The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

IWSG Day, November 7, 2018, Tweak and Finish



Hello Everyone,

It is the first Wednesday of the month, and IWSG Time. 

IWSG is a writer support group created and led by Alex Cavanaugh. It is a big help to many of us who do not mind sharing our insecurities, our successes or giving encouragement and help to others. 

So, if you are interested and would like to join, the link below will lead you directly to us:


My report:

Rejection: Glimmer Train, Very Short Fiction Story


No New Submissions this month









 Tweak and Finish


I received great feedback on my partial manuscript submitted to the NWS this year, and from Simon and Schuster too. Now, it is time to tweak and finish the manuscript in its entirety. It seems as if there is room in the literary world for me, but I will not know the earnestness until the tweaks have been made and the complete manuscript is submitted. 

Right now, I am not stressing about it. In fact, I have dived into the process with smiles on my face. If I lack anything, it is a twenty-eight-hour day instead of a twenty-four-hour day.  But the hours in my day are not going to increase so, I’m left with reprioritizing, which means giving up, or throwing out routines and schedules that are no longer profitable. In re-evaluating the dispensation of my time, I am asking myself what I need to let go of so that I can move on. These are hard decisions that bring pain because I hate goodbyes. They are changing the path of my life as I get ready to pass through the gate. 

I do know that everything changes and that nothing remains the same, but oh it is difficult to walk out this knowledge and wisdom. I stand before the gate, and like Robert Frost described so effectively in one of my favourite poems of his, I see the two roads that have emerged, and remain undaunted despite of not knowing what will happen.


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Wishing all of you a lovely month of November.

Shalom aleichem,













Pat Garcia

*The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, originally published in 1916, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken

9 comments:

  1. When I'm writing, something has to go. Once I've said goodbye and focus on writing, I usually don't miss it.
    Good luck with the revisions.

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  2. You are such an Energizer Bunny that I'm delighted that you are learning to back off on things rather than adding more to your crazy life. GREAT JOB!!! Good Luck on your revisions and submission!! Hugs to you!

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  3. I'm sure you'll find your place in the literary world, Pat. And, yes, life is all about change. In Zen they say "All structures are unstable." From one structure to another, keep submitting. There's an acceptance in your future. :-)

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  4. Here from Alex's blog. Seems like you have a lot of decisions to make. I'm seeing a common pattern among us writers, there's not enough time to get things done, LOL. I wrote about the same things. Sometimes life gets in the way. Hope you figure it out. When you do please let me know what you did. Have a blessed month.

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  5. Wonderful poem, Pat! During the most recent time change, I realized I could do with just one more hour a day. Please! http://www.raimeygallant.com

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  6. Most enjoyable post to read, Good luck for the future,

    Yvonne.

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  7. Good luck with the revisions! Nothing wrong with repriortizing. I had to do it with my new job.

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  8. Good luck with your 'tweaking'.
    Great poem. Thanks for posting it.

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