Choose Your Own Adventure
Choosing joy, hiking in Pennsylvania and "What Does Story Mean" featuring Zin E. Rocklyn
Hello and welcome back to a Writer in the Woods. This month I’m yammering about paths, trails, and life choices. Those things that lead us to either happiness, or despair, depending on the path we choose.
In October I traveled all the way to Pennsylvania to traverse a couple of their trails. There was very little elevation but the air was much heavier than I’m used to, and I’ll tell you what, it kicked my ass, but I got to take time to think about what I really wanted from my writing career and play with leaves that were almost the size of my head, which is huge.
I also did another video where I ask authors what they thought of or felt when I said the word “Story”.
This month is Zin E. Rocklyn and her answer is still blowing my mind.
But first some updates.
Updates:
She who Brings Gifts is still in the query trenches, but I’ve added a small publisher to the list. One way or another, I will get this story out to readers.
After doing my due diligence and networking like a timid rock star, I have been given permission to submit my haunted house book, Spooky Action at a Distance, to two “invite only” publishers. I am cleaning up the book now and will be submitting to the first in early January. Wish me luck.
Before we kick it off. I’d like to thank you dear reader once again. Every month I pour out my heart and soul and you listen with open minds. So, thank you for being here, I really do appreciate having someone to yammer to. 😁
For those not subscribed yet, you can do it here. It is free and always will be.
All right, let’s get to it…
When I was younger, I loved those Choose Your Own Adventure books. Do you remember those? They had two or three options that took the story in different directions, and you chose a path by choosing a page.
If you want to check out the noise, go to page 78.
If you want to ignore the noise and look for your friend, go to page 47.
After the first few books I understood that one choice brought you closer to the end, and the other made the adventure last longer. I always chose the option with the lowest page number to prolong the story. Then I’d go back to the beginning, make a different choice, and then follow the option to a different ending. It was a great way to practice what I’d be facing as an adult, although I didn’t know that yet. Now I do.
(Chickies Rock in Pennsylvania. Sorry about the traffic noise)
It's been a crazy year for me. You see, in 2020, right before the pandemic hit, I had decided to rededicate myself to my writing career. The kids were grown, my partner’s career was on track, and I finally had the time and space to accomplish what I had been trying to accomplish since my late twenties. Get something, anything published.
Like most writers, I had tried and failed more times than I care to admit and at one point, I put down my pen altogether. (It was because of a dark science fiction fantasy that I had been working on for 5 years and still haven’t cracked.) But the desire came back around. If you write, you know what I’m talking about. It’s like an earworm that moves through your entire brain, poking and prodding creative parts of your mind and conjuring ideas, themes, and plots until frankly, you either write them down or slowly go insane. Yeah. I had the itch and after almost three years of no writing, I knew that insanity was right around the corner if I didn’t pick up that pen again. I read, re-learned about the craft, and wrote for four years with no other intention but to create books that I wanted to read and get better at the one thing that has been with me since childhood: Stories. It was lonely, but I had a renewed sense of purpose, a reason to get out of bed again and I was on fire.
I wrote three books. One about a family torn apart by the past. One about three sisters trying to save their Paranormal Investigation business. And one about a Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent that is obsessed with finding missing and forgotten children. I loved the stories, and although they still needed a lot of work, I knew it was time to get back out in the trenches and try to get published.
(1 mile in and it was more than enough.)
Here is where everything went sideways for me. You see, the last time I submitted work to agents or magazines, (the physical ones, because the internet magazine wasn’t a thing yet), I had to print out the required submission, slide it into a brown manilla envelope and then drive to the post office to send them off. That world was now gone, replaced by email submissions and Query platforms. It was a world within a world, and I had to find a way to rise to the top.
Okay, not a problem. I have never shied away from hard work and on the right day, I love tedium. So, I sent out the queries, learned about pitching and networking and hit the circuit. Thankfully, there were people out there that had been in the game for decades and not only answered all the questions I bombarded them with, but they also offered advice, experiences, and tricks of the trade. The game was a foot and all I had to do was watch, listen, and act accordingly. So, I did. When I was offered a slot to read, I read. When I was invited to conventions that provided ample opportunity for networking, I saved my pennies and headed out. For those of you keeping up with my adventures, then you know that I’m making this sound much easier than it actually was, but it was all worth it.
At one point I had an agent, my first book went out on submission, and I thought I was heading in the direction that I wanted to go, but I couldn’t find peace or joy in the process. Everyday became heavy, filled with “Will they, won’t they” questions that tore at my psyche and conjured up every ounce of self-doubt I had. It wasn’t fulfilling, and it wasn’t fun. I couldn’t let it get to me. Not again. I had to find a way to push through. To get past all the bullshit and find a way to keep myself writing. Then I remembered one of my all-time favorite quotes:
“Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.”
-Elbert Hubbard
And that’s when it hit me. I’m living a Choose Your Own Adventure story. I don’t have to turn to page 78, I can start my story on page 47 and have a little fun on the way. Sure, turning to page 78 would get me to the end faster, but I didn’t start the story to get to the end. I wanted an adventure. An adventure of my choosing.
(Sitting on the Mason-Dixon trail where Brian Keene does his daily walks.)
I get that traditional publishing is the end game for some and I respect the hell out of that decision, but it’s not the end game for me. I know that now. My end game is to have a little freaking fun, meet people that I enjoy spending time with, do some traveling and write great stories. Most importantly, I want to find my readers. Those people that enjoy what I have to say before my words are filtered through numerous editors and marketing departments. The only way to achieve that is to flip to page 47 and give the adventure a little room to breathe.
If I’m as good as I want to be, it’ll all work out in the end. If I’m not, then I didn’t miss the opportunity to bring a little joy into my life. I like joy. It makes me smile.
We all have the chance to choose our own adventure. Whether it be a worn trail that has become the standard path, or a rocky slope that will kick our asses. As long as we choose for ourselves, I believe the journey will be worth it.
Anyway, thanks for hanging for the rant. I hope you find the strength to choose your adventure because in the end, life is what we make it and like Mr. Hubbard said:
“You’ll never get out alive.”
I dear readers, will be working hard to do the same.
Until next time.
Millie
Horror Reader Bonus:
STORY. What Does it Mean?
Have you ever wondered what a writer feels or thinks about the word story? I did, and after spending a weekend with some magnificent writers, I finally gathered the courage to ask them. So for the next few months I will be posting videos I made during my last night at Camp Necon. This month we hear from Zin E. Rocklyn.
So kick back and enjoy.
Thanks again for hanging with me this month. If you want to receive the accounts of my mountain adventures as I traverse the unknown waters of publications, be sure to hit that subscribe button. And thanks to everyone who has subscribed already, I really appreciate having some one to yammer to. Bye!
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