doer of many things

The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.
- Raymond Chandler

So much writing, so much work!!

But first, time for a random picture of The Greek, Tiny, and Me:


As many of you know, The Vigilant Monkey is well on its way to launching. Yay =) We're looking at at about a month or so from today. I am waiting to see the first mock-up of the site, hopefully by the beginning of this week.

Meanwhile, diligent writers, friends, and family members have been sending me articles, ideas, and thoughts. Keep them coming!!

I have to write up a Craigslist ad for more writers, of course. Now, with everything on my plate, it's just a matter of remembering to do that... as I jot it down in my planner.

Then there's advertisers. We need them. Like very soon. I recently asked an advertising director, of a certain print magazine I have become rather familiar with over the past few years, about online advertising, and the response was that she knows nothing about it nor can she direct me to someone who does.

Wonderful. An already confusing subject and area of anxiety just became more vague and mysterious.

As for my writing (not to mention all the VM copy I have to sit down and compile, like mission statements, media kits, contracts, letters from the editor), I've been doing a lot of that, too.

Last week I sent in my short story for NYC Midnight's 2nd Annual Short Story Challenge. The idea is that they give you a genre and a subject, and you have one week to write a short story about it. In March you hear if you were chosen to move on to Round 2.

Judging from what everybody who read it has said, it was pretty good, and considering that my genre was Drama with a subject of Selling a Home, I was happy that I even finished a story =P
But in all honesty, I was pretty happy with the results, even though I had to trim down a lot of the meat of the description to neatly fit into the competition's required 2,500-word limit.

I also just joined a writing group, which is unlike me, the writer who enjoys not speaking to people on a regular basis, but after a friend invited me, I thought I'd give it a try, and after one meeting, I'm happy I did =) We all come from different backgrounds and our writing styles/strengths/subjects/passions are all uniquely our own, so I can only imagine that our discussions will not only be interesting, but highly informative and helpful as well. Remember that novel I wrote a bulk of back in November? My writing group will be getting a crack at a revised Chapter 1 next week.

Then there's the magazine, and I have two articles that I've been holding up and polishing for as long as possible. By Monday-Tuesday, they should be done and ready for layout, leaving me to breathe a sigh of relief.

I also promised myself I would submit a short story for the Highlights 2008 Fiction Contest. The postmark deadline is Wednesday, January 31. I have an idea that has potential. After a few more car rides, morning walks, and daydreams, I should have a completed plot by Tuesday night - just in time to get it written =D

Oh, yes, and I tried out for Broadway today. It was interesting, by far, and I'm happy to report that I didn't have the urge to go pee at all, not even once, while standing in line with dozens of other singers who were guzzling more bottled water than should be legally allowed.

Random, perhaps, but if you know me, not really, and besides, I have to start giving validity back to that part of my website header that says performer.

If not, Alex's insistence on using such job descriptions as astronaut and buccaneer might finally come to fruition.

Melissa Celeste Navia

Writer | Creator | Spelunker

Perfect.