Good morning, Blogland.
We woke up early today so we could get our AC unit fixed (again), and now I’m sitting in my office sipping iced coffee trying to make sense of the putty in my brain. This is a good thing! This summer break has been very different than I’d hoped (so far). A lot less adventure and a lot more lounging, but it’s been good for my creative muscle. I’m reading widely, getting into a twitter routine that isn’t completely soul-sucking, and writing whatever clamors to be written.
I’ve also been experimenting with poetry, basically since the pandemic started. Back in the summer of 2020 poetry was the only writing I could do. The words came in a trickle, and the best I could do by them was to arrange them in interesting little lines. Currently, I have folders of poetry organized by year (2020, 2021, 2022) for a total of 48 poems.
I got back into writing poetry this month thanks to my friend and poet d.ellis. She posted a poem a day prompt on her instagram (give her a follow) and her first collection of poetry just released! You can buy it here.
So, thanks to d.ellis, I’ve been inspired and sort of playing along. It’s interesting, because poetry feels like an experiment. I have no aspirations, no goals or standards to meet. I just jot down the words until they feel right. It doesn’t use the muscle in quite the same way, and doesn’t drain the well like writing a short story or a chapter of a longer work does.
It’s been really nice.
If you’re a newsletter subscriber (and if you’re not now’s your chance!) then you received a few poems in the June Newsletter. I hope you liked them. I may share some more in the future. Or if I get comfortable enough maybe I’ll make a poetry page on the site? I don’t know. We’ll see.
Aside from poetry, I’ve been querying. I have a lot of thoughts about querying, and they might not be what you’d expect. On twitter, so many writers post constantly about their querying process. They share every rejection, react to every request (partial or full), and talk endlessly about all the anxiety they feel about having their book in agents’ hands.
And… I don’t? I mean, I haven’t had any requests yet. I’ve had three form rejections since June. Each one was… fine? I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t all that disappointed. There was no real emotional response. I opened the email, went “oh”, and then found the next person on my list to send to. I don’t feel anxious. I don’t necessarily feel confident – I’m not out here thinking, “Of course I’ll get an agent!”
But I also know that this isn’t my only book. This is a book. It’s a book I love and am very proud of, and I think it’s one of the best things I’ve written. But I already have another book done. By next year it’ll be ready to query (Probably. Hopefully.). I have other books inside me. If Something Sulfurous doesn’t get an agent, maybe Victoria will. Or maybe the book after that.
And, I guess, getting an agent won’t really change the fact that I will continue to write books. I won’t stop. I can’t stop. Writing is so deeply woven with my mental health that quitting isn’t an option.
So I’m querying. It’s fine. It was exciting, that first day, picking the first batch of agents to send my book to. It felt momentous. A milestone achieved. And I think that’s valid. But now that I’m in the routine of it, it feels exactly like submitting short fiction – slow and mostly not exciting.
Just like with everything else about writing, querying is a marathon, not a sprint. So I’m buckled in and comfy, ready for a long ride. I’ll keep y’all informed if anything exciting happens.
Today is for chores and reading and maybe getting outside. I want to see the ocean – SO BAD – but Trev is busy with business stuff. It feels weird to go without him… but also kind of tempting.
We’ll see what I decide. I may just go to a park or a bar or something. But I’m definitely feeling like the house is not the place for me today.
I’ll be back on Monday with a Goals Summary. Until then, Blogarts.
BZ
