For me, December was a month spent mostly away from my desk. Here’s why. I leave my bed at 5:30 on a Wednesday thinking Walking on the treadmill yesterday DEFINITELY didn’t help my back. At my bedroom door, a very sharp railroad spike is driving into my lower back. When I reach the freezer, I’m holding my breath while I retrieve the ice pack. The spike is knifing its way down my left leg and my foot’s throbbing. I spend fifteen minutes face down on the couch before I can stand long enough to take some pain meds and turn on the heat. I know this pain. I’ve been here before. The days that follow don’t show much improvement. I stand very little, and sitting at my desk is out of the question. I’m praying that somehow although the pain is exactly the same, I haven’t herniated a disc. Surgery could be much worse the second time around. Days before Christmas, I see my doctor. He schedules an MRI, and I leave with three prescriptions and little hope. A week later, the MRI tech looks at my chart. “I’m not allowed to tell you anything. Is he going to call you after he gets the results?” “I have an appointment on the eighth,” I answer. She assures me someone will call me sooner. This isn’t good news, and she’s right. I get the call the following morning. A few days later I’m looking at a scan of my herniated L5 disc. The doctor explains that it’s big and the steroid injection might not yield any more results than last time although he plans to administer it a little differently. I’m offered a sedative which I decline. I wasn’t allowed to eat before the procedure and the idea of this medicine making me vomit fills me with terror. Besides, I did okay last time. Facedown on the table, I get the sting of the needle which holds the numbing agent. Then the slightly nauseating pressure in my lower back as the medicine starts. “This is the medicine. You’ll probably feel some pressure.” I nod. This will be over in a few—Oh my GOSH!!! This doctor has somehow reached into my spine and is crushing my spinal cord! The pain travels the nerve down my leg and into my left foot. The sound coming from my mouth isn’t a scream only because my breath is locked in my lungs and my teeth are firmly clenched. “I’m going to give you a minute and then inject some more.” Unable to speak, I nod. The procedure is repeated twice more to administer all of the steroid, and when it’s finished this grown woman is reduced to a child crying in the doctor’s office after a shot. Two nurses help me from the table and the pressure begins to dissipate. Only one nurse is needed to escort me to recovery where my very worried husband suggests I should have taken the sedative. I agree. Fifteen minutes later I rate my pain at a five. Down three points from when I arrived. Four days later, I rate it at two, resting pain zero. My surgeon doesn’t try to hide his surprise. His advice? If I’m not experiencing significant pain, I should avoid surgery. If the pain increases, I can schedule another injection. If I have weakness or debilitating pain, I need to call him immediately. For now, I should listen to my body. If it hurts don’t do it. How much writing did I accomplish in those weeks? Very little. In fact, for the first three weeks, the only thing I did was send a very late critique to a wonderfully understanding member of my crit group. However, on New Year’s Day, I received a surprise in my inbox: My very first full request from an agent. I was shocked – and completely unprepared. I spent two hours on the couch reviewing my manuscript on my tablet. It took two tries at my computer before I got everything ready. It was about five hours after I checked my email when I clicked send. Could I have done more? Definitely. Should I have? I think so. I know you might be thinking—Wait! Not at the expense of your health! I agree. But I could have used my tablet to work on revisions, to continue building my agent list, and to keep working on my WIP. It’s not like I was getting much else accomplished, and I certainly managed it after getting that jump start from an agent. According to my MRI, I shouldn’t be feeling better now. I’m blessed to be feeling wonderful today, but none of us know what the future holds. I’m not confident doing all of my work on a tablet, but I’m learning. I hope to one day have deadlines to meet, and fans anticipating my work. When I need to I’d like to be creative about getting things done, because no matter what, this isn’t a job I want to give up. So what about you? Have you had an illness or injury keep you from your desk? Had the flu the week of an important deadline? How do you get things done when it seems physically impossible? Please share your experience in the comments. Or if you suffer back pain and have a secret weapon (cushion, chair, back brace, exercise) please share those too.
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There are a number of websites and blogs dedicated to writing, but some I visit again and again. This is a list of my favorites, and the reasons they keep me coming back. The Institute of Children’s Literature http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/ is my favorite place to go. Maybe it’s because this is the place that got me started. If you’re thinking this site isn’t for you because you’re not interested or can’t afford to take classes, you’re missing out on everything else they have to offer. Right under the home button, you’ll see Rx for Writers. Not a student? Doesn’t matter. This section offers a free weekly newsletter, the ever helpful Topical Index, and my personal favorite The Writer’s Retreat. Many of the things I’ve learned have come from the helpful authors there. Writers Helping Writers http://writershelpingwriters.net/ holds more information than you could get through in a day, so pace yourself. You don’t want to miss anything. You can get another helpful newsletter here. Resources for Writers is a beautifully organized list of helpful links. My personal favorite part of this one is the Thesaurus Collections.All you have to do is browse the contents to see they are worth their weight in gold for creative inspiration. If you’re interested in writing for magazines or the educational market, Evelyn Christensen’s website http://www.evelynchristensen.com/index.html is the most complete up to date list I’ve seen anywhere. Just click on the little crayon on the left that says writers, and prepare to be amazed. These newsletters have up-to-date tips and links to each website. Your complete search all in one place. It goes without saying that every writer needs a thesaurus http://www.thesaurus.com/ When you skim your page and realize you’ve used the same word four times, but for some reason, can’t think of a single word that means the same thing, go here. You might end up saying “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” but at least you won’t be thinking too long. You’ll be writing instead! Literary Rambles http://www.literaryrambles.com/ is priceless if you’re searching for an agent. While this site has plenty of juicy information about new books and authors, Agent Spotlight is my favorite here. The agent list on the left of the page can save you hours of time, because the searching has already been done for you. Kathy Temean’s blog https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/about/ is another one I like for finding agents. If you scroll down the page, and look at the Categories header in the side bar, you’ll see there is tons of interesting information for any children’s author. The reason I love her agent posts? They’re very up-to-date. These are agents looking to build their list right now. So if you have what they’re looking for, it gives you a bit of a leg up. Kidlit 411 http://www.kidlit411.com/ is another place filled with information. Are you interested in agents? Critique groups? Picture books, middle grade, or YA? Submissions? Contests? Revisions? All of this and more can be found at here. You might need more than a day to look this one over. Brenda Drake’s blog http://www.brenda-drake.com/ is a great place for contests. I was hesitant about this one at first, since I’m not on Twitter, but there’s plenty here for everyone. If you are a twitter fan, PitMad occurs four times a year. That is a lot of opportunity to get noticed. But check this blog often. There is almost always some kind of contest in swing, and many of them don’t involve Twitter. So, if you’re looking for inspiration to get started ... or to keep going, there’s plenty here. If you know of a great website I’ve missed, please let me know in the comments below. I’m always on the lookout for more information. Ever heard of Pitch Wars? (If you haven’t, Here’s a little information.
http://www.brenda-drake.com/2015/07/pitch-wars-2015-is-coming-are-you-ready/ ) I read this exact same information August 14. Yep, three days before the deadline. The one thing you’ll notice about Pitch Wars is it’s always called an opportunity instead of a contest. I definitely agree. Have you ever felt like your manuscript is almost there, but you can’t exactly put your finger on what’s missing? Well, a mentor helps you with that. Your mentor also helps you polish your query - and maybe some other things you need to get started. Anyway, when I saw the post, I knew I had to try it. So I jumped right into the mentor list -- and only covered half of it. On Saturday, I went back to the list with my notebook and pen only to discover submissions had already started. Panic Voice kicked in right away. All of the mentors will have a manuscript they love before Monday. You better pick the first five ones that take MG and get your query in. But I wasn’t ready. I knew I needed the right mentor, the one who would want to make Delayed the best it could be. It took me until Monday afternoon to narrow down my list of mentors. Then I filled out the submission page, held my breath, and clicked send. If you’re wondering, yes, it’s just as intimidating as sending out a query to agents. When I saw the email in my inbox with Pitch Wars in the subject line, I was expecting a rejection. What I got was a request from Kate Foster, author of Winell Road, for the whole manuscript! A few days later she sent me a few questions. As the deadline loomed for the mentor list, she sent me more questions - because she had a shortlist and I was on it! When I saw the new questions Panic Voice was back. You better just tell her what she wants to hear. If you don’t you’ll never get published. I closed my eyes, told myself that if it didn’t work out, this wasn’t the right place for me to get started, and answered the questions truthfully. The following day, Kate tweeted that she had chosen her mentee. I hadn’t heard a peep, so I assumed she’d chosen someone else. I stayed away from the contest until September 1st. You can’t imagine the shock I felt when I saw Kate’s CONGRATULATIONS email in my box. Even worse, we live in very different time zones, so she probably had to wait a whole day for a response from me. So, Pitch Wars mentees, if you knew before the list came out, the joke’s on me. If you’re an author thinking about entering next year, plan to sweat out the whole two weeks. It’s well worth it if you get in. A big thank you to Brenda Drake for setting up this great opportunity, and to Kate Foster for believing in Delayed. Go Team Llama!! |
AuthorGrowing up, I was the Archives
October 2017
CategoriesHelpful Websites http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/ http://writershelpingwriters.net/ http://www.thesaurus.com/ http://www.brenda-drake.com/ ttp://evelynchristensen.com/magsTidbits14-1.html https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/ http://www.kidlit411.com/ http://www.literaryrambles.com/ http://writersbarn.com/index.php https://subitclub.wordpress.com/category/agents-2/ http://rateyourstory.blogspot.com/ |