Submission Block

I once wrote an article for Writer's Journal called Submission Block because I knew a gal who had written over twelve complete manuscripts, meaning she'd written them, revised them, been critiqued on them and then re-revised them, and she'd never submitted one.

But, if you don't submit, you'll never get published...

And today I was reading an Awesome blog post about the same thing...sort of. It talks about how we, writers, sometimes end up counting the wrong things--like rejections. Instead, I think we need to think of those rejections as proof that we putting our words out there. We're taking the chance, a leap of faith that someone out there will understand us. And that is success within itself. We are living the dream or daring to "just do it" whether or not anyone ever puts our words to press, we have done all that we can do to make the dream a reality. And, what more can a person (or writer) do?

One of my favorite sayings is "I'd rather fail at doing something, than succeed at doing nothing."

And if you want to read writerly words of encouragement, hop over to Operation Awesome...because it will definitely make you feel inspired.  And, remember to count your submissions - not your rejections.

It was a weekend of projects

My hubby and his brother finished the beams in the main part of the remodeled bedroom

Then my husband decided the room gets too hot on warm days. So he climbed up on the roof to add a few more vents to get rid of the hot air.

And not feeling like he'd done enough on a long holiday weekend, he decided to work on my little library (behind the chimney). He was trying to find the right placement for the chandelier.

And it wasn't so easy, because he wants it to be just "write" for me - so I'll have enough lighting for reading...and writing up there.

He's hoping to get the little nook sheetrocked before next weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Rose Festival Fireworks - Opening Night

Friday May 23rd is opening night of the Rose Festival - now called City Fair - fireworks start at 9:45 p.m. at Tom McCall Park.

The fireworks will be choreographed to music provided by 101.9 KINK FM.

Enjoy a FREE concert by Hit Machine at 8:30pm and an encore immediately following the fireworks display.

It will be a weekend filled with amusement rides and fun. 

The History of Memorial Day

A friend at work today told me about how Memorial Day first started and I thought it was interesting enough to do a post about. So I came home to look it up and the first thing that popped up was Snopes.


My friend said that Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC when they honored 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. 

She told me that the 257 bodies were reburied to give them a decent burial and that it took the former slaves 2 weeks.

Afterwards they had a parade to celebrate and in gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice the people had given in fighting for their freedom.

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp#6guYoy6Qt2s4zvsF.99

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp#6guYoy6Qt2s4zvsF.99

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY - A WRITER'S GAME

Guess what the word means...


WORD FOR WEDNESDAY:

Persnickety


Do you know what it means?


Can you guess?


If you have no idea, scroll down for the meaning...




Further....


FURTHER.....


persnickity means a person who is fussy about small details

SCBWI Spring Conference 2014

It was a weekend filled with fun and inspiration. Judi and Sue worked really hard to put it all together and make it a fun weekend.

There were plenty of local authors who shared their words of wisdom:

And agents and editors shared information about the wonderful world of writing and publishing.

The SCBWI has plenty of events all year long, including the Great Critique Session that is scheduled for July 26th. There is also a fall retreat that's already planned.

I would recommend any of these great events for any writers.

On this Day in History

On this day in 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery.

Maybe that doesn't seem so interesting to you. But, Anne Boleyn looks a lot like my niece. Yep, it's true.

My hubby and I went to her castle over in England a few years ago and we walking through the stairwell when we came upon a painting and my husband turned to me and said, "Who does that look like?"

I looked up and started to laugh. It was like one of those scenes out of a vampire movie where you see your relative in an old (and I mean VERY old) painting, hanging on the wall.

Yes, she looked so much like my niece that I had to show her when I came back home.

Of course my niece didn't say much but I could see it in her eyes that she saw the resemblance...whether she wanted to admit it or not.

So, when I saw that this day in history was the day that Anne was beheaded, it made me think of my niece.