Getting back on track

I had all of these plans for July. I wrote down certain writing-related things to do in my dayplanner, starting with the beginning of this month. But as it happens every single time I try to DO something or when I PLAN for something, things never work out the way I want them to. (I once saw a pin on Pinterest that said something to the effect of how my life’s motto could be “Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Tell me about it!) Things just never, ever go according to plan in my life. Sometimes, some things I set out to accomplish or to do end up ACTUALLY happening, but in a completely different way than I had hoped.

Well, the former is true with the plans I made for the first week of July. Things just didn’t pan out, only because I had a medical situation which drastically reduced my time at the computer. While this setback is frustrating, I will not abandon my plans. I’ll just start everything at a new time. Sure, it didn’t happen on schedule, but it WILL happen. It’s still July.

I have decided to do the very same thing I do when I can’t get Monday stuff done: I make Tuesday be my “Monday.”

Thankfully, I am a lot better now and nearly fully recovered. So, as of this coming Monday, I will proceed with my plans for July. Hopefully, I can get things done, but if not, at least get SOME things done. I still won’t be at the computer as often as before, because part of my doctor’s instructions was less time sitting down, but I will do what I can in the time that I have.

One of the things that I want to do in July is try to get an acceptance at a major magazine. This has always been a goal for my writing career. I was not able to accomplish this goal a long time ago when I was working as a freelance writer, and I have realized, you know, this is a goal I REALLY don’t want to let go of. Some goals I’m willing to let go of because there’s just no way I can accomplish them, but others I don’t want to let go of. This is one of them. In thinking about it some more, and also pondering how I planned to focus more on short stories this year, I have decided that instead of trying to get an article into a major magazine, maybe I can try a short story instead. It COULD work. And I’ll be very happy to have SOMETHING published in a major magazine. So that is what I will be aiming for this month as well as next month. (The two months that I don’t have any work!)

So when I get back at it on Monday, I’ll be querying magazines with short stories. I will also resume the book work I have been doing: Getting all release forms signed for the haunted cities book (due out VERY soon!) and interviewing writing parents for the second Burning the Midnight Oil book.

I am also still at work on the spin-off book of 365 Tips for Writers. It’s on the agenda to finish that book this year! And I'm also working on Books 5 and 6 for The GHOST Group. I am planning to submit those to my publisher later in the year.

And on another note of “getting back on track”: I was recently informed that a contract I had for my “Revise Your Writing” book series was canceled because that particular imprint of the publishing company was being shut down. One of my other publishers is currently looking at all three manuscripts to consider for publication. So, yes, I was discouraged when that roadblock came up, but hopeful again that maybe this book will still be published SOMEWHERE now that it’s with another publishing company.

Yes, there are things that will happen that slow me down or knock me off that horse, but I’m going to dust myself off and get back up in the saddle to keep things moving forward. Some things may not happen when I want them to, but I won’t give up on them. I’ll just try again at a later time or try to make them happen in a different way. As long as they happen!


P.S. And by "major magazine," I mean, one of the glossies. I have been published in a national magazine, but not one of the glossies. That would be the ultimate for me. Unfortunately, I don't write the kind of short stories that get published in those types of magazines, so I'll send my short stories elsewhere and try to get SOMETHING published in one of the glossies.