So I’m chugging along, like the little engine that could – just trying to get writing done and feeling like I’m doing my usual half-ass job. Got one cover letter (for If Wishes were Horses) nearly done. Got to revise the proposal for the same – worked on it today. Got second cover letter near done (Material Matters). Pete said “uh uh,” revise it. He still needs to read the proposal. Another instance of my having to get in line. The Material Matters proposal – I need to revise the first section – my subconscious is working on it. I need to provide what Nancy Shulins and I agreed is a secondary hook, which is one that indicates that this is not only a memoir about me, but is also a memoir about. . . . In her case, her secondary hook was that she got into horses because she needed something to care for. In other words, this was her way of dealing with her infertility issue.

My secondary hook might be that as a returning rider, I endure even more hardship than most who are horse crazy – this is because my obstacles are related to the place that I live, which is Alaska. The question in this instance is why do I put up with what I do in attempting to first acquire, and then care for my horse? I do need (at least in the proposal) to say why this is. And I have not yet figured this out. Subconscious says, “hey hey, let me figure this out and I’ll get back to you.” To which I say “thanks, pal.” Anyhow, once I get the proposal done, I’ll go back and revise the book, keeping what I say in the first part of my proposal in mind.

Tomorrow – writer’s group meeting. It’s at the local bookstore. I’m dreading that part because there I will sit, watching the writers who have “made it” come and go. I do have a plan though. I’m to first talk to the group about audience, using a diagram of a concentric circle as a model. Then I’ll share If Wishes were Horses -- my latest draft, my proposal, and my revised cover letter – with the group, saying that these things are now at the outer layer of the circle. Then I’ll share my dispatch about my most recent dental visit and talk about it in relation to the concentric circle theory.

Prior to the meeting I’m to meet with a member of the group. Rocky wants feedback on his work. I agreed to be his writing coach. This is not going to be without a price. We agreed that $20.00 an hour is a fair fee. He’s paying me, not the other way around. It could be the other way around, the way some things seem to be going.

Next: 80. 3/28/15: Icy on the Cake