Monthly Roundup: June 2015

June was a pretty uneventful month, although I (finally) made my reading goal! Hooray! I got one rejection letter, though it was for a piece that I fully expected to be sent back, and the note with it was kind. They say that if an editor takes the time to compliment your writing personally, at least there was something of merit in it, even if it doesn't fit with their needs at the time. I've got a few ideas for how to restructure that piece anyway.

Otherwise I didn't really do much for writing this month, much to my shame. We're trying to fix up our house and that's really demanded a lot of attention lately, so we'll see how the rest of the summer plays out. We took out a couple overgrown lilacs and other trees, installed some new fixtures, built a new deck and a couple other small things to improve our poor, rotted house, at least until we disturbed a colony of biting ants and had to retreat. The garden is also getting into the stage where it's slightly lower maintenance (at least until things start being ready to harvest!) so July may go a little easier.

One highlight of my month is I did get a linkback from Nnedi Okorafor on her twitter. Call me a fangirl, but I enjoyed it!

What's happening in July? Writers conferences I'm not going to, for one. Writers Digest conference is July 31st, and the Midwest Writers Workshop starts the 23rd. I'm probably not going to get to another conference until I try for Writers in Paradise again next January - what with my job being up in the air and so many things demanding money at home, it's just hard to balance the stuff I want to do with the stuff I have to do: the ever-present struggle of adulthood. Plus there's this constant feeling that these big conferences and things are just not for me, the amateur with only a couple tiny magazines under her belt. These feel like they're for people who are more advanced than I in their writing careers. Of course, I also felt the same way about Writers in Paradise, and that turned out pretty spectacular, so I may be worrying over nothing. Still, it's hard to justify the fees for some of these events given that I'm not making anything back at the current time. I'd like to advance a little more in my skills and resume before investing heavily in workshops and conferences.

Non-writerly events for July include the Dragon Festival celebrating pan-Asian heritage and spirit, and what I originally read as a scottish festival but apparently is just music with a deceiving name. Hmph. Well, just wait till August when Ren Faire and the State Fair start up. Minnesota summertime traditions, that.

Going to be enjoying this all summer, yeeeaaahhh