Hey, guess what?!

I went back to New York!

I went to my first Writer's Conference, put on by Slice Magazine. I took workshops in character development, dialogue and revision, and watched a panel on the importance of literary magazines. I had a great time! Even though I've heard again and again about all of those subjects, it's always helpful to hear about them again. See, the thing is, every time I learn about, say, character development, I'm able to relate it to a new piece I'm working on. In this case, one of the exercises we did gave me a great new opening to a story that I liked, but whose opening was lacking. My favorite part was probably the panel, because it was so nice to hear about people who had submitted their work upwards of one hundred times only to go on to have a bestseller. I just recently started submitted my work, and actually just got my first rejection from that round! (For the record: first rejection ever was from Fiction magazine about ten years ago, this latest was from The Atlantic. What can I say? I start at the top!) I don't exactly feel pressure to publish before I graduate, but it would be pretty great.



In addition to the conference, I spent time with my friend Erin who stayed with me. She's very familiar with New York, so it was great to see her favorite places. We did a lot of walking around and exploring. This trip more than ever made me want to move to the city. I can so totally see myself living there! Fingers crossed that I find an amazing publishing job right after graduation!

Work has slowed on Cobblestone. I'm almost to the arms now, but as it turns out both of my classes this semester are very challenging. My literature class has NINE books assigned, and my writing workshop requires one or two new stories every week. They're short-shorts (250-1000 words), but still! It takes time to come up with an idea, and then to see if it will work. We are given specific prompts (this week is to write a three page story that chains through four points of view), which adds to the challenge. Here's hoping I finish by Christmas!

I Done Went to the City

Most people are surprised to learn that, at 35, I still hadn't been to New York City. That all changed last weekend!

It was one of the greatest weekends of my life. Seriously. Every street we turned down, every block, had fourteen thousand things to do and see. I just walked around most of the time totally slack-jawed.



I saw the view from the (almost) top of the Empire State Building. I went to Grand Central Station and imagined passing through those beautiful hallways so often I become blind to them. I got to go to a fancy restaurant and see a magnificent burlesque show.



I even got to hang out with dinosaurs.



The best part though was day dreaming about living there. Seeing all of the activity, watching the people going about their days, sitting on the train and feeling the lull of the smooth motion. I kept feeling confused, thinking in some spots I was in Boston. NYC is really close to Boston.



I'd like to think I'd live there some day, for awhile. I always thought of New York City as somewhere to live when you're young, in your twenties, fresh. But now that I've been there, I see all this opportunity. Maybe someday.

I didn't make it to a single yarn shop. Went with a non-knitter. I'm at the tail end of my spring break and spent this evening working on my mittens and concentrating on relaxing. As promised, I am now about half a mitten away from finishing this pair and spring is sproinging all over here. You're welcome.