By Wanda Ottewell, Senior Editor Super Romance
September always seems like a fresh start to me. Perhaps it’s a holdover from going back to school—even though it’s been years since I’ve attended class. Perhaps it’s the influence of the Virgo moon.
For whatever reason, over the Labor Day weekend I find myself thinking about the things I want to do in the next few months. I look at different courses to take. I plot out my next steps on my big goals. I clean out closets. I do some of those really icky jobs I’ve been avoiding forever. I pull out books I’ve been intending to read…or finish books I started months ago!
Sometimes I even set new mini-resolutions, or amend those ones I set way back in January. I plan new routines—or at least tweak the old ones. I set new goals. And more than that, I feel eager and motivated to tackle them!
I suspect I’m not the only one to experience this fresh-start feeling. If this year is like previous ones, more proposals and manuscripts will flow into our offices in the upcoming weeks. A sure sign that authors get the same spark of inspiration, the same desire to take the next step. Or it simply could be an indication that the kids are finally in school and authors have more time to write, LOL!
If you are the type to set September resolutions, please share! And if you need a little boost or inspiration, or need a bit of advice from someone who might have experience editing, here’s your chance. Ask me your questions—about submitting, about types of stories, about craft—and I’ll give you my best answer! Also, if you have any topics you'd like me to tackle in the future, feel free to make suggestions - I'm working on responses to the questions offered up last time by Lisa and Marcie.
(PS. Don't forget, we have all 6 Super Romance books for September to give away to one lucky poster on Wanda's blog today. And of course all commenters go into the running to win the Kindle we have up for grabs.)
34 comments:
Wanda, you’re definitely not the only one to experience a sense of renewal every September. I’ve set some “new school year” resolutions. Most important is a return to cooking homemade meals. My oldest is a high school senior this year, and I’m afraid he’ll go off to college with no memory of me in the kitchen. Next year, I don’t want him to say, “Wow, I really miss the way my mom ordered that pizza!”
So, I’ve dusted off all my old cookbooks, made lists, Googled directions to the grocery store and have started cooking real meals a few times a week. It’s strangely gratifying, and after the long hiatus, everyone is very appreciative.
Wanda, I’ve heard Harlequin uses outside readers to wade through the slush pile. Can you explain how that works? Thanks and good luck with your September resolutions.
I think it's really interesting that up North there's a sense of Fresh Starts etc at this time of year. Down Under, we are just shaking off the last vestiges of winter and there's a definite sense of life starting again. Spring has sprung, bulbs are flowering (daffodils, irises, jonquils, freesias), blossom is out. All of a sudden I can see how manky my house has become over winter! Out the mop and duster and cleaning fluids have come! The garden has been tamed into sort-of submission, and I have been waking every morning and going for a half hour walk and coming back feeling energised and ready to go. I am loving this time of year!!!
September isn’t significant in the Southern Hemisphere. The new year for school and the like begins…at New Year! The big school holidays run through December and January.
So I don’t have any resolutions – our year is winding down. But it is spring now – not that you would know with our currently terrible weather!
Like Sarah, I'm in total spring clean mode. Time to get the doors and windows open and let the fresh air in. For romance writers down under it's also the beginning of the competition year. So I'm making lots of plans for competition entries and submissions.
I no longer set September resolutions. As a teacher I set plenty of them but now retired I just ignore the beginning of September since I am able to keep up with things that need to be done.
It always amazes me that you and other Harlequin editors are so generous to take the time to blog in order to help aspiring writers. Thank you for finding wonderful books for us who love to read.
And don't enter me in drawing for the September books since I am a subscriber of Supers and have already received and read them.
Wanda, there's an elementary school across the street from me and this morning I enjoyed the excitement and hustle bustle of the children on their first day of school.
I'm with Kristin. Autumn is the best time of year for cooking, with all of those great root vegetables coming into harvest and the temperatures cooling enough to be able to turn on the oven (up here in Canada, at any rate). So, I do a lot of cooking in the fall and love it!
Sarah, I love your Down Under turns of phrase--'manky.' What a great word!
I have a manuscript due at the end of September, so my goal is to make sure I reach that deadline feeling happy with what I've written. I don't know about other authors, but I never seem to be perfectly satisfied with my own writing, and always feel I could have done more, written better, developed a better plot, so instead I aim to be reasonably satisfied--a daunting task for a writer ;-)
Hi Wanda -
I would love to win the September books. I like to clean in the Fall when the weather starts to cool down. I also like to get rid of all the clutter in September.
Tammy Y
Is there a 'best' way to revise? Revise as you go or wait until the end of the first draft? Or does it really matter?
Also - when you like an author's work - pubbed or not - what is the most common piece of the MS you ask to revise?
I believe it's the change in weather, whether it be spring or fall, that brings about the prospect of new possibilities - that anything can happen.
I wish I got motivated to recommit to goals, etc., in September. Unfortunately, even though I am glad to see the horrible heat of summer dissipate, I tend to see September as the beginning of the end of the year.
My daughter is in college now and no longer in public schools, but 13 years of that routine lingers in my psyche, I suppose. For all those years, September was the beginning of the mad rush where I'm so busy I can't stop to think. Since I work part-time for a university, it still marks the beginning of a very busy time for me, though not as busy as before, when I was working AND doing PTSA and school-related things.
The thoughts about all I need to accomplish before the end of the year start to build along with the stress and kind of paralyze me. Maybe I'll start trying to look at it as you do and tweak my goals to make them more easily completed and accomplished. It's worth a try, anyway!
Hi Wanda this hits home for me. I bought an academic year planner at my son's university when we dropped him off this weekend (sniff sniff). Since I'm still putting books away in my office after a global move this summer, September is a chance for me to stop feeling behind and to get more settled into my new life. Thanks for the reminder to take workshops myself, not just look for opportunities to give them!
Hi Wanda ~ I want to take this opportunity to tell all the authors of the June Supers that I really enjoyed their books. I won them here. I can't pick a favorite as I enjoyed them all.
I also want to thank you for finding such great stories for me to enjoy.
September means doing something with all our produce from the garden and praying for no frost so more of our tomatoes can ripen on the vine. It also means green tomato soup. I also look back and wonder where did the first 8 months of the year go to?
I've just realized yesterday that sadly "my garden time" is coming to an end. I've nearly harvested everything and am about to start making it ready for winter. And as the days are starting to get shorter and colder I'm starting to change my way of cooking, too. It's quite unintentional. I think the food we're craving just changes when it gets chillier outside.
Wanda,
Thanks for taking the time to be with us today. This blog has taught me so much about writing and what makes Supers so super.
Even though my kids went back to school in mid August, September does feel like a fresh start to me. We've settled into the routine and I am hoping to finish the book and get it ready for submission.
I am sure I will think of a million questions tomorrow, so I hope others will ask them for me.
I don't do September resolutions--or even January ones anymore--but I agree that September is a great time for reflection. The playfulness of summer is over. Seems like a good time to bear down and get to work, to make things happen before another year has passed completely by.
Wanda, so glad you came to visit us. While I don't make particular September goals, I do enjoy the anticipation that hunkering down for the winter gives me. A certain freedom comes with decrease in yard and garden work, and since my son is now in college and does what it takes to get his classes and needs together, fall has even more appeal. Time to sharpen my knitting needles...
Hi Wanda
I'm with the 'downunder' gals. Here in New Zealand spring has arrived in all its glory. The days are getting longer and the blue waters of the Hauraki Gulf are looking more and more appealing. We're planning trips on the boat and thinking about getting the batch in order for the summer. The covers are coming off the bbq's and the scent of dinners being cooked outside fills the late evening air.
There was a lot of talk at the New Zealand conference about Harlequin looking for edgy stories that tackled more difficult issues. What kind of edgy stories would you be looking to try at Supers? How far do you want the envelope pushed?
I always resolve not to write too much over summer, but I usually fail ;-)
Toni
While I hate saying goodbye to warm days, I always love checking out the new fall clothes and television shows.
I tackled my office this weekend, including carpet cleaning and moving furniture around.
Glad to know it's not just me feeling this urgency to put things in order :)
Even got out those boxes of projects I'd been meaning to go through. And jumped into the middle of one.
For me, it's a good time to clean out closets and other household things that it was too hot to do in summer (even with a/c). I would love to win the supers books; love to read.
Back to school always meant a return to routine when my kids were growing up--regular bedtimes, meals on time, etc. I'm a person who craves order and routine to the point of being really, really boring, so I loved back to school. Also, like Wanda said, there's that sense of a fresh start.
I didn't get the same sense of that this year. In part, I think, because school from my grandaughters started in the middle of August--about the time our summer really got hot. My inner clock is confused. ;-)
Deb
We always started school after Labor Day, so I do get the feeling that it's a new cycle in terms of school or work.
I have my daughter's wedding coming in October. It definitely makes this fall a bit different from all other falls before it. But I do love the feeling of starting something new.
Hi Wanda! This is the first year that all three of my kids are all in school. So I am still trying to find my way more or less. I think once I settle I will definetly have more time to sit down and write. I have two synopsis' to get done and two stories in the works. While I am enjoying my quiet days, I am already dreading winter. Here in Indiana it has already started to cool down and I am not very happy about it, lol!
Have a great day!
Alina
I usually don't do resolutions because I don't stick to them. Although sometimes in the fall I start doing some major house cleaning, when I can't get outside to work. I need to paint my laundry room so I may start that soon.
It's interesting to see how many people feel a sense of change and new possibilities at this time of year. And I thought I was the only one! :) I don't make resolutions but I do think about new projects and in Australia, this is the time of year for planting veggies and flowers so on the weekend I'm haunting the garden centers.
I agree with those people talking about Spring cleaning urges! Mine have been focussed internally this year, and I'm just on the last day of a ten-day detox program to spring clean my insides!
September in Australia means Spring has finally arrived. No resolutions, just a ceremony to welcome back the sun. (Not really!!) I do whip through the house in a mad frenzy cleaning as I go.
Well, maybe I'm the only one who is in survival mode. September brings obligations for me. The school seems to have me on speed dial, and I feel as if I'm galloping through the day. It becomes very hard to sit and write uninterrupted even with my kids gone most of the day. Somehow an email or a call sends me in a direction I didn't plan on going for the day. My best efforts for carving out time cave under more vocal and pressing needs.
But luckily I'm a little ahead on my book due at the end of September. Barring no disaster I will finish and then be left to stew, much like Mary, over the imperfectness of my work.
So, yeah, give me suggestions for handling stress and interruption. :)
LOL, fall cleaning :) September to me means the start of days getting shorter, the rainy wet season (though we had a pretty wet summer and the prelude to the holiday season.
Hmmm, that was weird. Half my message got deleted. I was saying that there's no fall or spring cleaning for me. My allergies and my back can't handle it.
Hi Wanda,
Well i never set mini resolutions or september resolutions, as i know i will have a hard time carrying them out. Well September for me this year means graduating and starting a new job. I'm really looking forward to that.
I always clean out my closets in September. Clothes and mostly books have piled up and it's time to reorganize. I don't get rid of many books though, I end up rereading a lot of stories. Deciding that they really are great and there was a valid reason to keep them :D As long as I can still move around it doesn't matter so much. A girl can never have TOO many books in my opinion. Other then that I don't make a lot of plans, I usually do that in Januari when it's all so grey and dreary, then I want to make a bigger change.
Yes, I clean out closets and toss out unnedded papers.
Also from DownUnder so am waiting for this (hopefully last) cold snap to pass and then I will be spring cleaning :) Love spring, always a happy time of year and I always get more enthused about *everything*.
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