Had a great meeting tonight with my Kensington Writers’ Group–critiqued two chapters from the beginning of a novel and caught up with the amazing things the group is up to. Naomi Lewis has a collection coming out this summer, for which she has already won an award by the publisher! Governor-General’s Finalist, Shenaaz Nanji has finished the first draft of her next novel, but says she wants to do another pass before she lets us read it for critique–sounds like a fascinating premise, and I can hardly wait to read it.
Wrote another short story!
Finished the rough draft today. The idea came to me just as I was waking up, Tuesday, and the whole thing is done! Well, still have to revise and edit, of course. And, it is under 3000 words, which is great. I have a hard time writing at that length, and I like to have a few short pieces–there are so many markets for shorter stories.
Feels good 🙂
Teaching Science Fiction
I had my first Science Fiction class at the Alexandra Centre on Tuesday, and it was great. I have six students, and they are very enthusiastic. Already, people have signed up to have critiques done next week, and sent out their manuscripts. I read the first two, and both are really good. Always room for growth, of course, which is the point of the course.
Catching up after Trillionist
Trillionist has gone to the publisher and now I am trying to dig myself out of set-aside emails and put-off jobs–like applying for grants (all the applications seem to be due next week). Also, I have almost finished the edits for the three new stories to be included in my collection, due out from Five Rivers Chapmanry this fall. It would all be so much easier if I weren’t battling an energy-flattening cold!!
Applying for grants
So, all the grant applications seem to have deadlines of January 31. What does that mean? It means, stop writing for a bit and apply! I guess getting a grant is a long shot, but hey, you definitely don’t get one if you don’t apply. It’s a kind of writing, right?