Well, I spent this holiday weekend getting behind. Thanks to all of you who left such kind and encouraging comments here, and everyone who's off reading my first post at The Krazy Kitchen. I'm really looking forward to getting more into cooking and blogging - first, though, I really have to tackle my procrastination issue.

Not that I haven't been trying to tackle it since second grade or anything. It's just frustrating to want to get something done, then get overwhelmed when I look at the mess left from holiday stuff I haven't cleaned up yet, from cooking my Monday Munchies recipes, and from being silly enough to think my overzealous kitten who drinks twice her weight in water daily could go two days without a litter change.

And, of course, I haven't kept up with JulNoWriMo. After last November's success with 50,000 words in 15 days, I thought I'd be able to get back into the swing of things easily, but no such luck.

They say that some of the world's greatest artists are also the world's greatest procrastinators. The key to productive procrastination is supposed to be acknowledging that you know you're going to procrastinate, so you do something useful. Usually, when I don't feel like doing homework, I'll poke around online instead of starting another project. Apparently, instead I should realize that instead of spending hours online, I can get cleaning or writing done since I know I won't focus on my work either way.

I guess that means I'm going to get in the shower (at noon like a lazy college kid) and then focus hard all day on avoiding my homework?

I've joined a new blog, The Krazy Kitchen, as a contributor. On Mondays, I'll be posting my Monday Munchies meme, which will include a weekly recipe for a healthy, cheap, and quick snack perfect for college kids like me and busy people of all ages. Come visit me over there for something a little different from my posts here.

Also, JulNoWriMo started today. I'm behind on my word count, but at least I'm writing something. I've worked on both my novel and my short sci-fi story today, and I fully intend to spend the hour and a half between now and midnight working. I feel productive for now, though I imagine I won't come August when I realize I haven't packed anything for the big move and have missed the application deadline for my new semester of classes. Oh well.

Where's the right one for me?

It's strange. To the best of my knowledge, what I write is what gets crazily popular - stories set in current times, in a version of this world with a touch of added magic. To be fair, this type of book is generally aimed at young people, but I've seen a middle-aged Hispanic man reading Twilight on the bus on his way home from work. The Harry Potter series was published with an entire set of covers meant for adults who want their reading material to look more mature. Everyone loves light, urban, modern fantasy.

I describe my personal writing style along the lines of the following: Neil Gaiman meets Margaret Atwood for coffee at three in the morning in a seedy New England diner just off a foggy highway. They sit there and talk until dawn.

Maybe I'm somehow misinterpreting what's popular? Maybe I'm stuck somewhere between young adult adventure and excitement and grown-up good sense? All I know is that I can't find a place for myself in the big-name short fiction markets. The ones dedicated to genre fiction seem to be full of dragons and swords and the occasional alien, or alternately a lot of allegory about nuclear weapons and the government. The literary ones appear to only publish a piece of fiction if it either deals with children in the context of an adult trying to find his or her place in the world or stars a struggling minority character.

Don't get me wrong, I love all these kinds of stories. I have no problem with high fantasy, symbolic sci-fi, or literature that deals directly with widely known real-world issues. It's just that I don't write any of these things.

That said, my first short story that really follows my personal style has just found a home, so I know there is hope. I just wonder if the road ahead would be easier for me if I wrote something closer to the standard.

First of all, I'd like all my non-readers to know that I've gotten another publication offer. This time around it's Cantaraville, and it seems they enjoyed my pet story The Travelers enough to publish it in their April 2010 issue.

Three story publications - does this mean I'm a real, live author? Not by any stretch. Stephen King says that you can be considered to have talent as a writer when you've been paid for your work and the check didn't bounce. I'm personally still working my way up to that tense moment at the bank teller's window.

As of now, I only have one story out for consideration at a paying publisher, and because the story is probably my most offensive piece of fiction ever, I have trouble assuming it will be accepted. I have plans to submit to four paying markets if I can ever sit my butt down to write and/or edit my way there.

While I'm putting that off, I've been thinking about other ways to get paid for writing. I'm feeling pretty useless sitting here while Mr. Nine-to-Five is off paying the bills, and I'd love to get a writing career up and running before I'm forced to get a real job. Let's face it, my first novel isn't going to be finished, let alone published with a $10,000 advance, this summer.

I've sent off a couple responses to freelance writing ads here and there, usually advertising myself as a fresh, young face who may be inexperienced but who *whisper whisper* will work for less than most others. Unfortunately, the most I've heard back is one request for samples of my work, of which I have none.

How do you break into a field like this? I've tried article writing sites to gain experience, but seriously, take a look around you. If you're reading my blog, you're the only one. If I can't market myself well enough to get peoples' attention here, how can I do it in the big, bad world out there where everyone is competing to see who can pay their rent next month?

I guess this is why you're supposed to have Facebook - so you can post a link to your blog, article, or story and get a hundred content-free comments. So you can ask for glowing reviews from people you don't really know, and so you can pray that one of your "friends" needs writing work done cheap one day.

Too bad I'm so antisocial. Oh well, it just means that I really am a fiction writer at heart.

Ugh, I have been doing everything I can the past few days to avoid writing anything. This mostly means I have spent the week sleeping, eating, talking to everyone I know on the phone for hours, surfing online, playing with my cat, watching trashy talk shows, and God forbid, cleaning.

Unfortunately, I really need to be writing. I want to submit to Every Day Fiction as soon as possible, and I want to get something out for M-BRANE's new anthology before the deadline. Then there's my promise to myself to finish my first viable novel this summer and get it out of here before the end of the year, which will prove nearly impossible unless I get it done during JulNoWriMo. Which means, basically, that I have to have all my short story submissions done before then, a.k.a. now.

Writers write. Bloggers blog. Why do I find myself so incapable of doing either?

Oh, right. Because I'm a procrastinator.

I have a confession to make: I hate blogging.

Yes, I went through a LiveJournal phase in high school, largely using the site as a way to make plans with friends and/or shoot passive-aggressive insults their way. Yes, I've started blogs on about every site out there, only to abandon them in short order. I may be a writer, but blog posts are not my niche. I'm not well-versed in witty real-life anecdotes, useful parenting and cooking tips, or wordy accounts of what I had for lunch or watched on TV today. I'd rather be writing something I'm good at.

Earlier today, though, it hit me: I can use blogging as a way to put off writing anything productive.

Here I am, then, typing this entry instead of working on any of a half dozen stories-in-progress. To be honest, I do see the usefulness of a blog. Most magazines where I submit work allow self-promotion in the form of a link to your blog or site. Now that my fiction is published online, I need to spread the word and gain recognition, so I'm being productive in a certain sense, right?

Now to see if I can figure out how to drag some people in here and start building my base of adoring fans...