What's the BEST Thing That Could Happen...?

Where Fleur stops apologizing for having lofty goals.

Colorado has turned on the oven outside, which means I started doing my daily walk/hike in the morning, before the sun is running on all cylinders. It turns out that it’s a good way to start the day. I live in a town in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies, so my hike is really a Stairmaster in disguise.

Somewhere along the way, I pass this abandoned collection of cabins, a vacation village of sorts. I’m sure it was once bustling with tourists, but now the wild grass and critters have taken over. It looks cool, and my inner Pippi feels like rolling up her sleeves and getting to work.

I love a good project. My house was certainly one, but after more than two years, it’s just about done, as far as a house can ever be done. So every morning, I slow a little and imagine what you could do with these cabins.

The place is 4 million buckeroos and hence solidly out of my league. But I can still dream a little.

Writers are big dreamers—you have to be if you want to have a book with your name on it. As I’m gearing up to get back to work on a very rough novel draft, I have to psych myself up a little. Instead of being negative, I try to look at it as a fun new project. Much like these cabins in my neighborhood, this unwieldy novel is a challenge to fix, but my inner project lover is up for it.

What’s the BEST thing that could happen?

Of course the answer is: for you to write that book, take on the difficult project, do the thing you (and only you) can finish. That’s my dream anyway. I used to feel the need to apologize for this trait of loving a project and dreaming big, but I know now that it’s this optimistic dreaming that makes me a good writer, one who is able to finish a book, over and over again. Writing a novel is a little more attainable than remodeling half a dozen cabins, but a dream all the same. Every book is one, and it takes an optimist who loves a project to write one.

I’m up for it. But I still wish I had a few million bucks lying around… I hope someone comes and fixes this place up.

What I’m Writing

I’m about to sink my teeth back into a WWII historical set in Amsterdam, one I finished the rough draft of last year. This one will need all my writing superpowers, but I feel up for the task. Positive vibes only.

I just finished up a short story (I love writing those) which I’m now sending on submission. More good vibes there…

Where I’m Going

I’ll be at the Mesa Verde Literary Festival on July 12^th, which I’m very excited about. I’ll moderate a panel and will give a talk on the children’s publishing market, Kidlit 101.

Come join us! There are dozens of authors attending, so I expect this event will be the talk of Colorado. At a minimum, Mancos (the town where it’s at) will be overtaken by literary types, which of course is a glorious thing.

Bi-Weekly Cat

I took in this wee fosterfloof a week or so ago. He’s all by is lonesome, but is already tearing through the house like a kitten should. Here he is on day 1, not even a pound in weight, but with lots of ‘tude. His name is Oscar, as in The Grouch, as he showed up all mad at the world.

Same, little dude…

But in case you were worried, here he is a week later, in full snuggle kitten mode.

See? Optimism wins.