The dog days of March are here.
Don’t lecture me that I’m thinking of the wrong season for having “dog days.” I mean exactly what I wrote. To a teacher, March brings seemingly neverending days of woe. Students start counting the days and then the hours until Spring Break. Not a day goes by that they don’t lament any work I throw their way. I’m really cruel. I expect them to work every school day, including the days before vacation. Don’t you feel sorry for them?
How does school affect my writing? Their anxiety for reaching their goal feeds my own, whips it into a near frenzy. I find myself thinking constantly about whether my own waiting will ever end.
Patience has never been my strong suit. (That is such a ridiculous understatement, I was laughing even as I typed it.) I’m driven to devote my whole heart and soul to anything I do. My writing is doubly so because it is the only thing I’ve ever done just for me. Not for my husband or my children or my parents or my students. For me. I’m proud of all of my stories, and I know in my heart they are good solid pieces of work. All I want is for some editor to feel the same way. Simple, huh?
Then there are the Golden Hearts to consider. According to the RWA website, calls to the finalists are scheduled for Tuesday. Odd because they’re usually on a weekend. But now I’ll be a basket case Tuesday, waiting for a call I know I’ll never receive. Not that I don’t have faith in my work. I just don’t think I will necessarily be lucky enough to hit all the right judges. If finaling in other contests is based not only on the strength of the work but on the luck of the draw for judges, the Golden Hearts are especially so. Many are untrained, and the variance of the scores never ceases to amaze me. So Tuesday will be agony. I wish the best of luck to all my chapter sisters who are entered, and I look forward to hearing that some of you are Golden Heart finalists!
Now I need to let go of my angst and focus that energy on the three stories churning through my mind. And perhaps over Spring Break, I can finish one or two of them.
And April is just around the corner.