Deadlines...

Deadlines are my sweet tea.  I simply cannot function without them.  I make my living motivating teenagers, which is no small task, and yet I absolutely cannot manage to motivate myself.  With that said, I also find them daunting like most people.

I received my registration information from Tinker Mountain Writer's Workshop at Hollins University.  I have to have 20 pages ready for distribution to my teacher, Fred Leebron, and classmates.  If I want to email it to the program director to forward to my classmates, I have to have it done by May 31st.  That is two weeks from Monday.  If I don't choose to take that path, or don't meet that deadline, then I need to have eight copies ready to hand out on the first night of June 13th.

I actually find this stimulating.  I literally compiled my best sections into a somewhat workable manuscript to apply to the Appalachian Writer's Workshop.  I obviously want to work on a different section for TMWW.  So I either need to get real passionate real quick about a different section, or I need to get writing something new that I find irresistible.

In case I didn't have enough going on, I also have a Young Adult novel that I started last summer that I plan on working on this summer.  I have accrued an assistant to help me get inside the head of a particular character and am excited about the project.

There are times I wish I weren't so motivated by stress. :-}