I’m almost pathologically introverted. I’m fairly certain that this character trait is the reason a career as a writer is so appealing to me. Most people have no desire to spend days alone in a room talking to themselves as they struggle with characters who just won’t act right. I relish it! I’ve been known to go entire days without leaving my home, and this was even before I started writing full-time. I find myself ticking off symptoms from the agoraphobia checklist, just to make sure I haven’t crossed the line. I’ve come close many times, but I’m not in crazy cat lady territory…yet . So, it was with great trepidation that I decided to attend the the Georgia Romance Writer’s Conference, Moonlight and Magnolias. In dire need of both a publisher and an agent I finally had to face the fact that I stood a better chance of attaining one or the other in a face-to-face meeting. Initially I’d planned to go to the Romance Writer’s of America conference in Dallas, but from both a financial and heat index standpoint, M&M made more sense.
I can think of few things, short of a sharp stick in the eye, that could be less appealing to me than a meet and greet with perfect strangers, so you can imagine my relief when Seressia Glass told me she would be attending the conference. GRW is her RWA chapter and she had been nominated for their prestigious Emma award. Even realizing that I’d now have to attend a banquet wasn’t enough to dampen my delight that I wouldn’t be alone in a pool of unknowns. Though I only knew Seressia online, she’d always come across as warm and personable. Having met her in real life, I’m amazed at how much her real personality comes across online. I admit freely to latching onto her as though my very life depended on it. Amazingly, she was an absolute trooper about the whole thing. More than once I thought she’d shuck me off and run for the hills, but her graciousness was unmatched. Before the weekend was over, I started to think of her as my sherpa, literally pushing me up Everest. This was especially true on those occasions when she encouraged me to approach editors and agents outside scheduled appointments––something I never would’ve done of my own volition.
A short while ago, I posted a piece on my blog entitled Requiem for a Former Sports Fan. It reflected my disgust with all the doping and cheating going on in elite athletics. After being an avid fan all my life, I’ve more or less abandoned sports. I’ve totally lost interest because the cheating disgusts [...]
Romantic comedy has always been my favorite movie genre. I own quite a library of them. I’m particularly fond of sharp, sophisticated ones with snappy dialogue, like The Philadelphia Story with Jimmy Stewart and Katherine Hepburn. I enjoy funny romance novels as well, and try to write funny stories with really great dialogue. I’ve always [...]
If you haven’t read the August issue of O Magazine, you really are missing out. It features a special section called Inside the Writer’s Mind, a question and answer session with some really cool authors. There’s also an excerpt from Walter Mosley’s new book, This Year You Write Your Novel. In the interest of full [...]
Much as it pains me to admit it, I’m not particularly disciplined and tend to be easily distracted. I have a lot of creative interests, and this has always been a problem for me resulting in many UFOs (Unfinished Objects). In addition to being a writer I’m also a quilter, a baker and an avid [...]
In the past month or so I’ve been on an e-book glom. I’m a traditional romance novel reader who has been reading them for more than thirty years. When e-books came on the scene I dismissed them out of hand. Given my crazy schedule I count my reading time in milliseconds. Usually I have to [...]
Deep dark confession time; I don’t know how write a book. That might explain the panic I feel anytime someone calls me a writer. Am I really a writer? Yes, I’m a published author. Yes, I have other works in progress. Yes, I’m diligently seeking a publisher and/or an agent. But I haven’t a clue [...]
