Schedules, Timelines, and Goals. . .

Today’s Goals:

Type 2 issues of Blood on an Appalachian Sunset
Write 2 issues of Blood on an Appalachian Sunset (3000 words)

Christmas always brings out the best in me. Yes, this time of year is stressful, demanding, and depressing for some, but I love it.

I have the kid’s Christmas shopping almost done. I over-indulged them this year. I shop for the girls at Limited Too only twice a year. They love the clothes but the prices are outrageous. I picked one outfit apiece for them and the total came to $200.00. I was shocked but not shocked enough to put it all back. I got everything on their lists but I didn’t have the youngest one’s list. He wrote it – then lost it. I had to improvise with a few Gameboy games but I couldn’t think of anything else to get him.

I saw a little motorcycle at the toy store – the one with the chargeable battery and it looked pretty good. My husband didn’t want any part of anything that had to be charged. We had a bad experience with an electric scooter a few years back. I’d forgotten about it and we were on our way to Sam’s Club to pick up a few more things and browse for the little guy.

I almost got whiplash as he made a sharp left into the Motorcycle place. We kicked a few tires and purchased two dirt bikes - one for my youngest son and one for my oldest son. I also got a list of dirt tracks so I guess it is off to the races next summer!

On the writing front, I managed to get two issues (36 and 37) of Blood on an Appalachian Sunset to the editor but I'm nowhere near the 9 issues ahead that I need to be. I have at least 3 issues in my notebook that need to be typed and edited. I found that if I write for awhile (at least 6000 words) then type it, it works better for me. So, if I type 2 issues per day and write two issues per night I should get ahead. We’ll see. I’d like to take Thursday and Friday to work on my novel.

I haven’t heard anything from any of my submissions. Here is my outstanding list:

1 poem to Skyline Magazine (submitted 8/20/2004)
1 short story to Paradox Magazine (submitted 9/16/2004)
4 poems to Drunken Boat (submitted 9/28/2004)
1 short story to Solander (submitted 10/4/2004)
1 short story to Mid-South Review (submitted 10/14/2004)
1 short story to Copperfield Review (submitted 10/20/2004)
1 short story to Wildchild Publishing (submitted 10/20/2004)
1 poem to Zygote In My Coffee (submitted 10/24/2004)
1 poem to Maelstrom (submitted 10/28/2004)
1 poem to Big Ugly Fiction (submitted 10/30/2004)
3 poems to Mid-South Review (submitted 11/15/2004)
1 poem to Evergreen Review (submitted 11/15/2004)
1 poem to NFG Magazine (submitted 12/6/04 – tenacity is a “strength” of mine!)

The poem to NFG has probably been rejected but their website has been down for awhile and I cannot check the status.

Well, I just got handed some work to do so I must be going.

BK