I skipped the large mocha this morning, which I now regret because I’m craving chocolate. I got the large coffee anyway, which I now regret because I really didn’t need any more caffeine adding to my jitters. But…such is life, and I will probably make a similar decision/mistake tomorrow morning ^_^

I entered ABNA this morning. Sent off my stunning little novel. It really is little. Only like 65,000 words. But that’s the story. It used to be longer, until I deleted the end of it and rewrote it. But we’ve already dwealt on that.

And speaking of, I’m not dwealing on this entry. I’ve lived through submission before and I need to remind myself that’s all this is: another submission. And instead I’m trying to focus on other things. Like I have another story that is dying for me to write it. Or it’s already dead and it’s dying for me to revive it. Not sure which.

That and last night I participated in an amazing event. Okay, so I do this every Sunday night. I belong to a novel critique group that does all of their reviews in an online chat format. Each week a different person has a chapter up, and we read and then answer the author’s questions.

So last night was one of my chapters and I love getting feedback (if you hadn’t guessed yet). But something awesome happened that doesn’t happen very often in these chats. Tangents. If you hadn’t noticed, I also like tangents. So tangents + feedback = awesomeness frosted. And I let them go on for a little bit before reigning people back in because it meant that my book, my little ol’ story, had generated that kind of discussion.

It was amazing to watch. They were discussing the historical and religious background of my characters, guessing the ending (which I actually asked them to do) and giving me three very different views on the theology I’m using in the book.

And when two out of three people guessed the ending wrong, I was so tickled. Because 1 – it’s only chapter 2 and I’d hate to think I was already predictable, and 2 – they guessed what I wanted them to based on the foreshadowing I was giving.

Person 3 doesn’t quite count because she’s read the novel pitch and has an idea that it won’t end that way. But she counts on other levels because, well, she gave me some awesome feedback on said pitch. Now if only I could find my voice when I rewrite it.

Anyway..trying to focus on the positive and push ahead. What are you focusing on this week to keep your spirits up?