In Summer

Bees will buzz, kids will blow dandelion fuzz, and I’ll be doing whatever snow does

IN SUMMER!

It’s finally summer, guys! After a winter of air so cold that it made our lungs burn with fire, snow that transformed the land into an alien landscape, and wind that sought to sever our very souls from our bodies, we have at last emerged into a season of shimmering heat waves, fireflies, and pool parties. Although I have been out of school for nearly a month now, many of you are only just now getting a taste of Summer 2K14. Hooray!

Here’s a quick update on what to look forward to here at A Curious Thrill as well as what I’m up to this summer.

On the Blog Thank you to all who participated in the inaugural post! I’m excited to see this blog develop and grow. I hope to soon unveil some new features that are currently in the works, so stay tuned. As this blog grows I’ll be able to do more and more like some fun and hopefully helpful resources for the writers among us (beginners to advanced), book reviews and discussions for my fellow bookworms, giveaways, and much more! As always, I’ll continue to share the hunt for those curious thrills as well as share some snippets of my own stories.

That being said, I wish to invite you all to join me in this endeavor. Please feel free to comment with responses, thoughts, and questions at the end of the various posts. If you have an idea for something you would like to see on here, shoot me an email at acuriousthrillblog@gmail.com. If you would like to receive automatic updates when I publish a new post, you can subscribe easily by entering your email into Follow By Email on the left. Have your own blog? Let me know! My hope is that A Curious Thrill will be engaging and enjoyable, challenging and encouraging for all of us.

The Writing Life, I confess, seems only to get harder and harder. The days when I could sit down at the computer and let the words flow onto the page are gone, at least for now. They may return, and they may not. I am coming to realize that I cannot sit around waiting for the perfect inspiration, the perfect sentence, or the perfect environment. Writing is hard. That’s a fact. Writing takes effort and perseverance, as much that is good and worthwhile requires. It’s a matter of writing. Just writing. I will tell you that it is more easily said than done. In order to help to keep writing, I have made some writing goals for the summer. I hope to complete the first draft of a novella that I intend to enter into a creative writing contest, write a couple of short stories, and complete at least the first half of the draft of my current novel-in-progress Beautiful. I’ll be sharing plans and snippets from these works as the summer goes on.

 Creative Writing Contest As mentioned above, one of my writing goals this year is to enter the 2^nd Rooglewood Press Fairy Tale Contest. This is an incredible opportunity and much fun too! This year’s contest calls for original retellings of the beloved fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. The contest allows for a great deal of creative freedom. The prize? Five lucky winners will be chosen to be published in an anthology called Five Enchanted Roses.

This contest is open to everyone.  If you would like to learn more about the contest, you can read the full cover-real post on Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s blog here. Further, you can get the full contest details and rules at the Rooglewood Press website here. And you really must check out the bigger picture of the cover design at Ms. Stengl’s blog. It. Is. Stunning.

The anthology from last year’s contest, Five Glass Slippers, is releasing very soon. Follow this link to explore more about this exciting new collection. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

That’s all for now folks! See you soon for more curious thrills!

What are you most excited for this summer?