When the end of 2015 rolled around, I realized it had been more than a year since I'd been selected to attend the Rutgers One-on-One conference, more than a year since I'd been told that I had a middle grade novel worth publishing.
And had I completed the suggested changes and submitted that novel? Had I walked through that open door?
No, I had not. It was easy to blame my busy work schedule, the many assignments I'd been juggling, family demands. Those things might have been part of it. But blaming them didn't solve the problem.
I have a lot of writing that hasn't quite made it across the finish line, despite good reviews, despite encouragement from professionals who know what they're talking about.
So at the end of 2015, I persuaded my fellow writer and dear friend Caroline Lord to join me in an experiment we're calling The Year of Submission.
Since January 1 of this year, we've been meeting regularly to plan ways to get our work finished and submitted. It still hasn't been a snap. But we're making progress. We nudge each other along. We hold each other accountable. And by posting about our year on a blog, that somehow is making us feel accountable, too. Stay tuned.