from the NY Public Library Digital Collections

I’m not in Scotland this summer for REASONS, and while I am sad about it, I’m dealing. Of course I think about Scotland all the time—last night I was dreaming of Outlander of all things, even though all I ever watched was the first season.  I really think it’s my spiritual homeland, like I am meant to live there some day.  I was even looking at real estate in Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland for a while, and found some places that didn’t look too expensive.  (Of course, they didn’t look too big either, but that is beside the point.)  Anyway, the point of telling you this is so you know not to expect a travelogue from me.  Of course, I haven’t written since last year, so you probably don’t expect anything from me!

Now for the update.  Writing and I had been at loggerheads for a while. I hadn’t really had a chance to write anything because of those same REASONS I mentioned a second ago.  (And I’m sorry to have to Vaguebook, but suffice it to say there are some real meanies out there who wish me ill.  But writing about that is for another day, if at all.) So of course, not writing poems was making it harder and harder for me to be ok. If I’m not writing, what am I even doing?

But the summer has been really productive for me, writing-wise.  I tasked myself with writing a villanelle every day for May (while I didn’t quite get 31, I got 26), so I worked on that project.  Some of the villanelles turned out better than others, but it felt really good to produce that work.  (Most still of course need to be revised, but there’s always time for that.) One of the ones that did turn out well got picked up by Midsummer Dream House, and you can read “Heart-bird” here.

And now I’m working on a Regency romance on Wattpad (currently #51 in Regency) called A Duke for Lady Ellen. I’ve published nine chapters so far, and am looking to publishing about 25.  This is my “gateway” novel—to see if I can start writing romance novels in earnest.  So I’m not worried about finding a “real” publisher or getting an agent or anything like that.  This book is an opportunity for me to try something new, to push myself in a new direction.  I’m enjoying it so far. Chris, for whatever reason, is really proud of me, although he has not read it so far.  (Well, I’d hardly expect him to read a romance novel, even if I wrote it!)  But it’s nice to have him cheering me on. I hope you’ll give A Duke for Lady Ellen a glance.  Even if you don’t like Regency romance novels, I’d appreciate any feedback you’d want to give it. I want to improve!  It will probably take the rest of summer to write it, but I will work on poems as well, so at least my writing “dance card” is full for the foreseeable future.

In other news, my friend Sarah Carey is coming out with her first full-length collection, The Grief Society Minutes, from St. Julian Press (sometime later this year, I believe) and I’ve got an ARC.  I’m so happy for her, and I’m looking forward to reading some quality poems!  I’m really surprised this collection has taken so long to find a publisher, especially because about 2/3 of the poems are published in quality journals—but finding a publisher is always a numbers game—you just gotta keep sending it out and sending it out.  I’m glad that she found a press for this book—now, onto the next one, Sarah! 😉

Other than all that, things in my life are ok. I’m glad it’s the summer, even if I don’t have Scotland.  At least I can write and feel happy about what I’m doing.