GUTGAA Rocks

You never know what kind of footprint you'll
leave behind, til you take a step.

At 8:01 a.m., just before I walked my kids to school, I pressed the send button on a very important email. I checked my email three times in one hour to see if there was a notification GUTGAA received my submission...none came...sigh.

I met my critique group for our bi-weekly meeting, something I look forward to for thirteen days every month, and forgot about GUTGAA for a while. I checked my email during a bathroom break thinking perhaps email notifications were sent later in the day. No email. Poop.

One of my critique partners told me to check Twitter for announcements, and sure enough Deana tweeted that the first round of submissions filled up in seconds. Well, I couldn't help but think congrats to Deana for running such a kick-ass event. I vaguely remembered the second submission window and checked my watch. I had 5 minutes to submit but was fifteen minutes from my home computer. Poop.

I searched my phone for my sent email, thank goodness for smart phones, and sure enough I was able to access and forward my submission for a second try. I pressed the send button...again. The cog wheel on the top of my phone twirled like a hamster running circles on its exercise wheel. I ran out of the cafe and held my phone in the air, yeah desperation gets us to do funny things. I dropped my head, it was 1:01 p.m. I told one of my writing partners that I'd probably missed the window.

Before heading to school to pick up my kids I checked my phone one more time for email, and smiled. I made it in. Thanks, Deana for giving me a story to tell today:)  

GUTGAA Meet and Greet Writers

-Where do you write?

I write where ever it's quiet. Sometimes it's in my bedroom, or at my desk in the front of the living room, or at the dining room table. My most productive place to write is at a coffee shop or on weekend retreats where I don't have anything interrupting me, like laundry or kids or cats or...

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

My son sitting in a chair reading a chapter book.

-Favorite time to write?

Late at night, when it's quiet. Did I mention I like to write when it's quiet?

-Drink of choice while writing?

Irish Breakfast Tea with Silk and sugar.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

It depends on where I am in the story. Most of the time I like quiet. Did I mention that yet? But, there are times when I'm writing a scene that the only way to get in the mood is listening to music.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

I wrote a character that is like me when I was young. But she is also who I wanted to be.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
Be open to revision and let go of your favorite lines, there will be a ton more to come.

Biography
I'm the author and illustrator of a non-fiction picture book, "Through Endangered Eyes - a poetic journey into the wild." It was published in 2009 by Windward Publishing, an imprint of Finney Company and won an Eric Hoffer honorable mention. I am working on my second picture book for an endangered animal series. Between that, my kids and husband, my ya novel, my home zoo of cats, a dog and two tortoises, and teaching art to elementary students, I'm enjoying life to the fullest.