lisa writes stuff issue #20 lisa continues to write stuff
Dear Internet,
When you wish upon a star
Wow. An entire month has gone by. Writing wise, I have a lot going on.
First, I totally flaked on Camp NaNoWriMo. I took off time to write or brainstorm, but not nearly enough. As I wrote in A Most Unreliable Narrator #158, July was busy as fuck. If we weren’t going out, we had people in. Plus, normal life bullshit. August, September, and October are also looking to be jammed with shit between people visiting and mini-breaks.
Second, I came up with a new book idea! From AMUN #158:
So, I got to thinking about a woman in her late 30s/early 40s who raised her siblings, and they have all flown the roost. Terrifically smart, she was an office manager for an advertising company. Her life is fine, but she isn’t happy being content. She wants more.
A chance encounter with an old mentor from community college days prompts her to think maybe she can do it. Maybe she can go back to college, get her degree, and become an astronomer.
And thus begins the story of an advanced learner (fucking hated this term when I was in college) making a 180-degree shift. How is she going to pay for it? How is she going to live? What about her long-term partner, how are they going to support, or not support, her? How’s her family going to react? How does she feel about herself? What about her job? Is she going to be full time? Part-time? What does she expect from her education? Does she have a backup plan?
Who’s to say to all of this!
As luck would have it, and the internet, I know people who know women who work STEM (specifically astrophysics) who have agreed to let me interview them. I’ve also made a list of women in the field as well. I hope to get as many experiences as possible.
I’m excited!
51 Stories in 51 Weeks
I goofed for a few weeks on the 51 Stories project, but caught right back up. It’s been hard to fit a story into 51 words and have it sound good. I’m trying to give myself grace that not all work are going to be Pulitzer level, however, I’m hoping my writing improves!
I’ve got Week’s Eleven and Twelve put together already and that should give me some wiggle room.
Instead of linking to each piece, here is the project page.
Change of Scenery
Beginning with this issue (Issue #20!), I’m going to move to every other week. The next issue will be August 23rd and so on. I’ll also be taking November off as I’ll be traveling quite a bit.
The reason for changing this to bi-weekly is that while I flaked at Camp NaNoWrimo, I am working on stories again. Maintaining two newsletters a week, plus life, plus actual writing, is just too much. I enjoy writing here about what I’m doing and the process, but it is a lot. I need to pace myself accordingly and not get burned out.
Moon
Right now, I’m working on a short piece (it’s at 1000 words so far) with the prompt being “moon.” You can interpret this any way you want to. This is a lit zine prompt, and the piece is due August 31. I hope to get it finished by then.
I’ve been struggling with inspiration as of late. I’m reading broad enough but instead of being inspired by what I’m reading, I remain stumped.
Which would, you think reading broadly, prompt new ideas. Currently that is a big nope.
I was thinking last night as I worked on the moon piece that came a prompt and the writing flowed pretty easily with that prompt. I think I’m going to start looking at calls again (it’s been months since I’ve done this) to get the ole spark going.
Submission update
45 submissions, including 35 rejections, 2 acceptances, and 1 withdrawal.
Publication
chapbook: commercial breaks
Snippet
From the moon inspired piece:
Smoking and flicking the fancy lighter was how I relieved the stress. It bothered Harry that I still smoked when I was feeling out of it, but I could never get used to his meditation antics and deep breathing methods.
The tinny speaker in my ear went on. I was listening to ‘90s pop music while I smoked. God, I miss the ‘90s. Flannel shirts. Beaten in Docs. Heavy black eyeliner and chokers. Now I was 30 pounds fatter than my 20 something youth and wore my Docs for orthopedic reasons. The sides of the boot kept my ankles straight and supported, rather than wearing them to kick ass and take names.
lisa x