Writing Again

I have finally managed to post a short story. I find it so difficult to deal with snail mail. It is so much easier to email. I can do it from an arm chair or even from my bed.

Ebook

I logged on to amazon.fr last night to see if my book was still available with the intention of ordering some books as the postage is free at the moment and was amazed to find that it was available on Kindle as an ebook.
I then logged on to amazon.co.uk to find the same there. The price on french amazon is 3.43euros but on UK amazon the price is not given.
Now I suppose I will have to buy a Kindle.

Daily Babble

I decided to write my blogs more regularly. It always comes down to balancing time.  So today I have written on my gardening blog.

However I have made time to begin working on articles for a magazine about living France.

Gardening v Writing



Sunbeds under lime tree

There always seems to be at least 2 activities vieing for my time. At the moment it's gardening v writing. I usually manage both in the winter. Since it doesn't get light here until 9 o'clock and I wake at 6 or 7 I can write for a couple of hours before daylight.
Recently I have lost my writing impetus and wasn't sure why.  I realised this morning that it is something to do with feedback and satisfaction.
   In the garden even if the job is cutting the grass or digging a new flower bed the reward is visible all day everyday. I can look out of the window at any time and enjoy the results of my labour. I can walk around the garden or eat outside and feel satisfied with my achievements.

Photo of garden to liven up the blog

Writing on the other hand is out of site once the laptop lid is closed. Even when I want a hard copy I have to move it from the laptop to the old computer to print. Then often the printer doesn't work like yesterday when it ran out of ink.
I can take my friends for a walk around my garden or we can eat outside or take a snack in the fresh air. When dining inside we can still admire the garden through the window. And they do admire it. People do not criticise my garden do they? At least, if they offer advise, I can accept it. Is that because they are informing me about the plants and their qualities? For example, that bush needs to be in the sunlight not shade.' That feels OK. 
However, if anything I have written is criticised then it feels as though I am being criticised not something outside of me. Is this because my writing is me.

Barn and catkins

So I am thankful that it is not on permanent display like the garden and I rarely expose myself to this pain. Therefore what a paradox when I am now infused with such a burst of energy that I feel I can write a dozen articles and finish my novel before Xmas because I have just read my letter in print.

Boost to ego and energy

Just as I was thinking of giving up yet again I opened this month's Writing Magazine and find that they have printed my letter. I wonder if I should just concentrate on writing letters since that is the area in which I have had the most success.
How fragile are writer's egos. I am unable to take criticism even though I know it is necessary and helpful. Praise, however faint, is like sunshine and water to a plant.

Dear Writer's News,

I noticed that Alliance of Radical Booksellers has announced
a substantial new writing prize (Writer's News Dec. 2011).

Ross's comments about not accepting self-published books were very interesting.

Isn't self-publishing radical?

I agree that editing is important and valued that is why most self-published authors do have their work edited.

If you exclude self-publishers from the competition, are you really opening up the

discussion and looking outwards? It sounds insular to me and even Nimbyish.

You can always give a self-published radical writer a deal, that would be opening up

awareness and discussion too.

I say, 'Look behind you Ross or even in front of you'.

Yours sincerely,

Jean Wild.

London

 I have no idea why they think I live in London. This just illustrates the above points. I don't care if nobody knows that I wrote the letter it is enough to know that it was good enough to print.