Articles and Procrastination

Well, I am trying unsuccessfully to get motivated to work on an article that is due tomorrow! Sure enough, it's Sunday evening, and I have less than 300 words (needing 1,000). Every time I write 50 or so, I think, hmmm, I haven't checked my email in a while...or, wow, I haven't written on my blog for a couple of weeks! Sigh... In my defense, the article is on USI's Madrigal Feaste, and I had to attend dress rehearsal and the first show this past Wednesday and Thursday, so I couldn't work on it before then. And what's my excuse for not getting more done this weekend, you ask? Hmmm.... I'll get back to you on that one.

Anyway, attending the Madrigal dinner was a lot of fun. I Interviewed several fun college kids and Professor Craig, all of whom were very nice and helpful. Hopefully, they will enjoy that article--you know--the article I'm working on right now! It will be the cover story for the Westside this coming Friday, the 12th.

My previous cover story, from November 28th, was about Matthew Overmyer, a Coast Guard airman in Alaska. Matt was super nice and so interesting to interview. That one was all done on the phone, for a change. I also turned in an Evansville Parent article and pics last week, this one about the foster care program at the Vanderburgh Humane Society. I felt privileged to be able to write about that one and hope the article brings them more volunteers. It will be out in the January edition.

As you might guess from this article activity, as well as holiday activity, work on my book has slowed down considerably. I hope to get a lot done this week...once this latest article is done. Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be working on an article right now...

Update on Novel and Articles

The article writing finally slowed down, for which I can only say, thank goodness! The last couple of weeks have seen much writing on my book, and the results show it. I hit 23,000 words yesterday, when just a couple of weeks ago, I was at 11,000. It's been great to work on Everett and all that is happening to him! I love it.

I also mailed the synopsis and first 10 pages to Catherine Onder at Harper Collins and Lisa Cheng at McElderry last Friday. They were the two agents at Indiana's SCBWI Conference in May, and November was the deadline to submit to them.

The articles are starting up again. I had an interview Sunday by phone with a very interesting Coast Guard airman in Alaska, have an interview tomorrow at the Vanderburgh Humane Society, and have one Thursday at Mt. Vernon General Baptist Church! As always, my subjects run the gamut. My regular Westside readers have been noticing that I haven't had any articles in the last couple of weeks. Several people have mentioned it to me, which is nice.

Horses and kids with disabilities, American Idol and cake, and fun places to visit in Evansville...just my latest articles!!

Friday and Saturday saw the publication of my latest three articles. I had the cover story and an inside article for the Halloween edition of the Westside Courier, and I had my first cover story for Evansville Parent on Saturday. All turned out well, if I do say so, and those involved all seem pleased with the results. October was a super-busy month for articles, and November is beginning similarly. Last week, I was assigned two more for the Westside and one more for Evansville Parent!

Meanwhile, I spent last week very happily working on my own stuff for a change. I wrote over 4,000 words on my book, and I hope to work in more this week in between interviews!

Westside Cover - Evansville Half Marathon

Today's (October 10) Westside Courier has two articles from me--the cover story and an inside article, both on running. I have ended up interviewing lots of runners for various articles, and that has been fun and educational for me (as a very novice runner).

The Evansville Half Marathon article was a fun one to do. It was one of the most time-consuming I have ever done because of the amount of people I had to interview. That meant hours of listening to recorded interviews. I also had to go take pictures a couple of different times, which also added up to several hours. I am pleased with how the article turned out, though, and glad the Westside used pictures of all the people I interviewed. Once I turn the pictures in, I have no control over which ones they use. I think the pics looked very nice on this one. I have already heard from one of my interviews (Mary Devine) to tell me how pleased everyone was. She said that Kathy Yearwood had a copy last night at practice last night and was passing it around.

Latest Westside Cover Story - Fall Festival

My cover story for October 3rd involved interviewing three different organizations to find out what all they do to get ready for, staff, and clean up after the Fall Festival. This article was pretty time-consuming with all the interviews, taking some of the pictures, and getting some pictures from the groups themselves. It went together well, though, if I do say so!

Articles Instead of Fiction!

Today, I am struggling to make myself write a 1,000-word Fall Festival article. I really want to be immersed in Everett's world and find out what is happening on the mountain. Sigh. Little more than a year ago, I would have been thrilled to have this problem, and, in truth, I still am. It's wonderful to have so many writing assignments to do...or so I tell myself! The mountain will still be there... Okay, that was my break for this hour. Only 500 words and a few revisions to go!

Midsouth SCBWI Conference

After attending a wonderful conference this weekend, I am back in Evansville wishing I didn't have so many articles to write. I want to be working on my book!! The Midsouth Conference was the best one I have attended. How lucky to meet Bruce Coville. He was a great speaker. I had an excellent paid critique with author Candie Moonshower and also a great critique group while there. I think the seven of us may stay together and form an online group.