In and Out of Hot Water

The view from my balcony at H-W Senior Living (photo by Jane Conn)

One of the selling points when I signed the lease on my apartment here in Westminster, CA, last autumn was the luxury of a year-round heated swimming pool. I'd noticed a water aerobics class on the newsletter calendar, and vowed to take it up. Sure, I wouldn't be imitating Esther Williams, the mermaid of MGM spectaculars in the forties. I'd done that in my preadolescence, trotting to Los Angeles's Harvard Playground's pool on chilly mornings to take advantage of free water ballet lessons on summer Saturdays. Now, in the envisioned comfort of balmy winter mornings, I'd be popping in for lessons a couple of mornings a week. Barring rain, of course, but we all know it never rains in California.

But guess what? It did this past weekend, blanketing the nearby San Gabriel mountains with snow and providing a chance for Huntington Beach surfers to dodge the waves while flailing off hail and snow. For the first time since moving here, I've had to turn up the thermostat in my tiny apartment.

All this, of course, will explain why I skipped class this morning. I've shoveled snow when the thermometer barely inched toward double digits. But somehow the prospect of bouncing up and down to Fleetwood Mac while halfway immersed in lukewarm waters in 45 degree weather couldn't coax me out of my robe and into my tankini this morning.

So instead I browsed some websites, seeking possible venues for submitting a story I intend to write this week...a love story! And I found one. For those of you who are venturing into fiction for the first time, check out this publisher: http://www.zimbellhousepublishing.com/?page_id=151

I'm hoping to turn out a romantic morsel and share it with the Poets and Dreamers Writing Group in Orange this next Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, with luck and a return to normal temperatures, I'll be wiggling and jiving in the pool once again.

Success!

 Writing updates:

Success! 
Blue Lobster Press will release Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee in late April, just in time for Mother's Day. This collection, with the theme of  "Lessons We've Learned from Our Mothers," will include my story, "Mama Hankered for Hankies."

Possibility!

Possibility!
Yesterday I finished and submitted a story to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams and Premonitions, with hopes that it will be a contender.











Wild Dreams!
I'm committed to making a stab at contributing a love story worthy of seeing print...and have a possible publication lined up.

Wild Dreams!