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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

IWSG - Searching for Calm


Welcome to another round of IWSG! For those of you who don't know, this group meets every month on the first Wednesday of the month to share frustrations, inspiration, tips, kind words, problems, or anything else that hits a writer's world. Being a writer is not always a path non-writers understand. Plus, this is simply a fun, amazing group.

This blog-hop was started by the very amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh and has since grown into quite the community with anthology contests, lots of advice on the website, a Facebook group, pitch opportunities and so much more!

This month's co-hosts are: Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre!


I made it!!!! Although I was hoping to have this post up earlier today, I did hit my goal of getting it up and saying 'hi' to everyone! Ever since the COVID-19 shut-downs started, and also Spring hit, life has shifted into high-gear and seems to only be getting more and more hectic.

So, writing....ummm....what's that?

Actually, I have been working on the co-authored project as the chapters come back from him. And I've dibbled a few words here and there on my own project. But it's so hard to concentrate with so many other things going on!

Since this is IWSG and that means I have a chance to moan and groan...
Yep, I'm going to pour my heart out! Because I desperately want to write and am simply not finding the time.

Ready?


Not only do I have more than several dozen things to get done on the farm now that warm weather...without rain...has hit, but there are all of the house repairs, too—deck painting, house painting, several floors need to be re-done. (We'll just ignore the usual laundry, mowing, cooking, weeding, mopping and such right now). Then, my older kids have been popping in and out (Awesome! And I love every minute, but it does strip hours from the day). My 2nd son and biggest helper broke his tibia bone without us realizing it, and now, is on crutches for quite awhile (and will be). My oldest son graduated with his B.A., and we were going to celebrate this weekend, but he's National Guard and was just activated and sent to a more unsettled protest area. (Prayers appreciated.)  AND to help keep my daughter's youngest passion alive (she loves gymnastics), I'm volunteering every day over at the local gym-studio, since the COVID hit them hard, and they can't afford to hire back all of their help yet. So, I'm doing what I can to help keep their doors open.
Add that the transmission in my pick-up went out and the brake drums in my 2nd vehicle died at the same time (because yeah, everything happens at once) and....WHEW! Is it time for winter yet??????

And one more thing, I messed up something on my browser, so I'm having a ton of trouble leaving comments on other blogs. I'm hoping to finally get that figured out this morning, but please, bear with me if I don't hear from me right away.

Pfffff.

Things aren't really bad. I'll admit that, in general, all is wonderful, and we're very blessed.
If only things would slow down just a tiny bit.


What about you? How's life and the writing end of things treating you lately?



Anthology Contest now open!!!

Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 4500-6000
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme: Dark Matter
Submissions accepted: May 6 - September 2, 2020
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.
Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.
Our judges: Dan Koboldt, Lynda R. Young, Colleen Oefelein, Damien Larkin, Ion Newcombe, Julie Gwinn, and David Powers King