Very cool: I stood for election for the position of secretary with the Science Fiction Writers of America, and won! I fly to San Jose to attend the Nebula Awards weekend in a week and a half, to meet the other members of the board, and to learn more about my portfolio from the previous secretary! Yay!
Such a wonderful compliment!
One of my students, Leesa, sent me an email that included the following:
You have an amazing talent to see things clearer than I ever do. I can not even put words to it, but I appreciate it so much, especially when it’s my work your talking about. It’s like you bring a new lens and focus to things I have not yet learned how to see. It was because of you that I re-wrote a turning point chapter. I had Arie removing her gloves because I knew it needed to happen, but until you pointed out that finally her character was being pressed to change, I sincerely did not see it that way. It changed how I proceeded.
Thanks, so much, Leesa, for the kind words!
Chapter 23 complete, and CYWC
Into the home stretch: writing the climax! And, today, I presented at the Calgary Young Writers’ Conference. I always enjoy the day because the kids are always so enthusiastic. Also, it is great to touch base with so many writers, many of
Finished Chapter 22!
Things are on a real roll–diving into the ending, and the words are just flowing thick and fast. Yes, there are backfill details I am generating that I will have to go back and fill in, but I’ll do that later (keeping notes so I don’t miss them). Right now, it is fabulous, that final rush toward the end!
Oh, and I did meet with the teachers at William Reid School again today, and I start teaching the grade twos in May!
Can I share a brag? The principal was so happy about–not only the students’ work–but about the teachers’ sharing of things they had learned about how to teach story writing! And I got to see the books the grade 3 and 4 students had produced, and they were really awesome. Such a thrill!
Finished Chapter 20
I often find the second half of a book goes so much faster than the first half, because of course, I know my characters and what is happening so much better. So now I feel like I am on a real roll. Hope to finish the first draft by the end of the month. On the other hand, I have often found that the last few chapters turn out to be really long and I wind up dividing them up–more, but shorter chapters. So…maybe the end of the month is a bit ambitious. Still–good to have a goal.