I'm writing this from a definite peak in the Writers' Life. Late last week, the longlist for the CBC Nonfiction Prize was released with my name on it! I have entered the various CBC Writing Contests (short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction) nearly a dozen times, and this is my first time on any of their longlists. Whether or not I move onto the shortlist (announced in a month's time), this feels like a huge accomplishment. To use a video game analogy, I've unlocked an achievement.
To add to that, the week before, I received a Canada Council for the Arts Grant to obtain beta readers and a developmental editor, and turn my second-draft Unmotherhood Memoir into a polished third and fourth draft!
To add to that (!), WritersNL announced a free Therapeutic Writing Workshop in partnership with the Health Accord NL and Well-Being NL that I will be leading next week.
My writing cup runneth over right now! On Thursday, my writers' group, the Tufts Cove Writers' Collective, treated me at my favorite restaurant to celebrate. We left the restaurant and went straight to the Dart Gallery, to host our monthly Writers' Open Mic, dART Speak.
A diverse group of 22 creatives shared their words in a packed house surrounded by beautiful paintings. My mom was visiting from Newfoundland and sat in the back taking it all in (unlike her daughter, she does not like the limelight).
People often share the good news, but there is bad news every week in the writer's life: heartbreaking rejections, elevator-plunge disappointments, and long-nurtured hopes quashed. I know those valleys are not only behind me--there are more ahead. But that's future Lindsey's problem. Right now, I'm just gonna hang out up here on the peak and enjoy the freaking view.
Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for sharing your success with us! I trust this is the snowflake in your world of snowballs and it will just keep growing into something magnificent! You are an inspiration and so very motivational. Sarah Butland