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carrenstrock
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Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in the "carrenstrock" journal:
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07:41 am
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reflections on writing
Keeping up a journal is more difficult than I thought. Ideas and thoughts come to me too quickly to note and then pass by just as quickly. I do keep a pads throughout the house and in the car for the purpose of noting these things down but sometimes they are just too fleeting.
Yesterday however, I had an aha moment. I was talking with Pat, a dear writer friend, about the books that others in our writers group have written. And a thought came to me. As I read most of our group's work, I can hear the voice of the writer, but when I read Pat's, I am totally thrown into her characters and never hear her. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I think hearing the writer's own voice might give a signature to future works, sort of like Mary Higgins Clark. You know exactly what to expect when you pick up her books. But not hearing the writer's voice, each book is a totally new experience.
I wonder if anyone who knows me will hear my voice in my writing. I don't mean in my book "Married Women Who Love Women" because my own story threads through that, but in my novel "Tangled Ribbons" (when I find a publisher for it), or in my YA book "Secret Survivors" (when I find a publisher for that.)
I can see my own growth as a writer as I self-edit "Secret Survivors" and am looking forward to getting it out into the world once I finish.
Braden Robert, the only man who can make me forget about my writing, is coming to visit this weekend. His mom is bringing him as he's only 26 months old, and while he's quite precocious, he can't yet drive. Which reminds me, I have to start putting things away.
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08:34 pm
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more out writing
Today I resurected a manuscript for middle school aged kids. I had written it several years ago and thought it was wonderful. It had several close maybes and many rejections before I stopped sending it out. As I read it now, I realize how passive my voice was. I am now making it more active. I had planned to finish rewriting it this weekend and send it out but as I read through I see more and more to rework so submitting it will have to wait a little longer.
When I complained to Ian abut having 27 rejections on another piece of writing his response was, "and how many rejections did Dr. Suess have?" (I had heard 57.) I guess I had forgotten what I tell the writers who attend my workshops. Don't give up. It only takes one person to say yes.
Back to my editing now.
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12:29 pm
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the world of writing
More about my screenplay Gay Wife. Three people have contacted me through my ads. One I believe wanted me to pay him. Although he didn't say that, his web site said that he charged for his services as a manager or representative etc. I sent my synopsis to the second caller and he now wants to see the entire script but he said immediately that his company has no money up front. The third caller sounded very nice and I will send him my script tomorrow. I just received his signed non-disclosure form. He says he knows a lot of people and is fascinated by the topic. He was the executive producer for another movie which means he got the funding together.
I'm sending my novel, Tangled Ribbons to Tor. I'm just so tired of looking for agents and the editor there said she'd read it because the previous editor left and they couldn't find my manuscript.
I feel like a juggler with three balls in the air - so far. I have several more projects in varying stages waiting to go out into the world.
Wish me luck.
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04:16 pm
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projects
Guilt is overtaking me. Once I start a project, I really do like to see it through. I guess I feel that way about this blob too. I've started it so I should keep it up. Although just how much information to divulge is a constant question. As I say in my book, Married Women Who Love Women, "once you put it out there, you can never take it back."
But there is one thing I do talk about constantly. Braden Robert. Braden Robert is a guy who makes my heart sing. He's a twenty-six month old who can walk into a room and totally control it. His grasp of the language and his counting abilities- and understanding- blow me away. He was feeding his piggy bank and counting each coin as he did so. He put two coins in at once and counted from five to seven. "What happened to six," I asked. He pointed to the bank, "It's in there."
He's sensitive enough to say "Daddy's sad." And when asked why, smart enough to say, "Braden won't share his toys." When i said, "will you share your toys with Daddy next time so he won't be sad. Braden thought about it for a while and then decided, "No." Non-the less, he understands consequences. When he hits, he has to go to the "time out" chair. One day, he was making his Woody and Buzz dolls fight with each other. His mother came in and said, "what are you doing?" Braden looked at his dolls and said, "a oh, no fighting, time out," and he put them in the time out chair.
I've been trying to find homes for various writing projects and recently put ads in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety for my screenplay "GAY WIFE." The first week no one called although I carried my cell-phone around constantly. I've now had three calls. More soon.
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12:31 pm
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exciting news
I was so busy writing about the garage sale and at the same time getting all of the required material back to Haworth Press for my second edition of "Married Women Who Lovw Women" that I forgot the most exciting news.
For anyone interested in keeping up with the very latest in the science fiction, fantasy, or horror genres, my son, Ian Randal Strock has a fabulous new website, SFScope.com. Anyway, yesterday, he was the first to report the sad closing of Weekly World News and more than 19,000 readers came to his site. Needless to say, and not just because I'm a proud mother, but his is a site worth watching.
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09:17 am
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Garage Sale
Our garage sale has come to an end - almost. Now all we have to do is cart everything that didn't sell over to Good Will. (About five car trips) Someone asked me if we were rich from it.
My sister Mel and brother-in-law Ed made three trips to my house with their junk –Verrazano Bridge $7 each trip. Our ad cost $25.00. Noel and I worked for about two weeks going through each drawer and closet and every corner of the house. My daughter-in-law Kit and my son Ian and I worked on sorting and labeling late into the night before the sale. The guys all schlepped the stuff from the basement and from the living room and dining room where it had all been accumulating. The six of us worked from 7 AM – 5:00PM the day of the sale and then repacked and brought everything back into the basement that didn’t sell for Good Will next Saturday. We made about $360 total. Divide that by the number of hours invested that’s how much we made – but we met neighbors for the first time, the weather was perfect, and we all enjoyed being outdoors and schmoozing with each other and with the customers. And, clearing out of our houses was priceless. So yes, I guess we all are a little richer.
And it was fun too. Our first customer was waiting at 7:00AM when we opened the door to set up. She said she came early because she got a lift! She waited until 9:00 when we began to sell, spent $12 and walked away happy. Go figure. One man was so funny. He wanted to buy a pair of shoes, but bargained the price down so low that I almost had to pay him to take the shoes. He asked how much one shoe would be. "What are you going to do," I asked him, "Hop?" We went back and forth and it was getting funnier and funnier. Finally, I sold him one shoe and gave him the second free. He loved our 'dickering' and bought a second pair. "This woman's good," he said to Noel. "For a dollar, she's yours,' Noel said. "I'll give you 50 cents," the man said.
Now it's back to work on my writing - and marketing. Anyone know a movie producer or agent?
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10:51 pm
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Garage Sale/Weight Loss
An amazing thing seems to be happening as I clear the clutter from my house for my garage sale. Maybe because this garage sale is coming in the midst of my writing and I'm juggling a lot of things, but for some reason, I'm not craving foods as much as I normally do and I am snacking less. Do you think there might be a connection - lightening my house and lightening my body? I wonder if it will last.
Haworth Press is going to put out the second edition of "Married Women Who Love Women," I believe that will be sometime in 2008. Thirty-five percent of the material in the second edition is new. You can see more about it on www.erols.com/carrens In addition to working on the second edition, I have several other started projects but there's always tomorrow.
Take care.
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11:06 am
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garage sale
I finally decided to begin decluttering but I had no idea that my idea for a simple garage sale, (rather yard sale, as I have no garage,) was going to take me into nooks and crannies that I've been adding to but have never looked behind, for the 20 years we've lived here.
I'm really on a roll. My biggest fear is rain. We have no rain date and are living with cartons and large black plastic bags all over the main floor and in the basement of the house. If I have to get to the bathroom quickly I'm out of luck becaause I have to climb over, or manuver around huge piles of things. My couch is stacked three feet high with clothing on hangers, the crib for my grandson's visits has more clothing on hangers which are stacked equally high - and the six foot closet in the basement is filled with clothing also to be sold. I'm hoping that my ladder and the front steps will serve as posts for the 2x2 I plan to use as a clothes rack. I have too many catagories of things to mention so wish me luck.
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10:54 pm
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first entry
Hi all,
My son, mentor, and editor, Ian Randal Strock, has finally worn me down and convinced me that I need to keep a journal, especially since I just signed a contract with Haworth Press for the second edition of Married Women Who Love Women. I think it's more difficult to write off the top of my head than it was to write a book but I'm going to try. I've started several times and forgotten a password or whatever, so I'm keeping a notebook with all of the user names and passwords needed for everything with today's technology..
I will try but there is so much more we need to know even though they say technology is making our lives easier. My first television had seven channels and three knobs: on-off, volume, and contrast. Dealing with my finances meant going to the bank with a bankbook and giving the teller my money. She stamped the book. Very clearly I could see one column that said how much money I had and another that told me how much interest I had earned.
Memories are beginning to flood my mind but I need to run to work. More later.
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carrenstrock's journal