Settling for straightforward

Finally I realized that the reason I wasn't writing this post--the reason it's a day late--was because I wanted it to be brilliant and deep and intensely interesting to everyone. I wanted to find something to write about that would sing straight into your soul and change your life. No pressure, right?

Instead I'm settling for a very straightforward ROW80 update. Sorry.

1. Be a ROW80 sponsor.
(a) I checked in on my assigned participants on Monday and Thursday, left comments on their blogs, and even went back to see if they'd responded to my comments. (Most of them did.) Success!
(b) One of my sponsor duties is to write an inspirational blog post that Kait Nolan, our fearless leader, will post on the ROW80 blog sometime during this round. Post written and approved! Kait informed me it'll be posted May 3rd. Woot!

2. Write my chapter of the chain story I mentioned in this post.
N/A - story has not yet come to me (thank goodness). If my luck holds out, I won't have to turn my attention to this until May. Fingers crossed. And toes. And eyes. And cilia.

3. Do three public readings.
(a) I read an excerpt from "On Voice" at Space Monkey Coffee last Friday. Did not faint, vomit, or drool on myself. Success! I'd been incredibly anxious about this reading because I can't read "On Voice" aloud without crying. And crying in front of a room of strangers is...awkward, to say the least. In the end, I read and cried and--miracle of all miracles--felt no shame about it. The crying felt true to the piece, like an authentic part of its performance. So relieved!
(b) And now that I've gotten through the hard one, I'm stoked to read some really fun stuff at Rain or Shine in late May!

4. Continue to try to get more involved in the local writing community.
(a) A couple of Fridays ago I got together with some writers I'd met through the Art Spark event for a writing session for an hour or so.
(b) Last week I got together with one of those writers for some in-person writing sprints for a couple of hours.
(c) On Friday I attended friends Chuck Caruso and Nick Slosser's reading at Rain or Shine. GREAT stuff!
(d) Had a first meeting with a newly-formed writing group last night. Very excited about the potential for motivation and to get constructive feedback. Not to mention the other writers are super talented.
(e) In the process of making dates with a couple of fellow writers for in-person writing sprints this week.

5. Continue to write monthly articles for VoiceCatcher.
This weekend I interviewed Diane English, one of the founders of VoiceCatcher. It was enormously fun to meet her and I'm looking forward to writing the article this week.

6. Focus on my pseudonym's novel.
No comment.

7. Try to stop trying to do too much.
You know, when I look at how much I've accomplished in the last week-ish, I start to feel not-so-bad about all the things I *didn't* do. Just a little bit less bad. A smidge. I wonder if I'll ever get to the point where I can accept that I have limited time/energy and only one of me.

8. Apply for writing fellowships/grants.
(a) Am waiting for the Literary Arts fellowship application guidelines to go up.
(b) Looked at the Regional Arts & Culture Council website for grant opportunities, but didn't see anything that matches me. There are some pretty cool resources up there, though. And when I have established myself as a writer, recognized as such by my peers with at least 10 years of experience in my field, I can apply for a fellowship.