Wednesday, May 4, 2022

IWSG: May 2022


 Welcome to the May version of IWSG. Thanks to founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, we meet every month in this blog hop to share hopes, failures, and dreams coming true. Notice my positive wording. Find the list of all participants here.


First my apologies. For the first time ever, I missed posting last month. I've been buried planning the Pennwriters 35th Annual Writers Conference. There is so much to do and endless communications to be dealt with. It will all be over in 10 days or so and I hope I can return to my writing life and reconnect with my friends in the blogosphere. I feel like I haven't done anything for my own writing career for two years now. Time to get back to it.

It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

Crappy times have been the last two years when I've made almost no headway into the two novels I've started. I'm getting back to them very soon. Writer highs? That first contract. The first advance I ever received. The first time I led a workshop at a conference. The few book signings when I sold out of books. There have been a few. But I feel that writerly-high when I'm sitting at my computer and the words flow for page after page. I want to get back there.

"Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement."  W. Clement Stone

I'm loving Halo on Paramount. I'm not a video gamer at all, but I really enjoy the show. Moon Knight doesn't do much for me but it has moments of good entertainment. I'll be watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds later this week and there are lots of things coming in the next few months. Joe Pickett on /Paramount. I love those books by CJ Box. The Boys coming back to Amazon in June and then The Umbrella Academy later that month.

I will likely get a large pile of books at the conference to read over the summer. I'm looking forward to getting back to swimming in a few weeks though the water will be cold. 

What gets you high on writing? Is spring waking new ideas and plans for you? Is anything good coming your way from the entertainment industry?



14 comments:

Liza said...

Yes, there are so many ups and downs, but the long term "up" is the butt-in-chair progress that happens when the words are flowing.

Douglas Thomas Greening said...

Somehow I don't think I'll ever get the 'contract' high, but stranger things have happened. I do occasionally get to experience that writerly-high and it is those moments that carry me forward.

Thanks for sharing Susan.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I hope the conference you're planning goes well. I hope you can get back to your manuscripts that you've been working on when your conference is over.

Nick Wilford said...

I can't imagine how much organising conferences take. I'm sure it'll be a great event though and hopefully it will inspire you to get back in a good place with your writing.

Arlee Bird said...

I like your writer highs. Those would be real highs in my view. I wish you well with your Writer's Conference. Sounds exciting!

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

M.J. Fifield said...

It must be such a great feeling to sell out of books at a book signing. I've never even come close to that.

Best of luck with those two novels. Hope you find yourself making lots of headway on them soon.

Rachna Chhabria said...

Hi Susan, I agree that when we don't make much headway its a writing low. I feel low when I'm not writing or reading.

H. R. Sinclair said...

I hope the conference goes well. Getting back to writing should be sweet.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've actually been editing the past couple weeks, first time I've worked on my own writing in a year.

Kim Elliott said...

It's a horrible feeling when we don't have time to write. Sounds like you have been very busy with the conference, but I'm sure it will be rewarding. I hope you can carve out some writing time soon!

Fundy Blue said...

Happy IWSG Day, Susan! This week Terry and I are binging on "Outlander," seasons 5 and 6. Our cable provider has a free week for all the major streaming services, so we are putting in extra tv time. Good luck with your novels. May they be flowing again soon!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Holding that first published book for the first time must be the greatest high of all time for all writers. If we could get back into that heady state of mind, we could write on forever.

messymimi said...

Writing is so much fun, and so is reading. Those of us who are readers would be lost without you writers!

Diane Burton said...

I hope your conference is a success. So much work. I understand about the past 2 years. I don't have the excuse you do (working on the conference) but my writing was stalled. It's coming back. I hope yours does, too. Good luck!