So I sold my first short story. It should be out this fall, I’ll certainly post more about it as I get more details.
I’ve learned a lot this past year or so being more intentional in my writing, which includes both the parenting blog and working on my fiction. The lessons revolve mostly on how I work – and don’t work! – and what actually motivates me. I’m driven by deadlines, almost to my detriment. I’ve always been a bit of a procrastinator and have learned to rely on lists and deadlines to overcome my natural inertia. That serves me very well for project-based, technical and other types of work. But creative work? Not so much. Nobody tells you when and what to write. It’s easy for me to avoid sitting down and staring at a blank screen. There’s always something else to do – especially with three kids – some task or errand that I can check off and feel that brief surge of accomplishment doing.
So part of my journey this past year has been working with my tendencies and learning to changing them. Nothing that dramatic, but small impulses over a period of time that can lead to significant changes.
So part of what I had to do with this upcoming publication is think about my existing website. The publication asked for a website, so I had to look at my aging 5 year old website and figure out how to revamp it and acknowledge that I’m a “writer” now. (Still doesn’t’ feel like a label that I’ve earned, but I’ll act “as if”). Also part of that is taking off the ability to register for the more personal journal posts that I have. If you’re so inclined you’re more than welcome to email me at mo@mo-shah.com and ask for access (which includes updates). I don’t do the full public posts often anyway, but it seems as if I need to start thinking more critically about what’s for public consumption and what’s not.