Do you ever have that feeling that there’s just too much going on? No, of course not, she says (wink-wink). This summer hit me like a Mack truck, and the grace in it was that I was so focused on two weeks in July–my week at NPM in Cincinnati and our trip to Colorado last week–that I…
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The Big News
Friday morning when I came home from Jazzercise, speech therapy, and a Wal Mart run, this is what greeted me: Today I’m focusing on a final whirlwind run through my manuscript to make sure it’s clean so I can send it out. See you Wednesday!
Read MoreTime to Hit Send?
When I was a kid, and I first got contacts, I was absolutely paranoid about losing them. I would take them out and clean them, put them in their cases, and screw the tops on…and then it began. Maybe they weren’t actually in there. I’d open them up and check, screw them back shut. But…
Read More7 Quick Takes, vol. 89
1. I’ve been having one of those weeks again. One of those weeks where I found myself out of balance, focused myopically on writing, unable to sleep at night for being wound up about it, and spending far too little time being wife and mom. Any time this happens to me, it calls into question…
Read MoreThe Determination of Dandelions
[picapp align=”none” wrap=”false” link=”term=dandelion&iid=87178″ src=”0083/e9465b66-4b51-487b-9247-7dca2981e7bb.jpg?adImageId=12404365&imageId=87178″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /] I am at war with dandelions. I know, go ahead and laugh. Project your shaken heads over the e-waves, passing me subliminal messages about futility. I know it’s futile. At noon, I pick off every yellow head within a three-house radius of my yard, and by nine the next…
Read MoreParalysis
(Warning: If you’re not interested in reading about the writing process, skip to the end!) “Art is never finished—only abandoned.” Leonardo da Vinci It’s a big deal to finish a novel. At least, if you listen to the collective wisdom of the writing world. And maybe they’re right. But despite the long lapse in years…
Read MoreAn NPM Convention Journal
This will be considerably longer and less polished than my usual but I’m not taking the time to do exhaustive revisions. I spent this week in Chicago at the NPM (pastoral music) convention, which was in Rosemont, out by O’Hare airport. Here are the scattered reflections of a week… Day One: Sunday, July 5 12:38…
Read MoreIt’s getting easier
It’s definitely getting easier to get submissions sent out. Now, instead of agonizing for ten days, I agonize for four, and instead of attaching and reattaching four times, I only do it twice. I’m also learning that it’s not necessary to fiddle with every word choice for too long, since editors are going to take my “perfect”…
Read MoreThere’s nothing quite like a deadline…
As of ten minutes ago, I’m more or less done with my short story. I have one more question niggling the back of my brain, and I’m waiting for the all-seeing, all-knowing perspective of my critique group to help me find clarity. But with or without their response, I will be finished with my story tomorrow.…
Read MoreWhat is up with these people?
I’m probably trying to overdo it, but I decided that my first post-baby writing project…since I didn’t finish my novel in time…would be to find markets for an already-complete short story, and get it sent out. The first two places I sent it roundly ignored it…oh, how I hate no responses…so I’m scouring the writers’…
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Kathleen M. Basi 