Inconsistency, thy name is Pratt

 So, it would appear that I have not posted since April of last year. That is both surprising and not a bit of a surprise. I really did think I had posted more recently than that, but looking back I'm clearly just sucky at properly gauging the passing of time. *sigh*

Ah well, onwards and upwards! 

What have I done since my last post? Well, nothing of note. Started a new story, thought through some plot ideas on existing stories, and just sort of wasted the days away in thought rather than action. The holidays were nice, and so far 2022 has been like the rest of the 2020s - disappointing. Had a Mediterranean Cruise canceled thanks to covid. And am now struggling to find somewhere else to go that's a bit closer to home last minute. Sucks a bit, but what can you do? I did enter another short story challenge, and while super excited at the prospect of getting an assignment that would push me out of my comfort zone but hopefully get the creative juices flowing I was met with a soul-crushing set of prompts.

GENRE: Comedy
SUBJECT: Peer review
CHARACTER: a laureate

I don't know how many of you went to grad school and were taught how to do a peer review or pick apart other scholarly work, but it was part of my experience and nothing about it was funny. Step that up a bit by making it a peer review with someone at the top of their field and the laughs just aren't coming. At least they weren't for me. Granted, I'm not really a comedy writer. In my regular life I'm not someone that can just crack up a room with stories or jokes. I can win them over and get chuckles and smiles with sarcasm and wit. That's hard to really deliver in 2500 words in the best of times, but while writing about a peer review? It was just tough. 

I did come up with an idea and got it down to 2499 words before submitting it yesterday. I have zero confidence in it going beyond round 1, but at least I came up with something and was able to meet the deadline and following the rules on submissions. Small victories, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So with at least a bit of writing done so far this year, here's hoping I do a bit better about putting pen to paper and about making posts here, though I think I only have a single reader. Can't say I blame anyone for not following along, including her, with my sparsity of posts and rather meaningless posts and musings. But here's hoping it's amusing to at least that one friend!


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