Farewells

Like the books by the bedside table, blogs and podcasts sometimes pile up so that it takes me time to work through the entries (and, preferably, a quiet grey morning like today). For this reason, I had not come to the entry in which The Cimmerian announced that it was coming to an end until this morning.

While I have come very late to this blog, each entry has renewed in me my commitment to taking the stories that I enjoy seriously. It has greatly increased the scope of my reading and given me a better understanding of the world form which that reading grew. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the best blogs that I've had the opportunity to enjoy. I'm thankful toward those who have given their time, writing skill, and editorial insight to me freely and passionately. I will definitely raise a glass at TRF this year in your honor.

Since one of the themes of this blog is that well-written stories are still something that should be celebrated, I'm sorry to see those blogs who serve as exemplars of the best of that go away.

In a rather roundabout way that brings me to another farewell, one that takes into account the way that things have changed over the past year or so. As I walk the line between taking my work seriously and relegating it to hobby status, I realize that one of the ways that I try to get the best of both worlds is by substituting submitting stuff to my writing groups for submitting that work for publication.

This isn't to say that I don't need the editing and critical insights of other writers prior to submitting, but it does mean that I need to work on making the revision/submission steps part of my plan for each piece. It also means that I need a group that makes that a priority. While I believe that I've found this group, it also means that I need to move away from those groups that don't support this. Unfortunately, this includes a long-time group that has foundered recently. The good thing is that it has mostly foundered on the shoals of other projects and it seems that most people are moving on to the success toward which we've each been working.

They are worth all the good thoughts I can send their way and another tributary glass at TRF. Something tells me that I'm going to have a slightly tipsy TRF this year. Good luck, ya'll. I think every one of you will find that novel or movie you're looking for. Thanks for showing [not telling ;)] that the work is worth it.

Good reading,
Chrissa