Business as Usual
But with a really exciting announcement!
Hey there,
I woke up yesterday morning at 6:00, as I always do. As it happens, I’d woken up at 3AM with a bug crawling in my ear canal, and as you can imagine it was difficult to get back to sleep after that, so I was pretty tired. But it was 6:00, the alarm was going off, and it was time to get up.
If you know me IRL, you’re probably already working to suspend your disbelief. Sleep has always been my love language, and I’d rather do pretty much anything than wake up early. But 6:00 is a compromise I’ve made with myself in the last year. Writing is important to me, and in the absence of structures in place in my house to prioritize it, I created my own. Sometimes it’s a newsletter, sometimes it’s a submission, sometimes it’s today’s newspaper (or tomorrow’s, if I’m really on the ball), sometimes it’s work on a book - but whatever it is, I wake up early five or six days a week to write it.
So, I got up at 6:00, put on my bifocals (yeah, apparently I’m the kind of woman that oozes sexual attraction now), tiptoed down the hallway past all the other bedrooms, sat on the couch, and fired up the computing machine. And before I had even opened the document I was working on: Thump thump. Turn-click. Pitter-patter. The sound of my two-year-old getting out of bed, opening and closing his door, and lumbering down the hallway.
WTF.
His sleepy cherubic face didn’t appear from behind my computer screen, and soon I heard his voice back in my bedroom. He’d found Daddy and was snuggling with him. I felt, inexplicably, guilty for that - like I should have intercepted him and let my husband sleep. But I fought through the guilt and got a few words written before another turn-click, another, thumpier pitter-patter. My oldest, starting middle school in less than a week, walked in, squinty-eyed and spiky-haired, earlier than she’ll ever be up during the school year. But her screen time hadn’t started yet, and could I please change her screen time for the summer time so she can watch TV when she wakes up before 7:00?
The baby made his way into the living room, too, demanding to be taken outside so he could dig in the dirt. I walked down the hallway to grab a towel to dry off the dewy outdoor chair next to his favorite dirt-digging spot, and I heard my name follow behind me. “Was that you?” I asked the big one. “Nope,” she said.
I poked my head into the bedroom of the middle kid. Her stuffed animal was sitting on her chest, standing sentry, I guess? “Hey.” I said, and she wiggled her fingers at me. I walked into the room, and the baby must have sensed that Mom Junior was awake, because he ran down the hallway calling her name.
Author’s note: Don’t forget that all this time, I was supposed to be sitting at my computer, working. That’s the thread that kept pulling at me while all these little people kept casting their lines, snagging my flesh, and pulling me in different directions.
By 7:30, I had about 250 words written, and now my husband was awake, too, talking to me about the things he thinks about at 7:30 in the morning. The two younger ones were giving the dog an IQ test, the oldest was walking around being moody, and this whole time my computer was siting on my lap, opened to the document I’d been trying to work on all morning, cursor mocking me as has become its habit.
In other words, business as usual.
Five more days until the older kids start school. Eight until I’m on a plane to England. Twelve until the new sitter (YES!) starts. Will things settle down after that? Will I be able to spend more time on myself and my work? I keep saying they will, but I’m probably deluded. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks. I’ll report back.
Announcement
Speaking of England, here’s some super fun news.
Background: At this festival (which I’ve been supposed to go to since 2020), there is a competition called Friday Night Live. Ahead of the festival, authors submit the first 500 words of their unpublished novels, and the finalists move to the live competition where they read the excerpts aloud. Then folks vote (or something - I’m not clear how this happens) and the winner gets a prize. Good things (like publication offers) often come out of this competition.
I entered last year, and heard crickets. The feedback I’ve gotten from many literary-type folk was that the beginning was, and I’m paraphrasing, too boring. Now, I know the book isn’t boring. But if the beginning is boring, then no one will get to the rest of the book. So, after much vacillation and flat-out complaining, I rewrote the beginning. It took a few tries, to which which you were subjected, but I finally settled on an opening that I think really works. Once I had it, I submitted again to Friday Night Live.
As the notification deadline neared with no word, I expected more of the same - silence and more silence. But, surprisingly, the day before the deadline I got a very nice email telling me that while no, I hadn’t made it to the finals, I had made it very close to the finals. My entry was placed into the category of “Highly Commended,” which, after submission after submission with zero recognition or communication is a very promising sign.
So, yay!
Also, someone who was in my 2019-20 novel-writing class with me did make the finals. So, while my name will be called at the competition and I’ll receive a round of applause, I’ll actually get to hear his submission and all the others. So, that’s exciting, too!
What’s Entertaining Me?
Our town’s sculpture park. It’s just so pretty. It’s so nice and peaceful and pretty, and they have events like ice cream socials and it’s just a really nice little oasis in the center of my town. See above for one of our gorgeous photos and how my son decided to use it.
Also, an art and craft fair I stumbled upon last weekend in the Berkshires when picking up my kid from camp. I might go back next year just for the festival.
What’s Enlightening Me?
Artificial wombs to save premature babies may be closer than we think. This is how it starts, my friends. This article from 3 years ago says artificial wombs for humans might not be that far off.
Have you seen my speculative timeline for human reproduction in the next 200 years? I wonder how closely society will follow it.
Alright, that’s enough for one Wednesday. I’m gonna be really transparent, realistic, and forward-thinking and say: I’m not sure if I’ll have time to send a newsletter next week. I leave for England very early Thursday morning, and my older kids start school, and I have a few sessions I’m leading with my day job. not to mention the other writing projects I’m trying to wrap up. So if you don’t hear from me, you can trust that I’ll have plenty of time on the train/plane/other plane home to write you a very nice note.
Bye for now,
Nicci it is so nice to read about your happenings! Your family is so very lucky to have you in their lives. You will some day get those extra moments to yourself but until then you will have to keep at stealing away the few precious ones that you can to write and reflect. Keep at it girl!
I am so super excited for your adventure to England and can't wait to read about all you getbyo see and do while there.You have waited long enough and I know that this is where your book is going to get picked up. I can feel it!!
Keep writing, keep writing, keep writing!
I love you!