New, Quick Challenge

I have 7 stories that are finished and ready for something to be done with them. I have to stop sitting on them as if they'll get better if I look away for a while. I'm not getting much writing done this summer, and I'm allowing myself that for now. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't be doing anything.

New challenge. Submit to magazines or publish all 7 stories by July 31st. That gives me a whole weekend to work with plus a few days. I just need to set myself a reasonable goal and get my butt in the publishing/submitting seat.

Which doesn't make it any easier. I'm not sure where I might submit some of the stories and I'm still hesitant (scared?) to self publish shorter works. I could see doing maybe the 8000 word short story as a standalone, but not the 4000 or less ones. And they aren't all genre stories. And I am so good at making excuses!

So instead of working on stories or even covers, I played around with photos on Gimp, trying to combine two shots, one focused on a road and another on a distant mountain. It looks pretty neat, but it isn't what I wanted to be doing.

I know these stories that I've written since finishing the Depth workshop have better openings than stories I've written before, but is that enough? My husband liked them, but he likes everything!

So I have thrown down my own gauntlet and I'll just do it. I'll get some covers together and put the longer stories up. The shorter ones too if I can't find a market to submit to. Just do it. No one is going to punish me for trying.

Readjusting to Modern Life

Coming back to civilization after a 7 day backpacking trip is strange. I no longer have to wake up at 5:15 and immediately pack up everything and carry it to the next destination. There are so many people around and I may, at any moment, need to interact with them. Fewer critter sightings (although I did see a cat and two kittens this morning that I think might be feral or at least homeless on the way back from crossfit).

My husband and I have also been experiencing some gastrointestinal discomforts that began soon after we got home. I'm kind of glad we're both having it, but it still feels pretty awful.

There were days on the hike when I felt clear headed and ready to write and others that I felt muzzy and uncertain again. I want to get working on my solo book, but I'm not making the time for it. And I'm not making the time for it in part because by the time I'm done with my day job I just want to sleep. Maybe I can take a short nap after work and then feel more like writing.

But I'll probably wait to try that until after this, ahem, discomfort clears up. It's probably an allergic reaction to work.

Gone Fishin'

Okay, not really. I don't fish. At least, not on a regular basis. No, Ambrose and I are out backpacking.

Distilled

I figured out yesterday morning that the 2.5 gallon container that I thought had drinking water in it did not in fact have drinking water in it. Instead, the container, into which I'd made over a gallon of inroads over the weekend, contained distilled water.

Now, drinking distilled water won't kill you. It tends to be less flavorful than mineralized water, though I didn't notice that. I had instead felt lightheaded and loopy, a little out of sorts. I have to wonder now if the other container that I finished off over the weekend also had distilled water, but it's long in the recycling bin by now.

I didn't drink a lot of water yesterday because I don't like the taste of the water that comes out of the sink. But I did eat a lot of watermelon, so that's got to count for something.

I want to start feeling better, and I hope that this water mistake can be blamed for any feelings of not-well-ness I've been having because Ambrose and I are going on a long backpacking trip next week and I want to be completely ready. Back to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness to see if we can make a better go of it this time.

As I told my co-workers, this year, instead of pressing on when we reach the small campsite on the jeep road, a tactic that ended with Ambrose stumbling into camp after 1 in the morning, we will be stopping there and finishing the trek in the morning when we reach that point. Along with another change in route, and familiarity with most of the route, the hike should be easier than last year, but that doesn't mean easy.

So I'm going to make sure I'm drinking water complete with tasty minerals for the rest of the week.