Ready, Set, ... Wait!

I drive my family crazy with metaphors. So I'm giving them a break and "metaphorizing" here instead.

Imagine you're in a race - one of those marathons - where everybody has a number pinned to their shirt, jogging on the spot and - then the gun goes - and you're off. You feel good - mostly - it's a bit confusing at the beginning and you can't really see where you're going but you're set - I mean you've trained and you've done the right prep - fluids, gear, mindset - you're ready to run the marathon - to go the distance. (Okay, I'm not a marathoner - but I've watched two of my kids run - I've smelled the sweat, seen the glistening bodies and as a writer I've got a good imagination).

And then, still near the start, in the chaos of the beginning, a voice calls from the sidelines - it's you they're calling - and you edge your way over only to get told you're disqualified - some minor bureaucratic thing. You slump down to the ground. The others scurry past - giving empathetic glances - as they go.

There'll be another race. I pull my race pinny off and wish my fellow marathoners well.

Okay, so writing a book and getting it published is not a race. There are no winners or losers. There's just the daily training - the belief that we are writers and that our writing will move us forward. In my head, I know this, but right now my feet are dragging.

This is a long way to say - my book won't be out in 2008. Sniff. 2009 seems a long way off and I'm disappointed. But what's the saying - a watched pot never boils? So I will keep busy. I've got my website to work on. I'm on the planning committee for the 2009 writing conference - Prairie Horizons - linked with Canscaip. I've got to prep for TLA in April, and of course, I've got more books to write. Best of all, I've got a whole year of great reading to look forward to. Sitting on the sidelines here, I'll be able to watch and appreciate the Class of 2k8 in a manner that would have been impossible if I'd been out there myself.

I wish my former classmates of 2k8 the best of success. Their passion and their talent is making them noticed throughout the world of children's literature. And they're off to great start!