Thursday, July 14, 2016

Update

I've updated my update! I realized it isn't helpful to whine on the web so I decided to cut it out. I haven't a moment to write a completely new piece (work and writing has me boxed), so I'm just going to fiddle this one a bit.

Update:

Querying Bright Angel:

The query process goes on. I've had a bit of encouragement but won't report on it until something gels one way or t'other. I know this is a long haul and I'm at the beginning of it.
So far I have six packages out.

Crooked Knife:

Hmmm... yep, a bit slower than I'd like after my zoom through of 55 thousand words but it is going somewhere - and I have a fresh crop of frustration to feed it with. This book is set in Sheshatshiu, a reserve in Labrador (where I work and next door to where I live). Unless you've been living under a rock you will know that these are tough times for indigenous communities in Canada. Youth suicide is on the rise, addictions are rampant and those are just the symptoms. The disease? Colonization.  At any rate - plenty of fuel for a mystery set on a reserve.

Other random things

 I just found out from a fellow blogger, Karen Walker, that she is putting together an anthology on aging. I am definitely going to submit a piece to that!  Here is a link to her description of it on her blog  Author Karen Walker...Following the Whispers .  If you are over fifty and would like the opportunity to submit a piece check it out.

Flower Folk

 For the last 50 days or so I was posting a drawing a day with a one or two line story. I'm keeping that up in my sketchbook but not posting. I call them Flower Folk - contemplating life one petal at a time. People seem to like them and I'm arranging to have some printed as cards. I'll include one here so you know I'm still alive and creating.




.Sheldon knew the flowers understood him in ways
 his mother and Aunt Edna couldn't begin to.





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes we have those 'at loose ends' times, Jan. For me, anyway, it's usually my body and spirit telling me I need some time to focus and regroup. Then I get back to the discipline of living. But that's just me.

Jan Morrison said...

Thanks Margot - if there is one person I know busier than me it is you, so this advice will be respected!

Melissa Amateis said...

I've had quite a hard time of discipline and floudering myself. I blame summer and my up and down health (I have rheumatoid arthritis) but I also blame social media. So I've taken a step back from it. My novel was also giving me fits. I have reworked the plot so much that I almost can't stand the book. But then I "reconnected" with it by writing 5 things I love about each character, the setting, and the plot. It opened my eyes to what my story is really about and I've had some great writing sessions since then.

I wish you luck in getting back to your novel!

Jan Morrison said...

Thanks Melissa. Your comments resonated on many levels. I have taken a social media break for a week now and it is making a difference. My arthritis is very bad right now - I think I'll need a hip replacement and I think that just takes the stuffing out of me. I like your idea on reconnecting with your plot and will implement that too.