiday car trips.

Well I’m back there. I’m a kid again and very excited. It’s like the car is loaded and on its way. At least from my backseat booster I can see the road ahead. I know that my final destination is getting closer. But I have no control over anything from this point on. I just have to wait.

So I ask, “Are we there yet?”
My mother would answer the same way. “We’ll be there, when we get there.” (I always loved that one!)

But she was right.
And her words echo in my mind today as I load my competition entries online so they can start their cyber journey to STALI and Selling Synopsis contest coordinators and judges.

Now comes the big wait for the results. Will I reach that ultimate destination?
I know I’m going to want to ask every day, “Are we there yet?” So pity help my partner at this time in my life.

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Happy Birthday Blog

Yep! It’s happy birthday to me.

I’m 49 today and very excited. Why? Because this is MY year. I can feel it (unless that’s just old age I’m feeling!) If it is old age, that’s okay, ’cause it feels pretty darn good.

What an amazing year of achievements (even if I do say so myself). Two mss finished, revised and finished again, three short stories, two 1 page synopses, two 3 page synopses, two query letters, an agent/publisher submission tracking database, a blog, (another blog/website), seven seperate entries over four RWA competitions (finalling once), two agent submissions out already.

Wow! No wonder I’m exhaused (unless it’s that old age thing happening again).

But this birthday toast is not about me. It’s about my very good Bootcamper and RWA friends who have inspired and encouraged me throughout the year. (As well as my partner – without whom there would be no ‘J’ in JennJMcLeod.)

So here’s to you all! If not for you I wouldn’t be nearly as excited about turning 49. I can’t wait for the next year to see what happens.

50 is going to be GREAT!

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Swings and Rollercoasters

To read or not to read – that is the ultimate writer conundrum.
You see, I’ve been told I’ll never be a great writer if I am not a great reader.
For me, however, reading novels when what I really want to be doing is writing them tends to play with my head.

People say this writing/publishing game is a rollercoaster. Well, rollercoaster it may be for those already on the ride, but for me, still waiting in the ticket queue, it’s more like a swing. I find that when I do read novels my mind swings between – “I can write better than that” and “I’ll never be as good as that.” One makes me want to attack that keyboard with gusto, the other makes me want to attack it with a baseball bat.

So, to read or not to read – that is the question.