Public Lessons

Ah, the Mills & Boon New Voices competition is over and no, I am not a finalist in the Top Ten. But I feel like a winner just the same. Why? Because I put myself out there and no one came out and said,
"Yuck, your writing stinks and you should take up knitting." Yay! I also got some fabulous feedback from non-writers who had never read my work, but who knew me as just their neighbor or their friend. For many of them, this was the first time they'd read anything I had written.

The best thing I heard? "I can't stop thinking about the characters. I can't get them out of my head."

Mission accomplished.

I learned that while my story might not be the story the M&B editors and judges wanted to move forward, that my characters resonated with my readers (at least the ones who stopped by to comment or to talk to me in person). I'm glad. I am heading in the right direction. If I can create characters that jump off the page then it is only a matter of connecting them to the story that resonates with an editor and/or an agent. Both, really.

Other lessons learned by entering this competition?

*I can put  my work out there and the sky won't fall on my head.
*I can juggle multiple projects at a time.
*I can put my name out there and promote my work.
*I can be encouraging to strangers who have the same dream.
*RWA and all the local chapters I belong to are golden in their ongoing professional support.
*My critique partners and writing friends rock in their support.
*I am not alone and many of the writers who did post their work do not have my kind of support.
*I have control over three aspects of writing: writing my stories, querying, & learning craft.
*I can write and revise very fast when the pressure is on.
*I can balance the various aspects of the writing business based on my appetizer of the experience.

I am glad I entered this competition. I will continue to pursue publication through all the avenues available to me in this business. I can't control WHEN I will connect all the dots and the stars align, but I can believe in the power of my dream.

Thanks to everyone who supported me. Be sure to check out the web site for the Top Ten. Read them. Have fun. I'll post the winner here when she/he is announced!

Just about A New Year and I'm Ready

It's been a crazy year for me and my family. As one person at a writing group put it, "life hijacked me." We moved. And it wasn't an easy process. I flew to the new city with my family to check it out January 2008. We found schools we liked, areas we liked, and houses we loved. We landed on January 29th back in VA and two and half weeks later my house was on the market.



I make it sound easier than it was. In a nutshell, I gave birth to a staged house. And that was a monumental effort. I learned a few things about myself:



*I can sleep in my clothes and wear them the next day to run around looking for paint to match my walls

*my personal handyman, N, had the secret to life: don't panic, I can fix it. And he did and I miss him.

*I can box up half my house and watch it drive away in storage units

*who needs comfort when they can have a model home?

*my real friends were there for me at the oddest of times

*my other friends were not real friends

*I can survive an economic downturn and sell a house in 1 month!



Then we turned around and purchased a house on the internet using a realtor my VA realtor recommended. I learned a lot from that experience, too:



*as long as you have a tough realtor, anything is possible

*you can buy a house on the internet

*you can order idiots working for builders around via all caps in emails long distance

*you can live in three places in the span of two months

*you can make a new life happen while living the old one



Then we moved into the new house and I learned:



*that if you complain, people will come through and make things right

*box cutters are a must

*wrist guards are a must

*dust? what dust?

After we moved into the house and got settled, I learned that I can:

*drive 12 hours with a teen and see my old friends
*starting a new life is easy with a positive attitude
*I am a most excellent nester

And through it all, I learned something about myself as a writer because I entered contests, placed third in one contest, and I continued to write. Now I am revising my third book and am almost at the finish line--again.

So I am really excited about the new year because this year I don't have to move. I just have to keep doing what I started, and I have more time to do it. Yeah! I am setting bigger goals for myself this year. I am going for the gold as far as time spent in front of the computer banging out stories. And I am aggressively marketing my books--again!

And now, back to revising book three.