What a Week!

It's been a good week. The kind of week that sets you spinning somewhat off kilter -you know, where you have to take a moment to hang on, regain your bearings and catch your breath. In a good way.

Remember my "Just Do It" resolution for this year? This is the week I jumped in head first. I now attend a new writer's group. It's small -just three of us. We all write middle grade and young adult novels. We plan to meet every two to three weeks, and we each get up to 40-45 minutes to share and be critiqued. We can ask for whatever we need - brainstorming, plotting, line edits, constructive criticism, etc.  It will be a nice complement to my other writer's group. Between the two, I'll have three meetings a month. That will require me to write on a deadline. I'll need the practice and the accountability because....

I got accepted to Patti Lee Gauch's HEART OF THE NOVEL workshop in Honesdale!


I'm just a little excited about it. *Can't wipe grin off face*  The workshop is divided into two sessions. The first meets for four days in May. We'll look at what makes a novel come alive, then we'll begin a novel, making certain it has the right characters, an original idea, and a solid story line. We'll set writing goals before we leave in May for Part II, which meets in October. I can't wait to get there! In the meantime, I'm plotting, creating character sketches, and researching, researching, researching.

It's a bit scary to me to commit to writing a complete draft in five months. I've not had to write to a deadline - not like this anyway. But I figure if I can do this, I can handle an editor's deadlines someday. Right? Here's hoping!