I felt a little blue this week, grousing over revisions and my sometimes fragile ego. I distracted myself by patiently refreshing the Writers of the Future blog and checking the mail every few minutes, hoping to see some word of the 2009 Q4 results. Well, the list of Honorable Mentions was released before they had a chance to update the blog.

When I kicked off the year writing 250 new words a day, I had a plan. A story. An outline, man. I finished that story yesterday. Plus an impromptu flash fiction piece. Today? I have no plan.

It started with an announcement by Realms of Fantasy (RoF) magazine. A special themed issue. “Girl writers only.” A slight faux pas that was eventually correctly revised and apologized for. In the interim, some people were vocal about their discern that RoF would again make such a slip given the last gender-related fail. Catherine Valente, a well-respected writer, commented on the issue. She noted her take on the problem, and why she would rather see the issue of gender balance addressed in a…

When I started out following Booklife and documenting my writing progress, I suspected the first few weeks would either be really easy or really hard. Establishing a habit takes times and it’s easy to make excuses to skip writing. We all hear or use them — I’m too busy, too much day job work, kids/family, etc. Then there’s the Resolutionists, who make a bunch of goals at the beginning of the year and waver after a few weeks. Also guilty as charged.

It’s really too early to tell how things are going to work out long-term but so far I feel good. Not overwhelmed by keeping my spreadsheets updated or gut checking my short-term goals. I’m right where I want to be. I hope I can say the same thing a week and a month from now.