Chapter Six Today

I'm really on a roll, now. The re-writing is zooming along, and I barely break for lunch - or dinner, for that matter. I've said this before, but my characters chatter away while I'm washing up, or trying to concentrate on the news. (To a non-writer that must sound like some kind of psychotic episode.) I have to grab a bit of paper, the back of the shopping list, whatever, to get the snippet down. If it's a longer "chat" and I'm really excited, I come back to the computer and do it right there and then.

When we are in Flow (a rewarding book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ), the work just pours (flows) out, and you lose all track of time. If I didn't have to feed my cats, I'd probably be writing into the wee small hours. So food doesn't seem important, until I notice I'm about to faint. I could get thin. Dorothy Parker was thin. Perhaps I'll become a published writer AND thin. What joy!

There is a fantastic opportunity for you on Monday. Firebrand Literary is holding a contest for submission of a first chapter, without the preliminary query letter. The novel must be complete, with word count, genre, and so on - you'll get the details from the link under Contests. The contest closes January 15, with their response no later than February 1. (IF they respond. Without a response, fear not, you are still a writer, not a would-be writer - a real writer, and you will research the blogs and Google and Twitter to find your perfect agent.) If, like me (bar the tweaking), you have completed your ms, here's your chance. The prize is simply that you will get one foot in the door, your manuscript over the transom, and your beloved pages in the hands of a professional, and we all should realize how exciting that is!

I have been nominated by Brian of The New Author blog (link in the sidebar) for a Real Blog, Real People award called the Marie Antoinette award. I regret to say I hadn't heard of it, but Brian is very nice, and wouldn't lead me up the garden path, I'm sure, although the name of the award is a little alarming, considering the poor woman was beheaded. Is this a play on words? Is this a little joke on the blog community, that we have all, figuratively speaking, lost our heads? Of course, the lady in question was a woman of rare talent and beauty (with head attached, of course), and that's undoubtedly what was in mind with the choice of name. I am moved to think my blog is deserving of this, as I only started it on November 27, sixteen days ago! I feel I've been doing it for years. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but it's even more delightful to know someone else really likes it, too. Isn't that reminiscent of something Sally Field said at the Oscars way back when?

Enjoy Chapter Six.