sometimes

Sometimes I really miss Inkspot.

Don't get me wrong...I love where I am and what I'm doing; it's wonderful to be able to be able to focus on writing rather than on managing a growing business (being a writer is a business in itself, I know, but it's not the same thing), to have autonomy again.

But from time to time I'll think about the whole experience, the immense satisfaction of turning a single page of links into a community resource that so many writers found useful. I'll remember what a joy it was to receive e-mail from new writers, ecstatic because they had made their first sale ever, and it was because of something they saw in Inkspot or Inklings. I'll remember how Inkspot gradually accumulated helpers, and how well we all worked together over the years, the chemistry we had.

Trying Inkspot's old URL just takes you to nothingness now. I guess I still haven't gotten over the fact that there's nothing left of Inkspot, that all those pages and discussion forums are gone.

Or maybe not.

If you want to check out what Inkspot used to look like in ancient times, you can still find it in WayBackMachine (type in "www.inkspot.com"). Thanks to Sal Towse for the link; she used to be Inkspot's wonderful Markets Editor...we're still friends :-). Jeff had told me about this site a long way back, I think, but I never checked it out (I suspect the Inkspot shutdown news was still too fresh for me at the time).

Looking through those old Inkspot pages was somewhat like browsing through an old family album, especially recalling what the site looked like back in '97. I wasn't wracked with anger or sadness as I explored these old pages, in case you're wondering. It was more like, "Hey, so this is what Inkspot looked like back then. Kind of cool that I did all that."

I still miss it sometimes, though.

Today's survey question:
What Web sites do you still check on a regular basis that have been around since the early days of the Web? Or at least for a few years? Post your answer here. I'll post the results in an upcoming Blathering.

Writing Update:
Signed up for the $4.95/month Yahoo Premium Document Search. I'm going to try it out to see if it's useful in my article research; I'll let you know if I decide to stick with it or not.

A good day yesterday...sent out six queries (two snailmail, four electronic). Looks like I now have ten queries circulating, two articles to write, one I submitted yesterday and am waiting to hear if it needs changes, two to appear in publications in March. I've written 10,000 wds in my novel (goal is about 45,000-50,000 words, average number of words for middle reader novel) and on target so far; most of my time is being spent nonfiction research, but my fiction output has at least been steady since the beginning of the year. AND I'm still caught up in my finances, woohoo!

I'm thinking of treating myself to a massage at the Sutherland-Chan clinic as a reward to myself at the end of next month, if I'm still on schedule in terms of my writing...it's been nearly five months since my last one; paying for a massage seems like such an extravagant indulgence nowadays. I have to get over the guilt of spending the money on myself first. :\

Other updates:

Bryan and Elizabeth came over last night for dinner (I made Pasta Primavera from the Moosewood Cookbook) and Enterprise. Good episode; Jeff and I both thought it was the best so far.

Blatherpics

Photo taken at brunch at La Hacienda a couple weeks ago.