Three Day Weekend

First, I would like to thank Martin Luther King Jr. and (wow, can’t believe I’m going to say this) President Reagan for making the third Monday in January a national holiday. This has been my holiday to rethink my dreams for the last eight years. Some companies don’t honor the holiday. I have worked for both those that do and those that don’t. Some companies compromise. For example, Lemur has President’s Day off, while I do not.

What will I do with a day off in January? It’s supposed to be the coldest weekend yet this winter, so I don’t plan to leave the house. I should clean, but we all know that won’t happen.

Instead, I’m going to work on my dream. I’m going to polish my YCon anthology submission one last time and then upload it to the website. I’m going to submit my NaNo novel romance to RWA so they know I want to seriously pursue this career. And then I’m going to work on final edits for BATR.

I hope the romance is timeless, but I can’t help feeling contemporary romance has a little bit of an expiration date on it. When does it stop being contemporary and become a historical snapshot? Or when does it stop being relevant? For example, a joke about Charlie Sheen no longer seems appropriate in a gay romance that also discusses the seriousness of HIV.

Because I think there’s an expiration date, I want to publish as soon as possible, but I’m not stupid. I know I’m taking a gamble with a debut novel. I’m going to reach out to my chapter of RWA (something I’ve contemplated for a year now) for a critique partner or reading group. I’m suffocating in this vacuum. Nothing against my betas–I love you guys, but I know you are super busy. Or you secretly hate me. (Ro, I’m looking at you. Across five states, but still.)

I am also the queen of guilt trips. You know this about me.