So good to me….. (yep, wrong words for that tune).

A half hour ago I sent in my entry to a 24-hour Short Story contest, and a few minutes ago received acknowledgement of the entry. Phew! When I first signed onto gmail to send it, gmail said: we’re having problems. To which I yelled said, “NO, NOT TODAY!” Okay, yes, I did yell it because there’s nothing like spending hours and hours on a story that won’t have a chance because of a technicality. I’d rather it lose because it’s awful, not because my email wouldn’t work!

And, to be honest, the story probably doesn’t have a chance because of off-handed mentions I make regarding the virus. The instructions suggest that you should avoid using anything that’s in the news, etc. because you can bet that everyone else will be doing that too. Ah, well. It was fun. I wrote from the pov of a tween camper going on her first sleepaway camp trip since the pandemic. Not my usual fare.

It was also good practice because the total word count was 875 and I wrote initially around 950. If there’s anything that writing extreme flash fiction has taught me, it’s how to edit and make a word work for you.

Serendipity! I love that word and I love it even more when it actually occurs.

I was strolling through edelweiss (“the book industry’s platform to market, sell, discover, and order new titles“) when I saw the above ARC. A poetry book by David Kirby, a poet I’ve never read before. Lately the only new poetry book I’ve read has been Wisława Szymborska’s “Here” and I’ve been rereading whatever Mary Oliver book tumbles from my overfilled book shelf. So, based on the title and the cover picture I asked to read: Help Me, Information and my wish was granted by the wonderful publishers of LSU Press. This is where I go all schoolgirl and squee and say, “OMG!” I could not have found a more perfect-for-me read if I tried. Rapid flowing words, frequent music lyrics and figures tossed in, sharp humor, what more could a girl ask for? That review will be coming up in the next day or so. Stay tuned!

In between paragraphs, I’m moving the sprinkler about in the yard. I didn’t expect to because of the number of flood watches and severe thunderstorm watches and warnings around yesterday. But, like last summer, the rain is hit or miss and mostly (again) on the miss side here south of DC. Six miles or so north of here had 1-2 inches of rain in an hour while we had three sprinkles. In fact, when I saw that the Washington Nationals game was postponed, my initial thought was a rain delay. Uh, no. It was postponed because of a shooting. Just looking at the photos makes you think that things could have gone very badly just because of people fleeing. Things have gotten so crazy that people who believe in gun control and hate guns are now, guess what, buying guns.

It’s the beginning of a new week. Here’s hoping it’s a good one! Enjoy!