2004-08-26
Okay, so after about six weeks off, I've been on a little spurt of renewed enthusiasm regarding the revision of the book. I did some work and also happened upon mention of a chick lit contest, of all things. And since I happened upon it less than a week before the deadline, making it seem kind of fated, and because it was very easy to enter, I went ahead and did it.
The value of this thing is a little questionable, because it cost $35 to enter and the ostensible prize is $40 but the real prize is getting read by an editor and/or agent who presumably really want to find some new voices. Now, I have been fortunate enough in the past not to have too much trouble getting the interest of agents so I'm not exactly sure why I just spent $35 needlessly except that the prospect of winning something just appeals to me.
You can only submit the first three chapters but in my case that is an advantage, because, if I say so myself, mine are quite strong. That's why getting the attention of an agent hasn't been too difficult. The rest of the book is perhaps another story.
So, anyway, it was an impulsive thing to do and I did it.
*
I saw my old shrink again yesterday. Our session confirmed that she is, in fact, a very gifted therapist. For me, anway. Yes, I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with her briefly before she ditches this line of work. At the same time, it really sucks that she's ditching it. I mean this selfishly and also on greater scale--it's just a loss.
After I rambled a bit she zeroed in on something that felt new to me, something essential and important about the way I process my feelings. Something that felt like a key to what troubles me. I said, "So can you fix it??" and she said, "Sure. I mean, we have three whole months."*
Try as I might, I get so pessimistic about the state of the world. On a daily basis, it seems, I encounter news that just makes me very sad about the way things seem to be deterioriating. (This is one reason I try to avoid the news.)
I know that every generation tends to think that things are going downhill, but that doesn't mean we aren't all correct.
I was trying to think of some things that haven't gotten worse and all that came to mind were stupid trivial things--products. I thought of plastic bags. When I was a kid, there were two kinds of sandwich bags available: one you closed with a little wire twist-tie thing and the other had a little flap that folded over the opposite side. You occasionally saw zip-lock bags but only in special circumstances. Now, I believe, just about all the plastic bags in the grocery store are zip-lock, which I'd have to say is an improvement. So, don't accuse me of being all gloom and doom.
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