I miss pen and ink...

 My eyes are tired. 

They are often bleary, as I tend to spend a lot of screen/page time in each day, but today, they are sore and tired. I spent a metric ton of time yesterday working on the computer, and the day before, I was grading papers and submitting them to the partner college for review. In short, teaching=clerical work, as well as developing original content, etc. 

I miss pen and paper. 

That said, though, I feel pretty good about the work I've gotten done. I even submitted my chapbook to yet another contest. I have no illusions about winning, but there's always a chance, I suppose. You can't win if you don't play, and, as with so many other things, it's a numbers game. I believe in my creative work, both my school stuff and my personal writing, and I hope someone out there believes in it, too. 

Well, they do, actually. I have now (at this writing) 58 poems that have been published. It's not a huge body of work, but it makes me pretty happy. And I have two book reviews and a couple of essays to my credit, too. All of a sudden, the reality of me--me!-- being an actual writer is starting to sink in. 

Pretty cool, eh? Sometimes I wish it paid in more than free copies, but hey, it's something. Validation in any form feels good.

Have a great day,

C