Chopping Wood

Albert Einstein once said, “People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.”

Writing is not like chopping wood. One spends months, often years, working on a manuscript. Most of the work is solitary, and much of the time is spent revising. In the end (especially if you’re a “beginner”), the next phase is months, often years, spent writing query letters, sending off excerpts and synopses, waiting to hear back from agents, then waiting to hear from publishers.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. So much time spent waiting.

Now there is another thing to wait for, another “magical date”: January 15.

My writing was deemed “eligible” by the Amazon Higher Powers. As one of the official 5000, I must wait until sometime before January 15, when Amazon announces the 1,000 Semi Finalists.

I suppose I’ll get back to work on the next manuscript.

Published by Valya

Valya Dudycz Lupescu has been making magic with food and words for more than 20 years, incorporating folklore from her Ukrainian heritage with practices that honor the Earth. She’s a writer, content developer, instructor, and mother of three teenagers. Valya is the author of MOTHER CHRISTMAS, THE SILENCE OF TREES, and the founding editor of CONCLAVE: A Journal of Character. Along with Stephen H. Segal, she is the co-author of FORKING GOOD: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place and GEEK PARENTING: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family (Quirk Books), and co-founder of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. Valya earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and magazines that include, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Gone Lawn, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium. You can find her on Twitter @valya and on Mastodon.social @valya

3 thoughts on “Chopping Wood”

  1. Shauna says:

    I wish you the best of luck! As a fellow writer, I know what you mean about the long process of writing. And, having read the sample pieces of your book, I can’t wait for it to get published so that I can read the whole thing!

  2. Mark says:

    Good Luck

  3. Sandy says:

    I just read the excerpts of your book & it’s too short. I can’t wait to read the whole book soon! GOOD LUCK in the contest. I sure you’ll make top 10 & then #1.

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