When I start projects, there isn’t usually a time limit. I like to take the the journey, enjoy the process. My finished novel is no different. I’ve spent around ten years perfecting this novel. I’ve raised children, altering my perspective on the […]
When I start projects, there isn’t usually a time limit. I like to take the the journey, enjoy the process. My finished novel is no different. I’ve spent around ten years perfecting this novel. I’ve raised children, altering my perspective on the characters. I’ve moved across the world. Found a calling as a Jiujitsu Instructor. I’ve attended Grad School, buried loved ones, and grown as a person from the very first word on the page all those years ago.
But one thing has never changed–I have never abandoned these characters, or more appropriately, they have never abandoned me. We always come back to each other.
This PitchWars season was my 3rd, maybe 4th, entry. I knew my characters were ready, and I did receive a full request. That feeling of validation was fantastic. But I didn’t make the final cut as a mentee.
So, what now?
Industry standards are one reason my querying has fallen short. The manuscript is too long for a debut novel. It is pushed aside before given a chance because of the number of words written in the query.
So, what now?
I’m contemplating the Self-Publishing route. The manuscript is polished. The story is loved by those who read it. It needs to be out there and off my shelf.
“Anything worth chasing must have a real chance of disappearing.” Libby Webber The year-end crept up on me, and I wrote this post in December in order to reflect on the past year and set impossible goals for the year to come. […]
“Anything worth chasing must have a real chance of disappearing.”
Libby Webber
The year-end crept up on me, and I wrote this post in December in order to reflect on the past year and set impossible goals for the year to come. It is now April, and I’m wondering where the last few months have jetted to.
2018 was a magnificent year. I completed several major long-term goals:
Became a Gracie Certified JiuJitsu Instructor.
Became a Gracie Women Empowered Certified Instructor.
Earned my Masters of Science in Information and Library Sciences From Drexel.
It feels like a short list for me, but those goals were two years in the making. A good deal of the sweat, tears, and mental breakdowns happened in 2017, and then the true test of my confidence and courage brought them to completion all the way through the end of 2018.
In terms of lessons, I learned a few big ones:
Anything worth chasing must have a real chance of disappearing.
Some goals do have an expiration date.
Priorities. Priorities. Priorities.
Knowing that Grad School would be finished soon forced me to focus all my energy on it. I had to make the hard choices of here my engird went.
Some goals do have an expiration date: This is a semi-true statement. I could have extended my Master’s degree to take fewer classes and therefore dedicate my time to jiujitsu. But financially, my funding for school was running out-and grad school is expensive. I began jiujitsu 3 years ago, and the progress I see is astounding. I realized I could come back to jiujitsu with more vigor in 2019, but Grad school needed to be complete, and I needed good grades to keep my funding. My chance to finish grad school without debt was an opportunity to complete a major life-goal which trumped everything.
A rare photo of me sleeping. I had pulled several nights of 2 hours of sleep trying to finish up finals, while being the Mom my kids needed during the day and working as a jiujitsu instructor at night. I sat down and that was the end of the day for me.
Priorities are essential to thriving in chaos, which I’ve come to learn I do quite will. The thriving…not so much the priority setting.
Making yourself a priority may seem selfish and counter productive when chasing several goals. However, I promise you, your mental health and those around you will thank you for taking the needed time to not think at all.
My self-care included:
Writing when the muses visited–even with a paper due. I knew my brain and soul were begging for a break from coding or cataloging when I could bang out 5k words for a manuscript, but not a 500 word essay.
Long hot showers. To be honest, I would sometimes listen to my online lectures while in these long hot showers, but the mono-tone voices were less boring when I could shave my legs at the same time.
Saying “No”. This is a huge one, and part of what drew me to the Gracie Jiujitsu Women Empowered curriculum I now teach. Set boundaries, and tell people no. No I cannot stay for an extra class. No I cannot read you another bedtime story. No, I don’t really want to go out, even though I know you want me to say yes. The power of saying NO to others, and YES to the muses, the long hot showers, the mindless few hours on Netflix–alone with ice cream and pretending there aren’t deadlines creeping in will empower you to be able to chase those goals even harder.
2018 was an amazing year, and I know we’re 4 months into 2019, but it’s looking pretty promising as well. I know myself enough to know blogging is not my strong suit, but the occasional update will be posted as the year move on.
I often am asked–Why a Master’s in Information and Library Sciences? Do you really need that to be a Librarian? The Answer is Yes. Absolutely, Positively, Hell Yes. So here are 6 reasons (not an exhaustive list in the slightest) why you […]
I often am asked–Why a Master’s in Information and Library Sciences? Do you really need that to be a Librarian? The Answer is Yes. Absolutely, Positively, Hell Yes. So here are 6 reasons (not an exhaustive list in the slightest) why you may need a Master’s in order to run a successful library, because Librarians do more than checkout books and re-shelf them.
1. Have you ever heard of AACR2? How about MARC? RDA? If you want an idea of what gets into ‘putting a book into the computer’ there is a great resource right here that will look like gibberish to you, but is the language of cataloging.
2. Do you know how to create budget? Write a Grant? Do you understand how to appeal to the shareholders of the library to ensure funding continues to come? These are things you need to know to keep your library alive.
3. Do you know the demographic of your area? Can you create a program plan based off the demographics? Why about the future demographic? Another valuable skill.
4. What makes a program successful? How do you measure the outcome of a program when it is the confidence of a child in school, or the comfort of escaping into a book away from harsh realities? There are many courses dedicated just to these topics.
5. Can you read and write in html? Okay this one may not be *required* but it sure is helpful in creating an online pretense that keeps the library current.
6. What ever the most up and coming technology is, the librarians are already learning about it and the best way to teach others how to use it.
Why do I want to be a librarian? Because the library is not a house of books–it’s a house of knowledge, and no matter how the knowledge is being presented you can be sure there are librarians already figuring out how it can be accessible to everyone in the community.
Hurricane Florence swept into our lives last week, chasing us home to CT. The whole experience could have been catastrophic, with two kids and the cat, and two stressed adults, unsure what we were leaving behind (did we forget anything??) and what […]
Hurricane Florence swept into our lives last week, chasing us home to CT. The whole experience could have been catastrophic, with two kids and the cat, and two stressed adults, unsure what we were leaving behind (did we forget anything??) and what we might come back to—A leaky roof? A flooded house? A looted house? As Florence was upgraded to a nearly Cat 5, we decided the safest place for our children was anywhere but there. We did a quick house prep, packed what we could reasonable fit into a our car, and headed home.
What I’ve learned retreating from Hurricane Florence:
1. Somethings are irreplaceable, but nothing is more irreplaceable than our sanity.
Bring the pictures? Leave them on the wall? What about the filing cabinet of important papers? I’m am insanely grateful to live in a time where there is pretty much a guarantee of finding a digital copy of every photo I have hanging in my house. As for the documents, we grabbed the most important and packed the rest in coolers and put them on high ground.
If it were up to my hubby the guns and passports were ready and he was good to go. I’m sure he will be grateful I grabbed a copy of our lease should we need to for damages and whatnot. And the bag full of snacks he ate during that 14 hour car ride would have been missing as well.
2. Go with the FLO.
Making the decision to leave was hard, but I’m glad we left. So many cool things have happened since we got home. I got to visit with family who were also visiting from out of state. We got to have mini vacation with my kids. AND I was able to be at my niece’s very first tattoo appointment—where she got a matching tattoo to mine. She is the coolest kid ever. Just make the decision and GO.
Matching celtic knot tattoos
3. Humor makes the world go round.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many memes directed to a natural disaster. I live by the thought if you can’t laugh about it—figure out how to*. Laughter and humor are not only coping mechanisms, but can bring people together.
*Disclaimer I understand there are times when laughter and humor are not appropriate, this is a general thought I live by,, and there are always exceptions.
4. Home is where the cat is happy.
Being a military family, we move quiet often. In 2013, we relocated to Okinawa, Japan. A beautiful place I look forward to returning to one day. We had the cat set to go—but the military had to change our flight last minute, and my 1st child (cat), Kozo, could not fly with us. My amazing sister took him in, the plan was to send him once we got settled. But she fell in love and didn’t want the cat to travel across the world alone and took him in for the 3 years we were gone. We returned home, happily reunited with the cat and we all move to NC. When we arrived back at my sisters last week, Kozo could not be happier. He jumped out of the kennel, slapped the dog on the face (they’re old friends) and went searching for where his food used to be. He’s not a social cat, but he’s been in his happy zone since we’ve been here. My cat knows where the heart of this family is, and it’s here at my sister’s house.
Whenever I begin a new project it always involves a List. I live by Lists, and while I’ve attempted blogging too many times to mention, I’ve failed because I try and fit into the expected vision of a blog: A single focus. […]
Whenever I begin a new project it always involves a List. I live by Lists, and while I’ve attempted blogging too many times to mention, I’ve failed because I try and fit into the expected vision of a blog: A single focus. A flowing narrative. Pictures. (Did you notice the list?) Even when I write, I find lists forming in my characters minds and popping up in my narrative. It’s natural for me, as I crave the short and to the point approach.
So why not apply this approach to my blogging? Exactly–Why Not? I hope you enjoy the upcoming lists, and checklists, and fact sheets, and it encourages you to write some of your own.
Facts About Me:
-I Mom two kiddos. Daughter 7. Son 5.
-I Wife–An amazing man and US Marine.
-I Write, because the voices in my head are only appeased when I do.
-I Jiujitsu–and Jiujitsu hard some times. I am a proud Gracie Certified Instructor, and the Women Empowered program is my lifeblood at the moment.
-I Teach. ages 3-300, I will show you strength does not matter. Leverage. Technique. Timing. Commitment.
-I Study. Master’s in Library and Information Science-Graduation date: December 2018!!
-I Read & Binge TV. There will be many many lists on this for sure!
Each item here is a piece of who I am and they influence everything I do. So who says I can’t write about it all?