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Timing Sucks Sometimes

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 10:10am
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So here I am... I've gotten good responses back on the beginning of Sarah's book, and I declare myself finally ready to take the plunge and enter the 1st chapter in some contests.  The RWA chapter contests are a great way to get it under the notice of some editors and agents, without all the layers of slush readers, for a reasonable fee. 

My plan for this morning, therefore, was to go through the listing of contests and send the silly thing off.  And, the gods smiled upon me, this morning's email contained a new list of contests. 

Like a good girl (for a change) I carefully went through the list... and not one single one of them had a contest category for my type of book.  Contests that ended two or three months ago all had my category, but not the contests taking entries when my book is finally ready.  Of course.  **shaking head**  Typical. (Read more)

Best Of Intentions

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 2:08pm
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I got up this morning intending to spend 1/2 hour reading my email and the rest of the day working on paying-work stuff. But… of course… it didn’t happen.

The new Láadan Language site is up and my morning has been filled with fixing glitches that new eyes have spotted… stuff that really needed to be fixed before more eyes saw it.

And, to make matters worse, I completely forgot that I was supposed to get my contest score sheet totals to the overall contest coordinator on Friday… so I had to rush and get those in the mail to her. **sigh** Bad me for putting it off.

And, I needed to take the dog for a walk before the rain starts, because we both desperately need the exercise.

And… and… and…

And now all I can do is stare blankly at the screen. (Read more)

Extension Filed & Contests Judged

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 8:45pm
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It was a busy day for me. I filed my extension for my taxes since I can’t pay them at the moment, but come the first of the month I should be able to, so all will be well.

And I spent the whole day today judging contest entries for my RWA chapter. This is the chapter’s main fund raiser, and there are never enough people to judge them, so even though I didn’t want to, I let myself get roped into it again this year. I was hoping that being a category coordinator (organizing stuff that other people judged) would be enough, but alas, that wasn’t the case. (Read more)

Better Than I Thought

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 04/12/2006 - 8:19am
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 The last contest entry, the one I was dreading, managed to redeem itself and by the 5th page turned out to be pretty good... but the first 5 pages are covered in green ink. So, I'm done with the contest entries, unless I end up judging more as a discrepancy judge... I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut.


And my allergies are finally lightening up today... I napped for over 3 hours yesterday because I was feeling so bad.

So, today is the day to try and whittle down my to-do list. Taxes... laundry... and unbury my desk... how thrilling. And maybe write some... what a novel concept. :-)

Crimes Against Literature

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 04/11/2006 - 9:05pm
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 I was complaining to my kids during dinner about the entries I was having to read for this contest, and #1-son suggested the term "Crimes Against Literature" and I laughed. Yes, that's what I'm reading today... Crimes Against Literature. (Read more)

Contests & Stuff

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 04/11/2006 - 8:33am
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 My critiquing of the contest entries ended up better than I thought, and I actually got seven of the twelve done. Yah!!! And the best news is that five of the seven actually ended up being surprisingly good, given their awful beginnings.  (Read more)

Contest Rant

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 04/10/2006 - 8:18am
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 It's that time of year again... time for judging the WindyCity-RWA Four Seasons Contest entries. I checked back in the archives because I was sure my first entry in this blog was my rant about last year's entries, but it was the second entry. (Read more)

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