A Little Magic: A Happy Holiday Story for Writers

      “How’s your book going?” my writing group buddy, Chris Elfin asked.

“I almost finished the final chapter, but I got stuck and had to go back and revise parts of the first few chapters because of the ending. It’s like working a puzzle that sneaks in another twist after you think you have it solved,” I said with my nose wrinkled and my brows knit as I remembered the knot in my stomach when I realized all the rewriting my new ending necessitated.

“It’s a lot of work.”

Deep sigh. “Yeah, but it’s the most fun kind of work I’ve ever done.” I grinned at the small, white-whiskered man who slouched back in his chair with an echoing grin and crinkled hazel eyes.

“If it’s a labor of love, you’ll succeed.”

“What’s the status of your book?” I asked him.

“What book?”

“Your Kansas City mystery—the one we critiqued for the past two years.

“Oh. That book.” He shrugged.

I looked at Chris over my glasses and raised an eyebrow while a surge of warmth from my heart area threatened to turn up the corners of my mouth. This guy had given each of us good feedback on our chapters, asked questions that made us think about how to improve, and supported us on social media with “likes,” comments, and links to helpful sites. His chapters submitted for critique were so well-written that we needed only to enjoy the story and praise his use of witty dialogue. Now, we were reading a second entertaining story of his, chapter by chapter, but what had happened to the first?

“Did it get scooped up by an agent or a publishing company?” I probed.

“Why do you ask?”

“I like that story. It’s good. Should be published so lots of people can read it.”

“We should all be published,” he said.

“I want us all to be published by the end of the year,” I said looking upward with a melodramatic “wishing on a star” demeanor.

“Publishing contracts for all during the holidays—a time of miracles.” He nodded with a serious expression and regarded me with eyes that now looked golden brown.

~~~

By the end of September, everyone in the writing group, except for our newest member, had written and sent out multiple query letters. While helping to critique the queries, Chris had declined to share one. My head reeled with imaginings of my letters sitting unread at the bottom of great piles on agents’ desks or in their e-mail accounts. I’d received a few flat, generic replies telling me the agencies weren’t accepting new clients at this time or said, “You story does not fit our criteria.” What were the criteria my story didn’t fit? What criteria would my story fit if not those stated in the agency and publishing house Websites? Other group members had similar experiences, and it helped little when we told each other that some best-selling writers had tried for years before they were published.

In early November, I got an e-mail from an editor at a local press asking for a summary and the first three chapters of my book. The poor editor probably heard my whoops and squeals all the way downtown in her office. A couple weeks later, the editor asked for the entire manuscript. 

~~~

     I floated into my critique group meeting on the third Thursday of December and tried to remain calm as my fellow writers straggled in and took seats. My toothy grin and triple-enthusiastic greetings to each of them may have been a clue that something was up.

“I have a publisher! They offered me a contract this morning.” I proclaimed without preamble and then sat back expecting open mouths and astonished congratulations.

Instead, all four others who’d written queries announced that they’d also received offers from different local publishers, all in the past few days. Our new member was absent, and Chris Elfin sat with his arms folded on the table, his eyes twinkling in a brilliant blue color, and a smile under his whiskers as we all elaborated on our successes. Chris’s eyes returned to their normal hazel as we proceeded with our regular critiquing session, but I couldn’t help thinking he looked as if he knew more about this contract coincidence than he was telling.

~~~

“You haven’t told us if you have a contract for your book yet,” I said to Chris outside in the cold after class. “If any of our books deserves one, yours does. Maybe you should query one of these local publishers.”

“Maybe so,” he said.

“Remember when I wished that all of us would be published by the end of the year and you said the holidays are a time of miracles?”

He nodded with a secretive grin on his face.

“Well, the miracle isn’t quite complete unless you have a contract, too.”

“Miracle or not, you all deserve to have your hard work rewarded and your fine works published. By the way, I am self-published and starting to do well.” Chris Elfin walked away toward his parking spot. “Happy Holidays,” he boomed back at me from a golden sports car with a red hood ornament.

I stepped into my car, closed my eyes for a minute, and shook my head. When I looked again, I saw only a white Honda pulling away from under a light pole decorated with colored lights. I drove home looking forward to celebrating a special Christmas.

Snag a Magazine Gig

Making a living as a novelist is tough. This has been established. So we need to get creative.

At a recent Writers' Digest Writers' Conference, I attended a number of sessions on freelancing. They focused on pitching ideas to magazines. These were really useful and included tips on avoiding the slush pile, formatting your email submissions, locating a magazine's editorial calendar, and so on.

I came out of these sessions with a lot of useful information but no idea what to write that would tie in to my work as a novelist. I was amazed at how much attention is given to the 'author's platform.' Apparently you are expected to have ten gazillion followers on twenty different platforms to rate as an author--but that is a matter for another blog post. The point is that if you are freelancing to draw in readers and build your platform, you need to write material that links to your novel writing.

Then I happened into a session by Kerrie Flanagan. (I was actually in the session next door and snuck out--along with at least six other people--because it was so boring). She is an author, writing consultant, publisher and an accomplished freelance writer with over 17 years experience and hundreds of published articles. Her step-by-step tutorial on how to build your author platform through magazine writing was extremely useful. In her interactive workshop she instructed us to select themes from one of our books and then come up with article ideas based on the themes. So, for a frivolous example, if you wrote a book in which the protagonist loves blue grass music, you could write an article about the history of that music or its importance in a particular culture as seen through the eyes of a modern day young person, and submit it to a magazine whose readers would be interested in such an article. Your book could be the credentials that you need to get your foot in the door with the article and the article could draw readers to you and your book. Win-win!

One of these days, soon, I promise, I will give it a try... ;-)

On the Social Side

An actual sculpture by
artist Alicia Martin
mounted at Casa de America,
Madrid

Depending on who you talk to between 600,000 and one million books are published in the US each year. I won't quote a source, you can look it up or take my word for it. In the mean time, US book sales are declining. This makes for a very competitive market as you can imagine. This is one of the reasons that the face of book marketing has changed significantly over the years. No longer can an author write, hand the book over to the publisher and bury his or her nose again, focusing on the second book. Instead, the author has to get out there and engage with the audience, market herself, generate a group of people (outside of family members who are required to buy the book) who care about you and your book.

This was the topic of discussion on a recent radio program in which I participated with fellow novelnaut, Velda Brotherton. As we talked about the need for authors to use Social Media to sell books another irony came to light. I have no statistics on this one but it's not hard to imagine that the people who chose a career that involves spending long periods of time on their own pouring their essence on to a (figurative) piece of paper might not belong to the most social group on the planet. I know I'm not. Promoting myself on social media means putting myself out there without the shield of a fictional character. I hesitate before each post. Does anyone really care about the things that are important to me or the things that happen in my day?


We can have an informal poll here. Are you an introverted or extroverted author? Do you use social media as a means of promoting yourself and books? What challenges do you face in doing so?

The Art of the Pitch

As a media tie-in writer the pitch is something I know well – almost everything I write begins as a pitch to an editor or licensor of the intellectual property for which I want to write. Time was my pitch would earn me approval to submit the story or article without any guarantee of a sale; this is still the case with markets that don't know me. (This, btw, is how you get around the "no unsolicited manuscripts" gatekeeper many publishers use; it's not so much a roadblock as a filter.) With markets that do know me an accepted pitch means I have a contract in hand before I type word one of the story or article.

Most Novelnauts and most of you who read our musings write original fiction. You have no interest in selling a Doctor Who story or creating a new arena for Dungeons and Dragons action. For you the pitch is all about getting your completed ms in front of a new editor – the elevator sales speech or the less-than-a-page follow-up to the chance meeting at the writers' conference. But for many of us the internet is an integral part of marketing ourselves and our work. And a generally effective, low-cost option for increasing our internet presence is the guest blog: showcasing our personalities and skills to a new audience to perhaps entice a few readers to seek out our published works.

To be a guest on an established blog, you need to be invited. And to be invited you need to pitch. Here at Novel Spaces we usually invite writers, editors, and agents known to the Novelnauts or follow up on recommendations of members and readers – but we do get our share of pitches. Some are interesting. Most are like the one I'm quoting below. For those who might be pitching to blogs in the future, I'm presenting this all-too-typical example, received just this week, along with a few comments and my response to the pitcher.

Hello Spencer!
I came across (link to Novel Spaces) and was curious to see if you’re currently accepting new contributors. If so, I’d love to be considered as a future contributor. Here’s what I can offer:
- A unique perspective that may be valuable to your readers.
- Fresh, quality content that readers will love.
- More traffic and increased readership.
- Below are some previously published articles I have written:
(link to article on using natural pesticides to control specific insect types)
(link to article on managing finances as a small business)
Thank you for your time,
(name redacted)

The salutation is either to the admin of another blog to whom this obviously mass-mailed pitch had been sent or a mangling of Liane's last name.
"Came across"? If you're trying to show genuine interest, tell us you've been reading the blog and back it up with examples of articles that impressed or interested you.
No one is looking for contributors; everyone is looking for meaningful, engaging content. What you'd love is not relevant, what you can write about – achievements, unique life experiences, etc. - is.
Weasel words – unsubstantiated generalities meant to create the impression of meaning but devoid of verifiable information – are worse than useless. Using weasel words announces in no uncertain terms that even you don't think you have anything substantive to say. Be brief, of course – you don't want to try anyone's patience – but be specific and never say anything you can't back up when asked (if it's your opinion, be ready to explain why you hold it).
And when you provide examples of your work, be sure it's your best work and as relevant as possible.

Here's my response:
Things to consider as you pursue your writing career:
When soliciting work, taking the time to learn the name of the person you're addressing would probably create a better impression than a punch list of weasel word "benefits".
Also, you may want to consider presenting examples related to the topic of the blog. For example, Novel Spaces is a forum in which professional, published writers share thoughts and insights on writing technique and the publishing industry. In this instance a link to a description of your published novels - whether your own website or your Amazon page - would carry more weight than a link to an article on pest control.
We wish you well in your endeavors.

I imagine 99 out of 100 recipients of (name redacted)'s all-purpose pitch deleted it after the second sentence. Infusing your own pitches with little professionalism will ensure none of them suffer a similar fate.

Ten Things I Learned at Men of Mystery

On Saturday, November 17, I had the great pleasure of participating in the thirteenth annual Men of Mystery conference in southern California.  As one of the invited “gentlemen of this genre” I, along with fifty other men of mystery (each more talented, more accomplished, wealthier, and better looking than me) spent the day talking with mystery lovers from all walks of life.  I had a blast.  Here is what I learned:

1) I felt honored to be surrounded by best-selling authors, and I felt honored to be surrounded by readers who cared enough to shell out some money and dedicate the better part of their day to their favorite genre.  Without them, we couldn’t do what we do.

2) For reasons I cannot truly fathom, standing in front of a crowd talking about myself is vaguely terrifying.  I am a college professor.  I stand in front of rooms of people all day long, and it doesn’t bother me at all.  But talking about my books made me self-conscious.

3) That being said, I came to celebrate my archaeological mystery American Caliphate, and I was going to do right by my book, my publisher, myself, so I had to work up some nerve.  If you want to know how I did that, see number 4.

4) As I was writing my speech that morning, I had the TV on and I saw a news item about the singer Taylor Swift.  I am not aware of having ever listened to a Taylor Swift song, but she looks to be quite young, somewhere between eleven and nineteen years old.  And there she was on TV as comfortable as could be.  And I thought to myself, if an eleven-to-nineteen year-old girl can stand up and talk without fear, then so can I.  And so I did.

5) Hotel breakfast buffets are overpriced, but you wind up with way more bacon than would otherwise have been likely.

6) Sitting at a table autographing copies of your book feels pretty great.  I am grateful to everyone who stopped by to say hi or to let me sign their copy of my book.  I wanted to hug every one of them, but I think I would have gotten in trouble.

7) Nobody thinks its funny when you offer to autograph a book that someone else has written.  I offered to do just that on several occasions, and I chuckled each time.  But I chuckled alone.

8) Taylor Swift is actually pretty cute.

9) No matter how famous or well-known, or no matter how obscure and unread you are, you have to work it.  Publicity is vital if you want to make it in this line of work.  To that end, if you’d like to learn more about American Caliphate, or my other mysteries, or if you just want to earn frequent flier miles, please visit my website - www.williamdoonan.com

10) I am a man of mystery.  On November 17, I felt like a real writer.  I still do.

Strength In Numbers

Just as this wonderful community of Novel Spaces authors come together on a regular basis to blog about writing, I think it's important for authors to come together in general to support one another, discuss the business in general, and reach out to readers as a group.

This business is changing, not only from an electronic standpoint, but also as we've gone through a major recession and the business in general has taken a big hit. I find that more authors are writing collaborations and coming up up with ways to reach out in an effort to keep up with the changing and challenging times.

Recently, I organized a group of writers called Georgia Peach Authors (photo above - http://www.gapeachauthors.blogspot.com/). We're appearing at libraries, military bases, and local events. There's something special about sharing time and thoughts with fellow writers who "get it" and all walk similar paths, with similar interests, no matter the genre.

Also, the site I mentioned in a previous Novel Spaces post, http://www.achapteramonth.com/, is a group of twenty talented authors offering their works, one month at a time. My contribution debuts today, called Turnabout Is Fair Play. I think this concept is ingenious!

More of us should reach out to each other and write anthologies, or appear to discuss reading and writing, Skype with bookclubs, create joint FaceBook and Twitter pages, and/or invite readers to sit down and chat with us, etc. Author Mary B. Morrison had a Heart-to-Heart reader/author chat in her hotel room in Atlanta recently, and it was an amazing experience. It was a group of women coming together in complete honestly, without judgement, to discuss our past, present and future, and all of the insecurities, dysfunctions and accomplishments that go along with life in general.

Have you thought about the strength that "numbers" would bring in your career? The ability to reach out to others as a unit is so beneficial. Think about it, and share this journey with new and established authors. We're all in this thing together and we all need each other. It's not a competition. And there are definitely enough readers to go around.

Write on!

By Invitation Only

I recently attended a work related conference. While most of the events and receptions were open to all attendees, there were a few that explicitly said, “By Invitation only.” One such event was a minority and women networking breakfast that I really wanted to attend. I expended a bit of energy trying to figure out how to nab an invitation to this event. I am, after all, minority, and the last time I checked I was still a woman. But up to the night before the breakfast I hadn’t received an invitation or figured out how to get one.

That night, I crashed a reception. It was quite by accident. I just walked into the wrong ballroom not knowing the reception was “By Invitation Only.” I had already engaged an older Irish man in conversation by the time I figured out I was at the wrong reception. We spoke for hours. Sometime during the conversation I mentioned to him about the breakfast that I so wanted to attend but was not invited.

With a very deep Irish accent the man asked, “Why don’t you just crash the darned thing?”

I hadn’t contemplated that. I had never crashed a professional function before that night, and that was quite by accident. But the Irish man had a point, they weren’t checking IDs.

So the next morning, bright and early I did exactly that; I crashed the breakfast. I remember being nervous, my mind reflecting on the famous party crashers who met the president. But crashing the breakafast was the best thing I could have done. I was able to network with many professionals in my field of work. I met a young lady and began talking to her. She introduced me to an older professional who told me of someone from my home country he mentored. He made contact with that person and I discovered that person was one of my friends from high school with whom I have now reconnected (talk about degrees of separation). For the rest of the conference that man introduced me to many professionals in my field and offered career guidance. He has become my unofficial mentor.

The moral of the story, “Sometimes you have to go where you are not invited.”

This holds true especially in the field of writing. If we have to wait for the invitations, if we go only where we’re supposed to, do only the conventional things we’re supposed to, we just won’t sell books. Sometimes we need to think outside the box and find ways to promote books that are irregular. As long as it brings attention to the books and brings sales we’ve accomplished our goals.

A few years ago book trailers were unheard of. Self-publishing was considered non-lucrative at best, inferior at worst. Yet today book trailers are commonplace and there are self-published books on the bestseller lists.

Many publishers have specific formulas for specific genres. Yet it is those authors who go outside of the formula whose books make the greatest impact. So to all my fellow writers whether you’re published or unpublished, sometimes when you see the sign, “By Invitation Only” you gotta crash the party.

Author Camaraderie

I just returned from a literary conference in Kansas City called Fall Into Books. That beautiful experience sparked this post today.

I've been wiring for twelve years and have met many authors along the way. Some of these authors have been newbies, some mid-list, some N.Y Times Bestsellers, etc. I must say that out of all the professional careers I've had in my life, I've found that for the most part, overall, the level of camaraderie I've experienced as an author is premiere. I've met some amazing creative individuals along the way who've been very important influences in my career, and in my life.

During the conference in K.C., I met some authors whom I'd heard of but had never met, I spent time with some who are very close friends who I was able to see and hug and laugh with and reminisce with, some who are "big-time" and very popular, yet still humble enough to take the time to ask about my family, and support and cheer me on along the way, and others who were very new to me, yet who had that gleam in their eyes that most writers share - the gleam of the fact that they love words, and that they desire to tell their individual stories, fiction or non-fiction, by writing a book, or a screenplay, or whatever form they've chosen - they are writers.

There are times when, understandably so, non-author friends may not understand the business or the craft, and probably even shudder at the thought of a writer calling them to run an idea or story dilemma by the them. But there's something about an author-to-author connection that can cause a one-minute phone call to turn into an hour or more of catching up on the goings-on of the business, or on each other's lives in general. There's also a magical need for writers to connect, if for no other reason than to help maintain one another's sanity.

In particular, one author friend of mine always seems to be going through, or has gone through, or can relate to, the same things that I'm dealing with, and vice-versa - or we can also tell each other to get a grip and wake up the hell up, lol. Also, our mutual good news never goes uncelebrated. We feed each other's souls with an unconditional nurturing that is so very necessary. It is a priceless friendship from one author to another that cannot be put into words.

Here's to author-friends who have shared ambitions and passions, connected and supported and endured and loved and enjoyed and sustained and shown up and listened to one another. Author camaraderie is priceless. And I was again reminded recently that not only do I love readers, I love authors!

My shout-outs are dedicated to Mary B. Morrison, Eric Jerome Dickey, and Victoria Christopher Murray, just to name a few.

Who would you give an author shout-out to this week? Cheers to them as well!

Write on!

Conference Networking for Introverts

We writers sit alone at a desk for hours at a time, day after day, writing. It’s no surprise that writers tend to be introverts; most extroverts would run screaming from such a regimen.

As a result, professional conferences can be daunting for many writers, particularly those who, like me, are at the extreme end of the introversion scale.

Two recent blog posts give some excellent advice on “working” a writers’ conference:

advice from Ami Spencer, nonfiction writer

advice from Mary Robinette Kowal, speculative fiction writer and puppeteer

I’ll add some points of my own.

Business cards don’t have to be expensive. Vistaprint has low-priced cards you can buy in small quantities, and cards are often on sale. (Note: Order from Vistaprint well before your conference because Vistaprint takes a long time for standard shipping and charges a lot for upgrades—I suspect that’s how they can offer their products so cheaply.) Vistaprint has a broad selection of templates for you to customize—great if your design skills are shaky or if you’d also like matching stationery, envelopes, return address labels, sweatshirts, etc. For a more professional card, you can upgrade to heavier stock without the tiny Vistaprint ad on the back.

Another option is to design your own card. You may have shied away from this option before because of the shaggy edges of homemade cards. But today’s stock for printing business cards breaks apart cleanly. Homemade cards have big advantages. You get exactly the mood, typeface, and art you want—no compromising. You can change your card on a whim. If you rarely need cards, you don't have to pay for a printer's minimum of 250 or 500 cards. You can customize your card for each event—adding a blurb on the back for your newest story or book, temporarily removing your phone number or address for privacy, or changing the art or color scheme to jibe with the genre of the conference.

I try to exchange cards with everyone I meet. Afterward I note on the card where I met the person and any interesting facts and file it. I may not meet the person again for a year or two or three, but when I do, there’s a good chance I’ll remember them if I’ve gotten their card. Exchanging cards also helps other people remember me.

A trick I learned when I used to man booths at trade shows is to go armed with a set of memorized sentences that fit most situations. If my mind goes blank when I met a new person, as it usually does, I fall back on my sentences. Some of the ones I use for writers’ conferences are:
•Are you enjoying the conference?
•What’s the most interesting panel you’ve been to?
•I had a great time at [name of panel, party, or event]. Did you get to go?
•This is my first time at this conference. How about you?
•Are you going to [name of panel, party, or event]?
•Have you found any interesting places nearby to eat?
•Have you met anyone famous yet? (not to be used when talking to someone famous)

I make a point of looking at the name tag of the person I’m talking to and try to work the name into conversation. Doing so helps me remember the name and links their name and face (and book) together.

One of my pet peeves is people who don't wear name tags or put only their first name on the tag. Does the person think they are so famous that I should recognize them on sight? Does the person not want me to remember them or buy their book? If you go a conference where you know I'll be, please wear your name tag, place your full correct name on it, and hang it face out. Thank you.

Do you have any hints for meeting people at conferences and making professional connections? I’d love to hear them.


Thanks for visiting. I’ll be blogging again on January 7, on a topic I have not yet chosen. (If you want to suggest one, go ahead!) Until then, I wish you happy holidays and a great 2010!

—Shauna Roberts

Six Reasons to Attend the World Fantasy Convention

Writing conventions are expensive. You have to pay the convention fee plus buy meals and pay for a room in a fancier hotel than you would usually stay in. You may also lose income for the days you take off work.

I have attended the Romance Writers of America’s yearly conference several times and think it well worth the price. This past weekend, I attended the World Fantasy Con (WFC) for the first time—the theme was Edgar Allen Poe; hence the con's raven logo at right—and found that con just as valuable. If you are a fantasy writer or fantasy fan, here are some reasons you should attend the 2010 WFC in Columbus, Ohio.

1. Books, books, books. I brought home almost my weight in books, and almost all of those books were free, with a total value far higher than my conference fee cost. Generous publishers supplied enough giveaways for each WFC attendee to receive a large bag stuffed full of books.

2. More books, books, books. When you visit a traditional bookstore, your selection consists primarily of books from major publishers. You miss out on the innovative, off-beat, and just plain weird offerings of small publishers who sell primarily through the Internet. SFC provides several types of opportunities to learn about such books, and the dealers’ room offers the chance to look them over and purchase them.

3. Stargazing. If you swoon at the sight of your favorite authors, take smelling salts to WFC. Fantasy authors are in abundance, and some are happy to meet fans or beginning writers.

4. Autographs. The long evening autograph session gives you plenty of time to get all the books you brought with you or bought at WFC signed. Also, the program contains pages for collecting autographs from authors whose books you don’t have with you.

5. Networking. One of the best things a writer can do for her career is to meet other writers. Writers of all levels come to WFC, as do some artists and publishers. I am not the master networker some of my friends are. Even so, I met some writers to interview on my blog For Love of Words as well as a blogger who will interview me in 2010, an artist I’d love to have illustrate my next book, several famous people, a few magazine editors, and some talented writers.

6. Promotion. In addition to meeting people informally, I sat on a panel at WFC and signed my new book Like Mayflies in a Stream at the booksigning. I sold several books and passed out a hundred or more bookmarks (not bad at a conference limited to 1,000 attendees). What a great way to get my face, name, and book better known.

Hope to see you at WFC next year in Columbus!


Thanks for dropping by today. I’ll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on November 22, when I talk about reasons for writers to be thankful.

—Shauna Roberts

The Joy of Like-minded People

Even though I'm here at Novel Spaces today, I'm not here here. I'm currently in Washington, D.C. attending the Romance Writers of America's annual conference, and no doubt having a fabulous time. I joined RWA back in 2002, and braved my first plane ride alone to attend their national conference in Denver that summer. I've been back every year since. At first, it was the great workshops that drew me in. I'm somewhat obsessed with learning the writing craft. But after a couple of years, it was the atmosphere and the people that kept me coming back. I belonged there because I was with people who think, speak, imagine, and dream the way that I do.

Writers are unique in their way of thinking. We not only accept that there are voices in our heads, we encourage those voices to speak louder, then take what they're saying and develop it into stories. And while people who are not writers may enjoy reading those stories we've created, they don't necessarily want to hear about how it's done. I've seen enough eyes gloss over to know that any talk about the writing craft is not welcome at family functions.

But when I'm at places like the RWA National Conference, or even virtual places, like Novel Spaces, I don't have to worry about putting anyone to sleep. When you're around like-minded people, they're eager to hear about the struggle you had getting that last scene to work, or the joy you felt when you received cool fan mail.

We've all heard that writing is a solitary occupation. Often times, authors are left with only those voices in their heads to talk to. That's why writers should take every opportunity available to converse with like-minded people. Not only will they share in both your ups and your downs, they will understand them. That's something no one else can give you but a fellow writer.

Help When You Need It

I am a writer, author, contemporary romance author, whatever title you choose to give me. I create stories that end up as published works. Writing did not start out as my career goal. I came by this profession by accident, not design. I never planned to write, but here I am. Since writing possessed my soul, I've written nine romance novels and hope to write many more.

To any aspiring author I'd like to say cherish your writing friends, your critique members, and the people in your immediate writing circle. They are your support group, advisers, and confidantes. When you get that rejection letter from an agent or editor, they are the people you will call for comfort and encouragement. After you receive the call from an editor who wants to buy your book, they'll celebrate with you and understand your accomplishment more than anyone else. Your writing friends will tell you the truth, whereas your family will not because they don't want to hurt your feelings. There will be times when the comments you receive from your writing friends will be gentle, but honest. Other days their comments may be far too painful to accept. Step away from the work. Give yourself a day or two to think about their suggestions. The wisdom of their remarks will become clear to you. You'll admit they were right and revamp your writing incorporating their comments. In most cases your prose will become clearer, crisper, and stronger.

Cultivating a strong, caring writing environment is essential. Surround yourself with supportive people.

I always welcome feedback, so shoot me an e-mail at karenwhiteowens@yahoo.com. Let me know your thoughts on this topic or others. Take a moment and visit my website, karenwhiteowens.com and read an excerpt from my October release, I Can Make You Love Me.

Remember, don't be a stranger.