Post-Conference Resolutions

The Cayman conference was wonderful. The Caymans, I find, are a weird place. I never saw the beach, nor smelled it, though rumor has it I was not far. Also, it rained the whole time, so there wasn't a whole lot of beach incentive. The architecture is austere and antiseptic - they could be buildings in any modern city. It certainly wasn't my vision of the Caribbean. Regardless, I didn't go there for the scenery - I went for inspiration, support, and camaraderie. I got it all.
I had one class alone with Tom Lux - it wasn't by design, but I was glad it worked out. He gave me such positive feedback on my poems that I'm now in the process of putting together a chapbook. (The next two days, other people showed up for his class, much to my disappointment!)
I took a fiction class with Colin Channer- who is also a fantastic teacher, despite the fact that some of his exercises (involving oral storytelling) made me actually sweat (and I NEVER sweat.) He gave some tools to examine and revise fiction that I never had before. I love when I learn something new (especially when it's about something I thought I already knew!)
I met with an agent about my novel who agreed that it's most likely publishable - fantastic news, since the last time I worked with it, no one wanted to publish anything (it was BK - Before Kindle, when it seems like nothing was getting bought.) I am going to revise it and try again. I feel like I owe it to that book (and to the two years I spent writing it.)
So, in that spirit, I have resolved to get it done.
I already have been writing on Saturday mornings while the children are at their activities. Obviously that's not enough. So I've decided to get up at 5:15 three mornings a week to write. I've made it one week so far. This is a significant accomplishment because I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. However, there really isn't any other time, and if I'm going to make this work, I need to make it work.
It never fails, however, that no matter how early I wake up, the children wake up right after. I lack the ability to tell them to leave me alone - they're 9 years old, and in 9 years they'll be off to college. Then I'll be able to write all the time. Of all the things I do, being a mom is the most important. I just need to fit the other parts in too.