Drive-by Blogging

This has to be a quick little peek in tonight. The real world is intruding on my writing world, and unfortunately, I have to get back to the real one shortly. Just a quick note to let you guys know that I'm still in free fall from jumping off the cliff back on December 31. The query letter is still at the agency, with no response either way. I choose to believe that is a good thing, as they said responses usually take four to eight weeks. If it was monumentally awful, I suspect they would want to bounce it back and sanitize the desk as soon as possible. The fact that I haven't receive anything gives me hope that they are thinking about it.

I also submitted a short story to a magazine a little over a week ago. I know that would be a very fast turn-around if I'd heard back from them, but I'm kind of happy that they've kept it this long. That particular story has a boatload of adult language and a couple of adult situations, which I thought might get it bounced within a day or two. So fingers crossed. This magazine might not be as scared of adult language and situations as many others are.

In the meantime, here's a little poem I wrote for last Valentine's Day. It's dedicated to my passion. Enjoy!

Write Like You Mean It

Write like you mean it.

Write till your blood

     soaks into the lines on the paper.

Write till the broken fragments of your soul

     lie shattered on the page

     and the smell of it

     causes bile to rise up

     and choke you.

Write like you know that,

     if you don't write,

     you'll die

And if you don't say it,

     you'll burst

And if you don't scribble it down,

     your mind will cease to be.

Because if you don't say it--

     don't write it--

     don't bleed it--

Nobody else will.

Write like you mean it.

                 February 2010