practice being fictional for a while

The Novel Land

Lauren E. Mitchell, with apologies to T.S. Eliot

“A deadline is, simply put, optimism in its most kick-ass form.
It's a potent force that, when wielded with respect, will level any obstacle in its path.
This is especially true when it comes to creative pursuits.”ⁱ

I. THE OPENING OF THE FORUMS

NOVEMBER is the cruellest month, breeding
Accusations of cheating, mixing
Trolling and double-posting, stirring
Writers to new heights.
Heather kept us sane, staying
Up all the long nights moderating
So the forums stayed flame-war free.
The new site surprised us, with shiny region headers
With Google Calendar; we dropped everything
And went on to add events, to see if it worked
And bounced happily when at last it did.
Non siamo pazzi, siamo MLs.ⁱⁱ
And when the forums are filling, growing with returning Wrimos,
Our people, we'll take them out to Starbucks
And barbecues. We'll say, Wrimos
Wrimos, here we go. And off we'll go
In the chatrooms, there you feel savvy
We write, much of the night, and go insane in the mornings.