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!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review Overload?

Image
I realize that I have been posting a lot of book reviews in recent days, and not so many personal posts. I will try to even out the balance between the two in the coming days and months. However, I wanted to go ahead and give you a head's up that I am going to try and write a review for every one of the 50 books I have set for myself to read this year. Or, in the event that I seriously hate the book, I will just give it a low rating rather than blasting it for its less that awe-inspiring nature. In addition to my reading goals, I am also trying to gear up for more writing this year, believe it or not. I am currently working on a piece of fan fiction for the Mary Russell novels. The piece I am working on should pick up right after The Pirate King .  I've done an initial draft, but after some peer reviews, I've decided to take another pass at it and see if I can't make it a bit better. Apart from the fan fiction, I am trying to set the ball in motion fo
Read more

Short Story Entry for Round 2 - SUBMITTED! Pew Pew!

Image
The short story challenge prompts for round 2 have been released! And have made me a touch anxious. Fortunately, I was able to think about them for a bit and landed upon the rough outline for a story rather quickly, which is key since I only had three days to turn out a story based on those prompts. What were the prompts? Genre: Sci-Fi Subject: Heartbreak Character: Jockey Yup. Silence met that set of prompts. Then finally, my mind kicked into gear and the creative juices started flowing. But it was a slow trickle until I was able to write with any consistency. Add to that quite a number of concept revisions and you had a bit of a panic this afternoon. How did I combat said panic? Well, I am incredibly lucky to have a small but dependable group of reviewers that help beat me into shape and provide invaluable input and feedback. Some contribute more than others, haha, but they all have their piece in the bigger picture. Afterall, it could be the most creative thing in the world, but if
Read more

Book Review: Midnight in Austenland

Image
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale My rating: 3 of 5 stars Having seen the movie Austenland, I jumped at the chance of reading its sequel. I enjoyed this book even though it was a very different story from the original. This one was fraught with mystery, and not just about who will end up with who in the overall romance that we can't help but expect from anything with "Austen" in the title, or the by line for that matter. I enjoyed stepping back in time, so to speak, with the various characters and watching the various relationships and interactions unfold. I thought Ms. Hale did a great job of drawing you, the reader, into the story as it progressed through the drama and mystery surrounding midnight in Austenland. I also enjoyed the fact that the main character, though maybe not so normal in her personal accomplishments, was very normal and very human in her personal life, ultimately driving her to the escape that was Austenland. I liked, too, that you were
Read more