Here in New York City on this full moon night, although I can't see the moon, or the sky that is, because the buildings outside my hotel room window are so tall. 

But I am enjoying the weekend here with SCBWI (the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) at the Winter Conference.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity yesterday to read a small section of my young adult fantasy novel to a couple of editors and got good feedback.  Now I'm ready to submit queries to literary agents and make this dream into a reality. 

I have some fill in work to do on the manuscript, but I'm about ready to let some friends and family read it.  Not sure if I'm ready for the critiques though!  Oh well, I'll have to face up to it sooner or later.

Off to do some networking now and meet other writers.  Back home tomorrow night, but so far I'm loving New York!

I feel like I’ve been living in limbo for the past several weeks.  I can feel changes coming, but don’t know when or from where they’ll approach.  It’s a strange feeling and, being the highly organized planner that I am, not a comfortable one. 

I’m seeing clues come to me from a variety of directions, but not sure which ones are most important for me to spend time and/or money on. 

One thing that’s come together recently is my new radio show called, The Spirit Connection, on WebTalkRadio.net.  I love the experience of interviewing fascinating guests who can offer easy, practical advice for people looking to expand their spiritual connection. 

I have lots of ideas as to where The Spirit Connection can take me, but also want to continue promoting the Sylph Society site as well.  I have a strong desire to continue my work with people on the autism spectrum and to fulfill my role as an autism advocate.  There are so many things I can do, but just need to find the right outlet(s) for them.

I’m hoping that soon Spirit will nudge me in the direction (or directions) that I need to take to move forward.  Until then, I’ll continue living in joy while waiting to be launched out of limbo.

Happy New Year and best wishes to all!

My recent weekend of seclusion in CT to finish my young adult fantasy novel was mostly successful.  I got a lot of writing done and cleaned up some parts that were a little fuzzy.  I still have some holes to fill, though, and am looking forward to getting those taken care of this weekend.

I’m still looking for a literary agent and a publisher, but I’m not discouraged.  I know that it will all come to me when the time is right and I’m paying attention to those little synchronicities that seem to happen very often. 

Once I get the inspiration to act, I jump for it!  I recently got a brochure from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for their conference in New York City, and immediately felt a little spark of energy, so I signed up for it.  I’m going all alone and won’t know a single person at the conference, but what the heck, I’ll go wherever the sylphs take me.

I’m looking forward to spending the holiday with my wonderful family next week.  I’m so blessed.

Happy Holidays to All!

Lea

About halfway through my weekend of seclusion to finally finish The Society of Sylphs. 

I'm thrilled with my accommodations and couldn't have asked for a better place.  I'm enjoying a deluxe sized room in a 200+ year old inn, complete with gas fireplace and an antique sewing table as my writing desk. 

I've had very little human contact while here, aside from ordering food and the daily phone call to a friend who sadly lost his daughter in an accident last week.  The three friendly ghosts who I'm sharing my room with don't talk much, but they're happy I'm here and seem to like being around me while I write.

So far, I'm not lonely, as I was afraid I might be.  I thankfully remembered to bring my iPod speakers and let Chopin charm me as I write (and rewrite) my young adult/middle grade fantasy novel.

I'm curious as to how I'll be tomorrow night, though.  There's a 50/50 chance that I'll either be frustrated that the weekend is coming to an end or sick of myself and anxious to return to civilization.

Only time will tell.....

After months of complaining that I have no time to write, I've finally decided to plan a long weekend to go into seclusion and get The Society of Sylphs finished (until an editor gets a hold of it, that is).

I'll be spending a long weekend in November at a quaint inn in Connecticut.  No phones, no email, and minimal conversation with the inn staff. 

Will I be able to handle going incommunicado for three days?  I'm starting to wonder. 

A friend of mine does semi-frequent "silent retreats" for 24 hours at a time and reports that they're good cleansing and purging experiences.  She describes the process as fun at first, then frustrating, then anger sets in with the "why did I want to do this?" question until, after several hours, something lets go and she welcomes the freshness of new perspective.

I'm an introvert, but the thought of being alone for three days is kind of freaking me out.  Although, now that I think of it, the inn was built in the 1700s and will certainly have a few ghosts hanging around.  Maybe they'll keep me company. 

Either way, I'm setting aside the time to go into seclusion and come out with a conclusion once and for all.  Now I just need to stick to my word and get the job done.