Darn Chuck Wendig and his crazy idea-generating flash fiction challenges … After writing a short piece for last week’s challenge, I made the mistake of glancing through this week’s. What can it hurt?, I thought to myself, as I hit the random number generator one more time. As fate would have it, up popped “X-Men” and “Planet of the Apes,” and there I was, in some dystopian future where the bioengineered simians and primates took over and only those humans with selectively evolved genes had survived. Now, both species are caught in an existential struggle for dominance over the world where humans once reigned supreme.
DAMMIT.
Still, it’s flash fiction, so I’ll get the story out of the way and then dive back into Steel-Toed Blues.
In other news, an Army colleague who has since left active duty has started a fiber arts business, Iona Rose Studio. She has been my fiber mentor for about a year now, and is embarking on a schedule of traveling and teaching, and encouraging her students to submit to fiber competitions. This weekend, Andrea will be at the Carolina Alpaca Celebration, showing her work and that of her students, and teaching fiber classes. One of those students, whose work she will show, will be me.
The stages of a project. Not pictured: Panic, Hesitation, Procrastination, and Overwhelming Relief at Being Finished.
This is the first time in a very long while that I’ve shown something in an arts competition, and definitely the first time I’ve let someone see a single that I’ve spun with a drop spindle, before it’s plyed and knitted up into a garment, at which time the fiber is much more forgiving. I would not have done this on my own, but I wanted to support my teacher and friend, and her studio, so somewhere in the world is a purple and green skein of yarn, known as “The Green Goblin,” which will someday be part of a larger project. Go, me. And Andrea. And Iona Rose Studio, LLC.
The Green Goblin entry, complete with description and ready to be sent in!
Last but not least, I’m working on setting up a series of workshops and convention appearances, some solo and some in conjunction with other creative partners. As much as I am more comfortable hanging out on the Internet and posting pictures of yarn and Basset hounds, I am at the point where I need to start getting out there and making personal connections, and looking a potential customer in the eye and telling him/her why my books are worth buying and reading. Also, I enjoy coaching people through the writing process, and I would like to expand that part of my business. Because it’s fun. And one of the most rewarding things is when one of the people you are coaching pitches that they are getting favorable feedback with submissions.
To that end, I’ll be re-working my Web site to make it easier to navigate (and update), and include a schedule of workshops and appearances, as well as the list of publications. (As the list stands, it’s very, very outdated.) But, in the meantime, it’s time to get back to the actual part of being a writer, which is to say–time to write!
See you behind the keyboard.
