Welcome! With this site, I hope to give more attention to my writing as well as to keep information on hand in a way that is impossible on a blog. Please get comfortable, grab a glass of something you like, and enjoy looking around!
May update:
At the end of April, I launched my new blog,
Cecilia's Random Writings, which will feature my thoughts on writing as well as my Twitter #FridayFlash stories and my next serial for
The Penny Dreadful online serial fiction site. At this point, it made sense to separate my wine and writing so that when someone visits my blogs, they'll know what to expect from each.
I'm also going to strike out into new territory and review self-published books. There are many good ones out there, but they typically don't get reviewed. I think that anyone who goes through the pain and heartache of finishing and revising a book and then the expense and more pain of getting it out there deserves a chance for others to know about it.
This doesn't mean I'm snubbing the traditional publishing routes. Yes, I'm still planning to try and get an agent for my projects. Sure, there are a lot of crappy books that have been self-published. I'm hoping to help those who are interested to find the good ones.
Again, the wine updates will be light as I work on this new project and try to keep caught up at work. I've come to the conclusion that the need to do paperwork would manifest as gaseous: it seems to expand to fill all my spare time.
April update:
Alas, I didn't make the next cut in the Amazon contest. Yes, I'm still sulking.
Recent events have made me wonder whether I need a different approach to my writing. Rather than focusing on getting one of my already edited novels published, I've decided to work on craft, which will mean more short story work and exercises, some of which I'll share. And, of course, I'll continue with my serial fiction work. I anticipate 3-4 more weeks on Always a Bridesmaid, which can be found under the More Fiction! section of this site (see left). I already have an idea for the next one. Finally, it's revision time for novel #3, and I'll be using some different techniques for this one.
Wine-wise, it's going to be quiet for a little while, which is good because I have some wine reviews I'm behind on.
So, happy Easter, everyone! If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding from the pollen.
March update:
While I enjoy my day job, it sometimes puts a lot of demands on me, and this has been one of those times. I've been invited to speak at a couple of events toward the middle of the month, but of course, everyone wants the slides and handouts ahead of time, so my writing has been of a more mundane nature.
For good news, my collaboration with my author friend in Seattle seems to be moving along well. Also, I've been enjoying writing my serial fiction piece "Always a Bridesmaid," which can be found under the More Fiction section of this web site. The latest installment is on my blog. Finally, my novel Wolfsbane Manor has made it to the next part of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
Here's hoping that March weather brings patio wine-sipping time!
February update:
Hubby and I have been lazy about getting a 2010 calendar for the kitchen, so for the past four weeks, we've been looking at December 2009 and wondering what date it is for a moment before checking the tiny January box at the bottom. I finally gave up yesterday and put up one of the free calendars we got in the mail toward the end of the year. There wasn't a February box, and I just didn't feel like checking my phone all the time.
I'm wondering if part of the reason I haven't quite moved into 2010 -- and yes, I'm still occasionally writing 2009 for the date -- is that I didn't quite meet my writing goals. I had aimed for 25 rejection letters by my birthday at the end of the month, and I'm close, but not quite.
To that end, I've been focusing on my writing the past two weeks, both with starting a Friday Flash serial (see the More Fiction! page on this site to read it all together) and taking an online query letter course. I'm collaborating on a mystery series with a friend, but we both have real-life stuff that interferes, so it's going to be a slow process. I'm feeling the need to write some more short stories, but my ideas have been slow to come or have appeared at inconvenient times, like when I'm driving. That reminds me -- I really need to get that digital voice recorder out and put it in my purse.
On the wine side, I've had the opportunity to try more European wines, as I had resolved to do. Now that's an easy to keep resolution! Check out my blog for tasting notes for the Italians and others we tasted at the Montaluce Wine Conclave and the French wines we had at JavaMonkey on February 4th (should be posted the weekend of Feb 6-7).
Other goals for February: stay healthy and stay warm. My bulbs are starting to come up, so spring is around the corner. I'll let you know the final rejection count when I get to the 26th -- there are still a few things out there that I'm waiting to hear back on. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually sell something.
January update:
One of the reasons I started my blog was because I wanted to have a place for non-professional wine and food lovers to go to for thoughts and descriptions that aren’t incomprehensible if you don’t speak that wine expert dialect. That also means I have a lot to learn, and I recognize my shortcomings. So, here’s what I hope to accomplish in 2010, both for me as the Random Oenophile and for the blog:
1. Drink and write about more European wine. I fell short on this one last year and plan to do better. I need to not be so easily seduced by labels with those magic words Lodi, Willammette, or Walla Walla (although I do get excited by Bordeaux blends and wines from the Cotes du Ventoux region – that counts for something, right?). Have been more intrigued by French pinot noirs lately, so this is a good time for this resolution.
2. Following from number one, drink and write more about wine from interesting places. Like Texas. Yes, my annual professional conference takes me to San Antonio this year, and we’ll likely be going up to Austin as well in search of wineries. If you ask anyone from Texas, their state is way more interesting than any other state, so it counts toward this resolution. That will be another check on the “states I’ve visited wineries in” list.
3. Post a little more regularly on my blog. Going to aim for 1-2 wine/food posts per week plus one Friday Flash fiction post. Regularly updating my web site goes under this number, too. I’m also excited by a new opportunity, to contribute to
Decatur News Online. I hope for that to be a mix of regular blog posts and other articles.
4. Have at least 10 pieces of writing, whether they’re novel queries, short stories, or other things out for submission at all times.
5. Take the train to work more.
What? You thought it was going to be lose 10 pounds? Not quite – I’ve got more wine to drink and more desserts to eat! Hopefully my regular visits to the Decatur/Dekalb YMCA and the half mile walk between home and the MARTA station and the other half mile walk between the station and work (for a total of 2 miles round-trip if you’re counting) will help to offset that.
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(Pictures above from left to right: Old Vine in Lodi, Red and White Tasting Flights, Homemade Spinach Soufflé)
