My writing life is heating up

Here’s what’s going on.

This week I learned that one of my poems was accepted to appear in the Story Circle Network’s 2103 Anthology, and that the proposal Eleanor Vincent and I wrote to present a workshop at SCN’s 2014 conference was accepted. Our workshop is called Telling Healing Stories: Writing a Compelling Memoir. Added to the excitement is that the conference takes place in Austin Texas next April 11 through 13. I’ve always wanted to travel there, so here’s my chance.

I also began attending a weekly poetry workshop recommended by my writing friend, Chanel Brenner (see her guest post here). My first assignment was to bring in six copies of my portal poem which means that I read the first version of it at the first meeting and then I am required to rewrite and share the rewrites at each of our next five meetings. This poem had to be a first draft and one that makes me cringe when I read it. So I picked one I wrote at Esalen last summer that really got slammed by one of the instructors. Not surprisingly it got slammed again Friday at the workshop. My goal is to turn it into a poem some poetry journal will want to publish. I know, that’s a huge assignment.

And since November is a Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem a Day Chapbook Challenge month, I’ve decided to take that on as well. I am dedicating my work to a dear friend who just went into hospice care after an almost two-year battle against lung cancer. Hopefully my writing a poem a day about/for her, keyed to each day’s given prompt, will help prolong her life. At least it’s a way to help assuage my great sadness about the grave condition of her health.

Last but not least I have challenged myself to revise one novel chapter a week. With the completion of the Chapter Ten revision yesterday, I only have eighteen more chapters and weeks to go. Then my dear beta readers, I’ll be ready for you.