Leapin' lizards...

I have a solution to my self-sabotage but I'm still undecided whether I'm going to sabotage the solution. Besides resisting finishing the WIP to avoid the attendant frustrations of trying to get it published, there is also the undeniable fact that finishing it will require some effort on my part. However I believe the key to overcoming the self-sabotage is to take advantage of a friend's kind invitation to participate in an authors collective. This involves hanging out with a bunch of other authors at a neutral (for me) location with no house work or other distractions. If I use my laptop I won't be writing blog posts, facebook entries or checking my e-mails a thousand times a minute because its a hassle to do on the lappy. I'll have other authors standing over me expecting me to do some work. This could get results and I'm hoping to give it a go this week. I'll let you know whether its a success or not...

I received my first posting for my university paper today. Anything over an inch fat is a little scary. This package is in the two inch zone. Leapin' lizards! I know I do this to myself and it is completely voluntary and on some level I love doing it (and this year its studing children's lit looking at story and meaning in myths, legends and folktales which rocks) but there is also an element of masochism. But hey - I can look on the bright side - its another distraction :)

My juicy link for today is over at one of my fave blogs - Help I need a Publisher . Today Ms Morgan has herself linked to another post on querying, but rather than giving advice on how to write a query itself (something we haven't really yet needed to do in NZ) the discussion is on what you should be querying and it makes some very good points which Ms Morgan goes on to further expand on. These are good things to know, especially if you are as yet unpublished. I don't think all the advice should be applied wholesale to all writers, but the underlying message about 'how' you choose what to send in and that 'holding back' is most often the right move makes sense. Put yourself in the agents/publishers shoes - piquing their interest is better than overwhelming them with a deluge of material. And always put your best foot forward...

Harder than getting blood out of a stone....

Reading 'Neverwhere'. Sigh. V. good book. Double sigh. Cannot now look at own stories. Might be useful as toilet paper...

Actually I've come to the realisation (accidentally engaged brain last night and fell over startling insight - note to self, engage brain more often) that I've been indulging in some self sabotage. If I don't finish edit of recently completed WIP first draft, then no one can reject it (you were right Fifi, I just didn't know it was happening in my own home). Clever huh? I know what needs to be done, and with children back at school, time is now available. Easy peasy. Just fix up story and send away. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (insert hysterical tone here as tone can be hard to demonstrate with repitition of a two letter onomatopeic word). Anyway I am now looking for antidote to self sabotage. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I can confirm reading 'Neverwhere' is not the cure (damn you Mr G.). Girding up one's loins and just getting on with it is not happening. It is never a good sign when I start a new story before an old one is done. And the new one is so much fun and cool and I am in love with it and it was inspired by a previous blog post title. I've googled the title and its free to a good home - even better. And in that first phase of a new WIP, writing just gushes from my fingertips, instead of requiring brute force to get blood from stone.

I am off to make home-made crumpets for lunch...yum...