Happy Anniversary for An Audience of Me

Yep, it's been a whole freakin' year since I started this blog. Seems like forever...and a day. (Garsh, I love phrases that can have double meaning like that.) Here's a year in review for An Audience of Me, whether you want it or not:

April 2006: Started this here little blog with a long, drawn-out explanation of the title after deciding writing can be a lonely pursuit, and that the main audience I had to write for and please was me. Also created a banner with a photo of a very lovely poppy from my Toronto trip, if I do say so myself. Started my middle grade manuscript, Trading Faces, which eventually morped into something completely different. It was supposed to be a "break" from the serious stuff. Hehe.

May 2006:
Made my way up to 20K words in TF, pretty amazing, I thought! The Opal Mehta scandal broke in the writing world, furious on the tail of James Frey's escapades.

June 2006:
Worked TF on up to over 30K. Lost a little momentum, but this was pretty good! Started the short-lived "Lyric of the Day" thing...which morphed into the "Quote of the Day"...which eventually died. Participated in Blogging for Books with my Campho Phenique story. That was a blast. I wish B4B would come back to Faster than Kudzu. Read The Courage to Write and was awed and transformed.

July 2006:
The other voices in my head began to crowd out TF. I wanted desperately to finish this project, but realized that childrens' fiction was not where my heart truly wanted to dwell. TF still managed to crawl up over 40K! Wow! Longest thing I'd ever written! I passed the word count on my first ever long manuscript, which lies buried still at about 37K somewhere in a dusty little folder. Signed up for La Jolla Writer's Conference...best investment of my writing career yet. I've already signed up for this year. New writers, if you want to go to a small conference that is less expensive than the majority and where you will rub not only shoulders, but ears with well-known, successful writers and agents, run, don't walk to LJWC. I need a roommate, anyway. (If you are female, a non-stalker, and don't snore because I like to get a break from men who snore and stalkers when I go to this thing, you know. I love you, Toddy. Happy Anniversary to you, too!!!)

August 2006:
While TF crawled toward the home stretch, I also worked on a short story I really like. I am polishing it up and eventually this one will go out on submission when I find the right places to send it.

September 2006:
Saw Jodi Picoult speak live. Words can't describe this lady. Amazing. Sent sample pages of TF off to the LJWC. Joined my first critique group with the local SCBWI chapter.

October 2006:
Finished my first draft of TF. Went to the LJWC, promtply chopped my first draft of TF from about 225 pages (nearly 45K) down to about 75 (about 15K) in one one-hour workshop session after my read and critique with children's agent Laura Rennert. Trading Faces suddenly becomes Cassie Catastrophe...and since them, Callie Catastrophe. She's a flexible little lady.

November 2006:
Sketchy month for this blog...one really long post about the LJWC. I think I must have written another short story, because I talked about it in December!

December 2006:
Did my first short story submission since, um, COLLEGE...and got my first real rejection!!! I was so proud. Submitted a few other things I haven't ever heard back on. (Including a poem. What's up with that?) My brain started really going crazy with the women's/mainstream fiction manuscript idea that I'm working on now.

January 2006 through March: (I'm boring myself...you must be seriously bored, so let's cut to the chase.)
January and February were very slim months on this blog. I started my new manuscript, LOTH, and while it's been growing very slowly and organically (hehe...don't you love those words that make you look smart?), it's now around 21K. See that counter over there on the righthand toolbar?

I also started the Care and Feeding of the Girls in the Basement class online with Barbara Samuel, and my work there was much more important than anything I could have written here. If the LJWC is the best investment of conference dollars, this has got to be the best investment of online workshop dollars. Learning about how to take care of the Girls (and mine happen to live in an attic, not some creepy crawly basement) was seriously better than therapy, and I needed therapy at the time, so it ain't no lie. It helped me clarify my writing goals, and quite literally, changed my life. You can read about it, but basically it boils down to:

Seize the Day.
No Guts, No Glory, Go for it.
Just Do It.
If not now, when? If not me, who?

Ah, yes. It's been a very good year.

I know the whole point of this blog is for me to sound off about writing, whether anyone else ever clicks on the link to get here, but I'd love to hear from anyone who reads this blog--whether daily or occasionally. Leave me a comment (you can use the "anonymous" identity quite easily even if you don't use Blogger). Tell me Happy Anniversary! I'd like to know who you are. You'll go on my charter members list, and that's quite an honor, I'd say. One day, that might be worth something.

Please don't make me resort to leaving anonymous comments for myself. I'll cry. Even you, Dad. You can even use all caps. I don't care. ;-)

Whoever you are, thanks for reading, and maybe by this time next year I'll have a writing contract and you'll be able to say, "That Julie Layne person, I knew her when she was PRE-published, you know."

Or, you can leave me another comment saying, "Happy Anniversary...Keep on Keepin' on."