My Writerly Blog

I got some really great news this week: one of my former students, who took his first writing course from me last spring, has had a short story accepted for publication. I have no idea how many of my former students have ever been published, but this is the first to have told me about it! He's a beautiful writer, and I'm positive it's the first of many. So congrats, keep it up, and I couldn't be happier. And if it's not completely patronizing, I couldn't be prouder. Yay!

It's been a crazy week already. My ninja plan is in place, and making me feel a bit excited, even though nothing is for sure. At least I have something to work toward. I also, miraculously, through failing to check my calendar and thus attending a very important all-day seminar, got some work done. I know, it was hard for me to breathe for a minute, too. My list of accomplishments from the last 4 days includes: Submission (and subsequent acceptance) of my abstract to the 2009 MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference . I will be presenting my paper "The Shifting Author-Reader Dynamic: Online Novel Communities as a Bridge from Print to Digital Literature." Submission (and subsequent acceptance) of my abstract to the 2009 Great Writing Conference . I will be reading my short story (WIP, but completed by then), and using accompanying visuals and discussion for my adaptation to digital format. A very behind-the-ball submission of my paper "The Shifting Author-Reader Dynamic...

Now that I've been able to post about how depressing this week was for me without sending myself into a spiral of tears, snot, and hiccups, I should counter it with a reminder of the happy things that happened: Birthday presents I got strange birthday presents, in the form of underpants and patchouli, but I also got wonderful birthday presents. My fellow students and friends in the department, who all bear the brunt of my crankiness on a daily basis, all pitched in and gave me a weekend in Scotland. In none of the alternate universes where my electrons exist do I in any way deserve such a lovely, thoughtful gift. Honestly, the thought of having to drop out of this program depresses me mostly because I feel I'd lose my friends and family there, and it's a horrible, horrible thought. I love you guys. My project not sucking My supervisor - pretty much the smartest person I've ever met - thinks my project is a cool idea. Unique even. Innovative. I don't know if s...

The last "Oh #@$((&%@" post was prescient. I didn't get a dressing down for having nothing done by this point. I got a lot of concern and suggestions, and a much, much scarier picture of my future. I did get a gentle wrist slap for taking on so much teaching - not that I had a choice. Joseph Heller is chortling madly from his afterlife, wishing he could add my tale as a sequel. I pay the GNP of Iceland to study part time as an overseas student. Last semester, I had a full-time job, and that paid all right, but A) drove me insane (reminding me why I had vowed to never work with TV producers EVER again), and B) the contract ended anyway. So I took on all the teaching they offered me - at 7 classes per semester, spread over 2 universities and 4 departments, my paycheck doesn't quite match what I pay in fees alone. But all the teaching - the prep, the assessments, the marking - means I have maybe 4 hours a week for PhD study, and that's spread out through the...

My dad would call this pucker time. As in, you get so freaked out about what's about to happen that you clench your butt so nothing comes out of it at an inopportune moment. It was bound to happen. I've been strolling along, getting things done, but maybe not the most important things. I have this dilemma - do the PhD, or pay for the PhD. At the moment, they seem to be mutually exclusive goals. So I've been teaching, working, scrabbling for every little paycheck and applying for even the teensiest grants. PhD study? Who? And now the day of reckoning is upon me (see how I use the cliches? Clear evidence I haven't been using the writing muscles): my supervisor wants a progress meeting. Progress? I think I remember that guy. I was supposed to do background research last term - I worked a full time job while reading Welsh fairy tales. I'm supposed to be writing a complete short story to adapt to digital format. I have 3 pages after 6 months. I'm supposed t...