Wow! Where has time gone? It seems like yesterday when I wrote here last...and only a little while before that when I stepped of the plane safely back home in beloved Idaho! I guess time flies when you're busy...and having fun.
First, the dogs...
Unfortunately, neither Jersey or Summer had pups - leaving me very disappointed. However, I've been partially consoled by playing with Hannah's adorable four pups. They aren't so small anymore, but it's been fun to watch them grow. Since Hannah and I are planning on doing some training together, I'll get to watch them as they grow into the great sleddogs I'm sure they'll become. I'm excited about getting to train with another musher this winter, it will be so much fun - especially for those night/camping runs!
On another note, I can scarcely wait for the rest of my team to arrive. Six are scheduled to come so far. Two from my long-time friend and mentor Lanette Kimbal, as part of a trade for some of my dogs off my 2011 team, and four from Scott Smith - the trainer of Aaron Burmeister's 2012 Iditarod team. Razz, Mambo and Nibbs all ran on my team and Mouse helped train pups (Mouse, Mambo and Nibbs raced as well, just not on the Iditarod). Since they all had their share of attention in last winter's posts, I won't go into detail about them - but I'm soooooo excited! Looking forward to their arrival helps with the disappointment of no pups this year.
Second, the new job...
I'm so thankful to have such a great trainer and co-workers at Safeco. It's been an adjustment to the full-time job, but I've been having a blast. The first several weeks were a lot of classroom time, but last week we answered billing calls. It is so much fun to be able to solve customer/agent problems!
My new shift, starting in September, is four-tens - which gives me three days off per week to train dogs and write. I have an awesome manager, and can't wait to get to work for real. As a Gold CSR, I get to be licensed in the 40+ states Safeco writes in...it's been fun to get all the mail and e-mails with my non-resident licenses!
The writing...
With the new job, for the first couple weeks, I didn't have much time to write - but prior to that I did submit a story and was asked to write an article on the Iditarod for the Continental Kennel Club's magazine.
The first is a short story that was just published earlier this month in Splickety magazine! I learned a ton just going through the editing/submission process...and it gave me some confidence that I can get published for fiction.
With CKC, the magazine isn't out yet but I look forward to seeing it in print. Since dogs are my passion (if you haven't noticed yet!), it's always a blast to write for CKC. A huge thanks to my Iditarod friends for photos to go with the article!
Now that things have calmed down, I'm writing again. I've got a few things going and lots of ideas. During lunch, before it got sooo warm, I was jotting down the beginnings of stories in my notebook. It was great to sit in the grass under the trees (our work campus is very pretty and nice), with my sandwich, pen and paper...until the sprinklers when off!
I've been making process on the re-write of the Northern Realms Chronicles, book one...I really want to get it done so I can start book two - to follow my fiery, red-headed subcharacter on his adventures...it's high time for him to have something written about him; which is impossible with the book one cast.
Sometimes, when you've written a lot and not read much, it's a good idea to step back and read some great books...and take some time to hang out with other authors. Two of my writing friends and I are attempting to meet once a month or so to just talk writing...we'll see where it goes. Our first meeting we went to the local writer's guild meeting. What an eye-opening experience! I guess I've gotten to the point that, for my long stories, I'm still more worried about finishing them than finding publishers...
As for books, I just finished an awesome book called The Merchants Daughter by Melanie Dickerson. It's a retelling of beauty and the beast with a beautiful ending. Gave me lots of new ideas!
Another book I was thrilled to finally find is Kestrel's Midnight Song, by JR Parker - a young author in Idaho. It was an awesome read and I loved his style...can't wait to see what else he writes!
Looking for something new, I found by accident The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling. There's three books out from her at the moment and I can't wait to read the other two! Set in Ireland, it's a tale of two girls who find a way into Faerie...that almost spells a good story right there. I loved the message of the book as well, reminding us that we shouldn't forget the unseen portion of this world.
One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis and I think everyone should read his On Other Worlds - a collection of essays on writing and The Abolition of Man. If only I could duplicate his simple, easy-to-understand way of writing...he say's the most profound and true things, without a bunch of long, philosophical definitions (not that I mind that, but C.S. Lewis' books are a breath of fresh air!)
And, at long last, I managed to find some books by George MacDonald - a friend and contemporary of JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis books. Seems like all my favorite authors are British...I just love their sense of humor!
Finally, last but not least, I read Reckless by Cornelia Funke. I absolutely love her style and all the stories I've read by her. If you haven't read the Inkheart books, or Reckless, you need to...the Inkheart movie doesn't do the book justice (in my opinion, the only redeeming part of the movie is the ducktape line...). Again, from all of her books I've gained a lot of ideas.
Well, this turned out a lot longer than I expected so I'll force myself to stop for now. For those of you who don't know, you can also keep up with me on Facebook...
No comments:
Post a Comment