I meant to send out some work to editors yesterday to see if I could get any bites, but fishing for publication gets old pretty fast. I used to love it, to love the challenge, to love the potential… I also used to play the lottery, though now I am more realistic. Instead of sending queries out, I painted and wrote, spent time thinking about the process and what it means to me.

I have dozens of pieces that I could query, lots of potential, but I don’t have the energy for the chase that I used to have. I think it’s an overall trend with me, things change with age. When I was younger and I had limitless time and energy, I would waste an entire night researching options for publication for a few pieces. Now, I just don’t know if I can “spend” that much time on anything.

My time has become increasingly valuable the older I get. Things that used to amuse me are less amusing now. Time wasters are really more irritating than ever before. And I see so many things as essentially wasting my time. Not the least of which is work. If not for the money, I would have chosen very differently in career paths.

All that being said, and whatever it might mean, I think I will submit a few pieces for review this afternoon. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve played the lottery.

And I’m feeling kind of lucky today.

Below is a recent piece from the sketchbook. Watercolor on watercolor paper.