The Panic Sets In

After the packing days and general shock of getting ready for my DD's religious camp, my family joined me as I went to Birmingham for the Southern Magic pitching workshop led by our own Kelly St. John. The drive down was uneventful. And I was ever so pleased with my "free" hotel stay garnered through American Express reward points. But when we arrived in Birmingham, with time to spare, we were unable to locate the Holiday Inn we'd booked. And when we finally did find it, I had about 2 minutes to spare before the lunch portion of the workshop began.

Panic! But ever optimistic we hauled our luggage to the front desk only to be greeted by an overworked, disgruntled front desk employee who bluntly informed us early check-in was impossible and "no" there wasn't a place to store luggage. Never mind. We left, the family took me through McDonald's drive through to grab a Happy Meal, and then they hauled me to the Homewood Library for my meeting.

Yay! Freedom! I joined the SM members and guests in the Homewood Library basement and we celebrated Christy Reece's next trilogy's book covers and release dates as well as Naima Bryant (now Niama Simone) and her first publication in Ellora's Cave. We had cake!! And took pictures.

Then Kelly St. John led us through a very detailed pitch workshop that sent my head reeling. My pitch needed updating, work, an overhaul. Can we say panic again? But it is a good panic. If anyone knows what to do to get published, it's Kelly. She's so honest and real about her own experiences as she tried to reach that pinnacle. I appreciate it so much! And I learned so much!

And when it was all over, and we said I goodbyes, I met my family at the library's entrance with my inspiration tucked in my computer bag. Oh, after I returned home, the work would begin again.

Will I Ever Finish Chapter Two-Scene Two?

I'm bogged down. Stuck in mud. Wanting to move forward, but catching my feet and tripping. When I think I have a solution, I go to write, and it drops away--it doesn't work. And this is the second chapter. I need it to read well. I want my first three chapters to be GOLDEN. I need them to go to Ellora's Cave. I have sworn off all contests until I finish the revision AGAIN and I keep finding more stuff to fix. Argh.

I spent 3 hours on the second chapter. Most of them on the second scene. I am desperate to make my mostly Alpha male not come off as a slime, so I've toned down a lot of what I had written. But then I lose the erotic elements that I want to showcase. Double argh.

I am devoting 1 hour to it this morning. Then I am moving forward to Chapter 3, regardless if it the second chapter is finished. I need this to work for me. Perhaps moving forward will give me some insight. At this point, I want to cut the damn scene altogether, but that leaves me hanging at the end of the first scene. The other solution is to call a trusted writing friend and ask her what to do. Another solution is to vomit anything onto the page and see if a fraction of it is fixable. 

I want to submit this piece and get it out of my hair. I have a pretty good query letter and my synopsis is shaping up nicely.  I am determined to have three chapters to send by mid-May. I think that's what bogging me down. The self-imposed deadline. But once I am finally "called"--this will be my life.

Hair pulling and gnashing of teeth come with the territory--all writers suffer from this angst: published or not!