Going to the Symphony

Tonight I’m going to the Picnic Pops. The Grand Rapids Symphony does a series of outdoor concerts every summer at the Cannonsburg Ski Area. My mom and dad volunteered at every concert for many years. After Dad died, I promised mom I would make sure she could continue. I’ve had a great time working in the kitchen with her, serving a meal to all the other volunteers. Other people are busy directing traffic, driving golf carts so that people with walking difficulties can get to their spots, selling and taking tickets, and doing countless other duties.

This is my third summer at the Picnic Pops. During the academic year I’ve also handed out programs at their concerts at St. Cecelia, as well as at DeVos Hall. It’s well worth the time. Where else can you hear a nationally recognized orchestra for only $5?

If you’ve never volunteered at a Grand Rapids Symphony concert, you should give it a try! You get to hear a fabulous concert for a very reduced price, and you meet lots of wonderful people. Annamarie Buller does a wonderful job of coordinating Symphony volunteers all year long. Contact her by going to the symphony website (http://grsymphony.org/support/volunteer) and filling out the online form, or by emailing her at abuller@grsymphony.org.

Celebrations

The beginning of July is an exciting time for me because it always involves celebrations. It's the birthday of our nation, and it's my birthday. Last week I wrote about it being this blog's birthday as well. While I didn't celebrate Creative Hodgepodge's anniversary, I did observe the other two.

My oldest daughter always throws a huge Fourth of July potluck and fireworks party. It gets larger every year. She and her husband provide hot dogs, hamburgs and drinks, and everyone else brings a dish to pass. And then we have fireworks. What a show! This year the party was held on my birthday. I told my son-in-law it was very nice of him to invite all those people over to celebrate my day!

Two days later, on the actual holiday, I played in a lakeside concert, which was followed by more fireworks. I enjoy playing in a band, but don't do it very often. I'm looking into joining a community band soon. Gotta keep up my skills so my mouth doesn't feel so sore after playing!

As for my birthday, the celebrations were all spread out. The day before, my youngest daughter took me to a show at the Civic Theater. We spent the actual birthday at the picnic at my oldest daughter's. This week my husband took me out for lunch. And my other daughter sent a card saying she was going to take me out for a mom/daughter day. Love it!

Celebrations are fun. They mark milestones, like my fifty-sixth year of life, and the two hundred thirty-fifth birthday of our nation. It's good to recognize these milestones because they are an affirmation of life. The United States is still going strong, and so am I.

Life is good.

Happy Birthday, Creative Hodgepodge!

Two years ago, on July 3, 2009, I posted my first entry on this blog. I had just turned another year older, and was trying to focus on certain areas of my life. I was enjoying retirement, but felt too many of my days were wasted. I needed accountability, the type groups like Weight Watchers use to get results. By setting goals putting them out in public, hopefully I get more motivated to follow through. So I decided to start with two areas of my life that were most important to me, and get the ball rolling.

So how has this plan worked out? Well, I'd say there's been a moderate amount of success. In the writing side of my life, I've written in this blog every week for one hundred and four weeks! My first novel is almost finished, and a short story is going to be published this month. I'm still super excited about that.

In the arts and crafts side, I've made hundreds of quilt tops for the church Quilt Guild, hundreds (maybe thousands) of fleece hats for Warm Ears ministry (fortunately the materials are provided for both groups), knit and crocheted a couple of afghans, a few baby items, a lot of flower vases and some other miscellaneous projects. There HAS to be less fabric and yarn in this house than there was two years ago! And of course there's scrapbooking. I tend to purchase for myself, my daughters, and occasionally my granddaughters, so I can't say that I've cut down on scrapbooking stuff. In fact, I bought myself a Cricut cutter, so the scrapbooking stuff takes up more room than it did before.

Once in a while a granddaughter or a daughter will come over to help me "organize". We'll work together and get maybe half a room done, and then it's time to eat, or one of us has to leave. Let's just say organization still isn't a strong point around here.

I've had to add another goal to the original two. I've had some health issues, so some of my publicly stated goals have had to do with weight loss, or general health. I've lost - and regained - about twenty pounds. Last week I signed up for a 5K walk, so now I've got to get in training for that. I've been walking, so I need to keep that up.

So, on this second birthday of Creative Hodgepodge, I'm raising a glass (actually, it's a mug of decaf coffee) and toasting myself. Goals are good. Reaching them is even better.

Flying High

More great news! The cover artist at Astraea Press has already designed a cover for my book. Here it is! I love it. It's simple and tasteful, and reflects the mood of the story very well. I wish I knew what kind of flowers those are, but I forgot to ask. Anyway, seeing the cover with the title and my pen name on it makes this all seem more real. The release is to be "sometime in July" - so I'll be checking their website often!

So aside from celebrating and checking astraeapress.com several times a day, I've been motivated to dig out an older project. It's a story I wrote a few years ago after I got back from a ten day visit to Greece. Like Japan, Greece is a beautiful country with a long and noble history. I was inspired to write a story about a young archaeologist and an investigator. I got most of the story done, but couldn't get it to a good novel length. Astraea Press happens to be looking for short (12K to 25K) stories, so I decided to take another look and see if I can maybe get a second title to put with my new persona!

So far I've shared this publication news with those of you who read my blog two weeks ago, and my immediate family (most of whom do not get on facebook or read my blog). I'm looking at things like business cards, websites, and business e-mail addresses. What a whirlwind! Thanks for all the words of encouragement. I'm really hoping this Charity Line makes a lot of money for Japan Relief.

But then, of course, daily life brings me back to earth. The socks and undies are not going to fold themselves and float into their respective drawers. Dishes won't get done, bills won't get paid, and the floor won't be swept unless I get up out of my chair and do all these things. Maybe someday, when my best-selling novel is made into a blockbuster movie...

The Wait

Last week I shared the fabulous news that my short story, The Legacy, was accepted for publication by Astraea Press. Since then, I've been busy with the pre-publication stuff the company has sent me. I filled out a cover artist information form (listing details about the story so that the cover artist has an idea about what to put on the cover), an author information form (so I can get paid once the six month charity run is done), and I've re-formatted the entire manuscript according to a style sheet they sent me. That took the longest. It's kinda like being in college and finding out what each professor wants.

Fortunately, computers have wonderful tools to help me with a lot of the editing. I can "turn on paragraph marks" to find out where I've put extra spaces. I can do a "find" search to locate the words I've used too often, like "really" and "very". And when I decided to change a character's name, I just do a "find and replace". It couldn't be easier!

So now that I've submitted the "pre-edit", I wait. Patiently. Sort of. I check my mail at least six times a day looking for something from the publisher - more instructions, a cover for the book, or maybe another request for revisions. I check the publisher's website often, looking for other new books in the Japan Relief series. So far there are three. I wonder how many there will be?

It's always difficult to remain patient. It's not one of my strong suits. Fortunately I have a lot of other things to do - like finishing several other writing projects, craft projects (a friend got married last summer and I still don't have her wedding gift done!) and a house that really, really needs to be cleaned. I'm not sitting here, bored.

I'm really thankful for the words of encouragement, as well as the congrats that have been sent my way (not through this blog, but verbally and on facebook). They give me the ambition to go on and write more. So I'm going to open up one of my partially finished projects, polish it off and send it in. There are three novels, three essays, and a short story waiting to be sent off.

Guess I'd better get to work.

The Call

It's been an exciting week for me. I finally got what used to be known as "The Call". Except now, in the electronic age, it's "The E-mail." Last week I wrote that I finally finished a short story and submitted it to Astraea Press. I expected to have to wait at least six weeks to hear whether or not it had been accepted. But six days after sending it, I got a message from the Editor-in-Chief herself, telling me that my story will be published! I've been celebrating since then.

There are a few down sides to this acceptance. The story is part of an anthology dedicated to Japan Relief. All the money from sales of this story (and others in the series) will go to charity, so I won't get a dime for at least six months. After that time, the publisher may offer me a regular contract in which I will receive a royalty.

But even without the monetary return, I figure this is great news because:

1. It's a foot in the door. If they like this story, hopefully the publisher/editor will like more of my stories.

2. It's a start. Perhaps I can get some name recognition as an author.

3. It's a way for me, as well as those who purchase the book, to contribute to charity.

4. I'M A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!!

So please keep your eyes open for my new short story, which will be available as an electronic download beginnning next month at Astraea Press - they're at www.astraeapress.com. I'm not sure what the cost will be - it looks to me like most of their short stories are running $3.00. I'll have notices on facebook as well as here.

By the way, you may not recognize my pen name. It's Patricia Kiyono. Kiyono is an alternate pronunciation for my maiden name, Seino. So basically, it's my name anyway.

Which brings me to another dilemma: If I'm asked for an autograph, should I sign it in English, or Japanese?

The End - of Something

This week I FINALLY completed a writing project. I suppose it could have been polished a bit more, but I got it done enough so that I submitted it to a publisher. Now the wait begins. An automated reply says that I should hear something in four to six weeks. It’s a 12K short story that took over six weeks to write. That’s two thousand words a week – it sounds like a lot, but I need to be a little more prolific if I want to get anywhere.

I gave myself a day off from writing (other than my daily 750 Words at 750words.com) and then plunged back in. I worked on my seven-year-old Work in Progress, and started a short article for Chicken Soup. If I keep busy, maybe I won’t keep worrying about whether or not the editors at Astraea Press liked my story enough to include it in their anthology. And if I keep writing, I’ll have something else to submit – soon.

In my other creative projects, I’ve managed to make several quilt tops, and my afghan is getting larger all the time. But now this counted cross stitch project that I started last summer needs to be done! The person I intended it for is moving. It’s crunch time again! When will I stop procrastinating?

Probably never. If I always got things done when they should be done, I wouldn’t be me. And I need to be happy with me.