How success happens

I have started Viktor Frankl's MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING. He was a Holocaust survivor/psychiatrist who pondered how people could survive such horrid conditions, and how they could survive even though it appeared they had no hope. I came across a great quote right away in the preface:

"Don't aim at success--the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success; you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it to the best of you knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run--in the long run, I say!--success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it."

finished third draft

I do declare that I think I've finished a third draft of WE'LL BE THE LAST ONES TO LET YOU DOWN. I think it's still a little rough (especially toward the end) and slightly disjointed, but I'm hoping it will provide a solid foundation for the next rewrite. And I really hope and pray the next rewrite doesn't take two years!

This draft is 224 pages, about 70,000 words. I'm really happy about that, because all this time I've been plagued by the feeling that it wouldn't be long enough. I'm just not a "long" writer -- I blame my journalism background. But short pieces start to add up.

I'm going to let it sit for a bit, maybe do a little polishing here and there, and give it to my lovely friends who have agreed to read it!

Now I have to print it out. I'm sorry for the small tree I'm killing doing that!

3-for-21

I did a year-end tally for submissions/grant applications. Out of 21 submissions, I hit on three (Dust&Fire journal out of Bemidji State, the Writer's Digest competition, and the Jerome grant). Overall 11 rejections, and I'm still waiting to hear on 7.

That is a 14% success rate (or 86% failure rate!). But I will always stand by my mantra that if you submit, submit, submit, something will stick. Who knows, maybe it will even be the big one. For this year, I would say the Jerome grant was the big one for me. I definitely had my heart set on it when I applied.

Fashion pet peeves

I don't know what it is, but I really cannot stand Uggs. Intellectually, I like them. I think they're cute. But it's the fact that I see them on most EVERYONE. At least, most everyone under the age of 22. I guess I've always revolted against trends. At the mall one night, I decided to count the number of Uggs I saw people wearing. Nine. And I was at the mall for 15 minutes.

But please, please, please, if you must wear your Uggs, please don't wear them over sweatpants. Jeans only, or some type of tight pant. Leave the baggy crap at home.

And I'm still seeing far too much fleshy skin hanging like dough over tight waistbands, skin exposed by too small, too tight tops.

And the soap I just used in the Caribou restroom smells like bad cologne that an unfashionable high school boyfriend wore. Bad memories.

Bush Foundation grant

I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the $48,000 Bush Foundation grant. With everyone else in the known world, I'm sure. But I will always say, time and again: Apply for everything and all things, no matter how far out of reach they seem. Something will stick at some point.

Weekly Reader

My Oct. 9 guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/author James McPherson, was recently a guest on the New York Times Book Review podcast. The Weekly Reader leads to good things, ha ha!

Writer's Digest competition

In the mail on Monday I received a certificate for an honorable mention in the annual Writer's Digest competition. I entered "Dad Digs Uncle Davey's Grave" in the memoir/personal essay category. I entered the competition in 2007 but didn't place. This was my second attempt.

That makes four selections from the memoir that have received recognition and/or have been published. Now, I have to finish it!