ROW80 Check in and thoughts on Writer's Groups

I'm really doing this!  Wow, what a week I have had.  My blog was nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award and one blog post was picked up and given a shout out by another Tweep.  I have felt motivated and successful this week!  Yes, as Julie said on the ROW80 blog, things are trying to get in my way.  I'm doing my best to stay on track though.  One distraction I can do little about is my puppy.  She has decided she loves to run in the mud, come inside for an hour (so I have to towel her down) and then go back outside and do it again.  She must want me to join her because as she does this over and over all day long, she jumps on me and runs in circles around the table when she comes in!  I wish she would understand that all of this, while wildly fun and entertaining, is disrupting my writing flow.  Alas, she is only 7 months old and a dog, so I think I'm out of luck.  Other than that, I have done well.  With no kids this weekend, it was a big writing time for me.  Much of what I wrote was character development with some progress on my WIP.  I'm just shy of my 2,000 words for the two days I was sans kids, but well set up for Wednesday when I'm at it again.

I went to my writer's group (I'm fairly new to this particular group) and witnessed some critique challenges and writing insecurity.  This is not a pretty thing when you are in a group and can make for some tense moments among the group members.  For this reason, I found this Kristen Lamb's article both timely and thought provoking.  (I loved her book, We Are Not Alone.  If you have not checked out either her blog or her book, I strongly recommend both.)  While I do not believe I will leave the writing group (I need the accountability right now), I do think there is some balance that needs to be had as you consider the value of your particular group as well as your personal reason for attending a group.  Proceed with caution and a clear intent.

One article I would like to find is one about submitting your work to various places and how to decide which is the right place for each piece.  One of my goals is to select.revise and submit entries.  Well, today I looked at various sites that have contests and publication opportunities and I am feeling lost.  I have a few short stories, poems and flash fiction pieces that I would like to submit but have no clue which should go where.  What if I send it to one and it's rejected, but if I had only sent it to another one it would have been accepted?  How do you decide?  Where are the best places for beginning writers to submit their work?

Best of luck to all my fellow ROW80ers and #staygroovy

I'm so Excited: The Versatile Blogger Award

Wait, what?  Hey read this e-mail for me.  Am I reading this correctly?  Are you serious?!?  My infant blog has a nomination?!?!  

I truly struggled to understand how this could have happened while I was still learning about how to create my platform while also working on developing my writing skills.  Then I took a look at the blog of Writing Belle, S.E. Lane and was struck with a kindred connection as we both seem entrenched in the YA world. I have to give a great big thanks to Ms. Lane and I highly recommend her blog as you look for some excellent reviews and great YA reads.

Now on to the rules of response when nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:1 
1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. Add an image of the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

In the spirit of versatility, here are my nominees:

1.JaseR75 for his blog, Resurrected Writer

2. Chris Naffzinger for his blog, St. Louis Patina

3. Darrah Michelle for her poetry blog, Darrah Michelle

4. Fake Steph for her blog, The Fake Steph Dot Com

5. A.F. White for his blog, St. Louis Scriber

6. Widow Dyer for her blog, Widow Dyer

7. Dawn for her blog, Absolute Forest of Words

8. Alex for her blog, Diaries

9. JC Piech for her blog, Things Which Burst Out of My Brain

10. Michael K. Rose for his blog, Myriad Spheres

11. Paul Maitrejean for his blog, A Writer's Journal

12. AJ Humpage for her blog, All Write - Fiction Advice

13. Gary Taaffe for his blog, Gary Taaffe

14. Bridget Bowers for her blog, Rants 'N' Ramblings

15. V Furnas for her blog, Life 4 Me by Me

In the spirit of randomness, here are seven things about me.

1. I'm only five foot tall.

2. I'm addicted to fruit snacks.

3. I could sit in an empty grassy field for hours and stare at the sky.

4. I love trance and techno music.

5. I want to vacation in Maine and New York City

6. I love Ewan McGregor and all of his movies.

7. I'm scared and excited every time someone reads my writing.

Once you have your nomination, pass on your own nods of Versatility, it is a great honor.