Monday, September 15, 2008

To Dream the Impossible Dream

I've been so overwhelmed this summer with work and life and the book and the workshop, that I've come very close to saying "enough for a while" and deciding to put the book away once the workshop is over, live my life with free time in the evenings for a change, piddle with the story here and there, and then pick it back up next year sometime, after the new accelerator goes in and my next board exam (God willing and I passed the recent one), etc.

OTOH, even though most of the summer has been consumed with the workshop rather than actual revisions, I've learned a lot, and I have a good handle on what the story needs to go from (in my estimation) "good" to "awesome".  There is some inherent momentum.  And - though I have told myself this before, only to get caught up for a longer stretch than expected - I really think a few months of nose-to-the-grindstone work will result in a final, polished draft that I can either do something with, like query, or shelve for a while, knowing I at least finished the darn thing.

Nothing motivates me better than external deadline.

So...I've decided to go for broke and dream the impossible dream.  I've decided to enter the Golden Heart.

I think the book is up to it.  Or will be, with planned revisions.  I've read some Golden Heart-winning books in my category (paranormal, it would seem) and I think I've got a shot.

Contest entries open September 22nd, and remain open until November 17th, or they reach 1200 entries, whichever comes first.  (I suspect the latter.)

Assuming my entry is accepted, I would then have until December 2nd to submit my manuscript.

*gulp*

2 comments:

Precie said...

Go, Jenny, go! (I'm a big fan of contests as motivators.) Good luck!!

Deniz Bevan said...

Good luck!!!! Nothing like a doozie of an external motivator... If you need any help in any way (celtic music links, cookies, babysitting from afar, beta reading, etc.) let me know :-))
Hmm, 1000 entries in ten categories... so you're competing with maybe only 100 others. I'll start calling them now and telling them "I know who deserves that necklace!"