Almost Back

You really are the most patient people. First you had to deal with my having a baby and then the loss of my job.

I still don't have a new job, but life has settled enough that I think I can find the time to get TZP up and running again. I'm going to go through all of my emails, do some site updates, and then start cleaning out the queue.

Zen Pen Closed again :(

I'm sorry guys, but I'm going to have to close my doors yet again. I just lost my job due to downsizing. All of my free time is going to be spent looking for a new job.

I'm sorry...

Queue Hopscotch

The queue isn't quite accurate at the moment because some people have pulled their stories. Therefore some people may be receiving crits seemingly out of order. Don't worry. It will all settle soon enough.

To help with the confusion I am providing a queue count on the right as well.

I'm also removing the response times section. Let's face it, it was never accurate though made with the best intentions. Instead I'm going to use "queue climate" for a more accurate albeit general description of how the queue is progressing.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

I'm terribly sorry that I kept all of you in the dark. August hit and I just became absorbed in getting things ready for the baby. It was all worth it though. I'm the proud first-time mommy of a beautiful baby girl, Emma Rose. Emma was 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and 20.5 inches long. It was an all-natural water-birth, only 3 hours in labor.

Anyway, I'm finally back to working full time and am ready to start TZP up again. I apologize to those of you who sent in stories who haven't heard from me. I'm going to go through those emails now and sort everything out.

If you submitted to TZP during my maternity leave and no longer want that story critted, please let me know.

It's good to be back behind the Pen.

Maternity Leave

I will be on Maternity Leave from July 3 - November 10. I am due August 15. I intend to continue critting while I'm at home, so response times should temporarily improve. But after mid-August, all bets are off. TZP will most likely have to close until I get this whole motherhood thing down and am actually sleeping regularly again. I'll try and keep everyone posted as well as I can.

Site Redesign

Yup, I redesigned it again. All content is updated.

Been Sick

Sorry I haven't been answering emails everyone. Shortly after I emptied the queue, I got terribly sick with a sinus infection. I was MIA for about 5 days - it takes a lot longer to bounce back when you're 7 months pregnant apparently.

I haven't checked a single email since the last time I critted. I'm sorry I disappeared. Hopefully I'll have time to clean out my inbox and get the queue going again this week.

No Queue!

For the first time in TZP history, there's no queue. Is this because I've been diligently staying on top of things? I don't think so. Is it because I haven't been marketing TZP enough? Perhaps. Is it because my response times are so unreliable that nobody wants to submit stories to me? I fear so. Sorry if that last one is the reason.

Well, whatever the reason for the miracle of an empty queue, whoever submits next will be getting their story back FAST! In the meantime, might as well redesign the site again. I love redesigning sites...