I need a kick in the *SS!

I have failed.

This was the year that was supposed to be different.  The momentum I brought into 2018 in terms of writing was going to continue.  Regardless of results, I was going to continue to produce content, with a commitment to write at least something every day.  And my serial neglect of my blog would end as well.

Yeah, so that didn't work.

I don't completely understand it, either.  It worked for quite some time after I learned of the stories that were being published.  I thought I had finally established a pattern, a routine - something that would carry me when motivation was hard to find.

I fell off the wagon in April, as seems to happen every year.  But I knew it was happening.  And I swore to myself it wouldn't completely derail me.

I never have an abundance of time to write.  But I have enough - small chunks of time here and there.  Yet I squander it.  I've allowed life to get in the way.  And I've made excuses.  There was the chaos of preparing for a new baseball season.  And the trip to Albany for my son's Youth of the Year candidacy with the Boys & Girls Club.  But even surrounding all of that busy-ness, I had time to write.  I chose to procrastinate instead.

I'm currently building flower gardens around my house.  Hard physical work.  But again, I have time for writing after I've finished for the day.  I have contests that I intend to enter with deadlines rapidly approaching, and a call for a submission from a niche press that published a story of mine this winter.  But do I pick up my notebook and relax with a few pages of prose, and some progress toward the deadlines?

Nope.  I pick up the PlayStation controller, or grab the remote to flip on a few old episodes of Gilmore Girls.  (Don't judge - the show is freaking hilarious.)

I have written this post as a call to action.  I've laid out my failings "on paper", and I'm publishing them into the world (or at least, the tiny fraction of the world that sees this blog). 

I can't hide from it anymore - so if you hear the Gilmore Girls theme song around me, ask me if I've written anything yet today.  And then take away the remote until I do.   :)

Contributor Spotlight

So, one of the editors of the anthology I appeared in (click here if you still need a copy!) has been putting together interview-like articles called Contributor Spotlights for some of the writers and artists featured in the book.  Today is my turn.  So click the link below if you'd like to learn a little more about the story I wrote and about me as a writer.

https://anchalastudios.weebly.com/contributorspotlight/norm-titterington

A big thanks to Ms. Anne Anthony (co-editor of "Flash Fiction for Flash Memory") for making me sound somewhat interesting.  :)

As for the picture...well, perhaps I should've opted for one in my goalie mask and pads.


  

Read Across America - Launch Day is here!!

The day is finally here, my friends!  Launch Day for "The Collection: Flash Fiction for Flash Memory" has arrived. 

March 2nd has also been designated as Read Across America day, with the entire month of March being dedicated to the love and pursuit of reading.  A time to share the joy of reading with the ones you care about.  What better way to celebrate than by picking up a brand new collection of short stories written by a large number of talented people? 

(Oh yeah, I wrote one of them too.)   Get the book here:  http://bit.ly/collection0302

So why this book?  Well, let's be frank about something.  Memory loss is a real issue as we age.  And with the busy lives we all lead, it's not even always about aging - I have days where at 5:00 PM I'm lucky to remember what I did at noon if I didn't write it down.  This book is targeted for people who have a love of reading, but struggle to remember the plot of longer pieces.  It is a collection of positive stories that take a few short minutes to read, thus allowing even those who are having difficulty with memory to enjoy a complete tale.

The truth is we all have flash memory. As we move through our busy lives, finding the time to read longer narratives can be a challenge. These shorter fiction pieces between 500 and 750 words offer a flash of story to enjoy and the opportunity to connect and share with friends and family members of all ages. Most of all they are here to be enjoyed!

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Here’s what some of the people who have already read the book have to say:

"It's said that good things come in small packages…here's proof. These small stories linger large…for reading, discussing, remembering."
—Ruth Moose, Award-winning novelist and short story writer

"For most of human history, stories were shared aloud —in this collection, we are invited to regain that intimate space where speaker and listener shape a story into life. These flash fictions are like a Polaroid image, swiftly appearing before our eyes, a moment caught and made more precious by sharing."
—Valerie Nieman, author of Hotel Worthy and LifeVerse Instructor
"When my memory starts to fail me, I want to be reminded—as Flash Fiction for Flash Memory does so well—of how it feels to be touched by a good story. To break through the cobwebs in my mind and travel to places near and far, if just for a moment. Where paragraphs teach lessons and unite families. Where sentences evoke magic. And where hope and love are the four-letter words that matter the most."
—Landis Wade, author of The Christmas Redemption.

"Peer through the window into a world of emotions. From the aching loss on a one-lane bridge to the tangled memories that fill an empty box, each story in this collection leads you step by step through heartache and hope, until you realize that you’re not looking through a window at all, but into a mirror."
—Monica Sanchez, PhD, Co-editor, Storytelling: Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspectives.

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To learn more about this project, visit http://anchalastudios.weebly.com/

To get the book, click here: http://bit.ly/collection0302

I hope you will all enjoy The Collection as much as I enjoyed being a part of it!

It's here!

My "contributor copy" of the anthology has arrived.  It's still a little surreal, seeing my name in print.  I've read some of the stories, and I am humbled to be surrounded by the collection of talent.  There are playwrights, artists, and a large number of published and award-winning authors in this collection.

And little ol' me.  I sometimes wonder if they made a mistake.  :)

It will be available for purchase March 2 via Amazon.  I'll be promoting the link when it becomes active.  If you have any interest in fiction, please consider supporting the project - it's truly an amazing idea.

See?  In print.  Weird, right?

Anthology update

So, the anthology which will feature a short story of mine now has a firm launch date, which nicely coincides with "National Read Across America Day" on March 2nd.  For those who need a little background on the story, see this post:

https://a-writer-in-progress.blogspot.com/2017/12/note-to-self.html

The editors recently put up a "Meet the Writers" page (link below), and those of us contributing to the anthology were asked to ensure that our information was displayed correctly.  I did so, and then browsed through some of the other writers involved.  I was immediately humbled.  There are real writers being featured in this collection.  People who get paid to create stories!  Authors of books, writers whose stories have been featured in a number of literary journals, and creators whose work has won prestigious awards.

And me.  The hobbyist who scrawls a few sentences when he isn't overwhelmed with work, coaching, volunteering or family.  I'm both flattered and terrified to be included with such a talented group.

Anchala Studios - Meet the Writers

The anthology is titled "The Collection: Flash Fiction for Flash Memory". The inspiration behind the creation of the anthology is beautiful and heart-tugging - after you've checked out the "Meet the Writers" page, click HOME at the top of the screen and read the story behind the stories.  The moment I finished that page, I knew I wanted very much to be a part of such an amazing project.

And now I am.  It's all a little surreal and unexpected.  To this point in my life, the only time my name was in print was in advertisements during my previous career in sales.  Yet in less than two months, my name will appear in an actual, published book. 

Damn.

And the point is...

So, as I alluded to in the post regarding writer's block, the only writing that is currently making real progress is a piece that I didn't really set out to write.  Well, at least not in the form it seems to be taking.

I began writing a piece directed at a contest where the theme was "body language".  I had this funny pair of lines in the writing journal that seemed like the perfect starting point, and began crafting a piece about two women on a video-chat date.  It allowed me to weave in different types of body language that would help tell the story and describe the women at the same time.

A minor problem soon appeared.  The contest had a strict limit of 1200 words - and there was no way this piece was going to wrap in that space.  So I put it aside to work on other things. 

Or so I thought.

Every time I tried to work on a different project, the video date story reared its head.  A thought would enter my mind, and I'd write a few more paragraphs.  Then came my trip to California.

I had a week-long trip to San Jose scheduled for some job training.  I'm not much of a traveler.  Not a huge fan of flying (as odd as that may be, given that I work in the aviation industry!), and mostly would just prefer to be at home.  So I make sure to have plenty of distractions when I fly in (usually fruitless) attempts to make the time pass a bit more quickly.

I brought a couple of books, and some of my writing work.  Including the video date story.

I started out the flight to California with a movie, but eventually pulled out my writing.  And the story just came pouring out.  With very minimal effort, I'd filled close to fifteen pages.  Throughout the trip and the return flight it continued.  And now I have this sprawling piece, and I have no earthly idea what the correct direction is.

It's too long for a short story.  Seems like a pretty limited concept for a novel, or even a novella.  The story is currently taking the shape of a real-time view of this date, which I think is approaching hour four or five.

Don't ask me what the point of this post is.  I don't have a clue on that direction either.

Blocked?

He sat under his favorite tree by the river, enjoying the cool late summer breeze as it passed over the water. This was HIS place - his getaway for a bit of solitude and a few minutes away from everyday distractions. Yet he sat with pencil in hand, unable to break the block. The blank page seemed to mock his inability to fill it...

A number of years ago, I was the "he" in the brief scene above. Writer's block had morphed into full-blown writer's constipation. Every project I was working on sat unfinished. The time I set aside for writing would come and go with nothing but blank pages, or maybe a few scribbled out sentence fragments. So I ventured to my favorite riverside spot, figuring it would inspire fresh work. It did not.

I arrived home dejected, and suddenly was hit with a bright idea. I would break the block by crafting a story ABOUT writer's block! Genius, right?

Umm, clearly that didn't work either, since I didn't get any farther than what you see above.

I was rummaging through some old scrap work and journal entries looking for prompts or ideas for a contest piece, and discovered the little snippet from years ago. I smiled, feeling good that I'm not suffering through the same struggle now.

Then I reflected a moment. The novel I set out to write many years ago still sits in a dusty binder, no closer to finished than it was eight years ago when I set it aside. The novel project that "replaced" it? Stormed along at a breakneck pace - then stalled. It hasn't been touched in close to a year. Frankly, the only long piece I've made progress on began its life as a 1000-1200 word short story for a contest.  It quickly outgrew that, but I have no idea where it's going to end up - the story just keeps pouring out.

Meanwhile, things that I want to work on, like other contest pieces, are a battle.

Maybe I smiled too soon.