Things that make me happy I'm a writer. . .

A few weeks ago I sent my first book to a friend.  Now, you have to understand that this is a really hard thing to do.  It's like sending my children out into the world and saying, "Please judge them."  I trust my friends, but I hate the idea of putting them into the position of having to say. . ."Oh. . .well. . .it was. . .good. . ."

Anyway, this sweet pal emailed me that not only was she enjoying the book, her sons were, too.  That is music to my ears!  It makes all the writing angst worthwhile.

And then this week, one of my writing group friends called me.  I had taken her copies of my first two books last month.  She was calling to tell me that she had finished the second book and loved it--she said she couldn't put it down. She wasn't just saying it; she wanted to read the next book and she was really raving!  It was the kind of call every writer dreams of hearing.

Kind words make all the difference.  Kind and genuine words give me the impetus to keep writing.

These are the things that make me happy.

Another Book Finished!

In theory, I finished my third book while I was away on my week o' writing.  But actually, it needed a few bridge chapters and some polishing and editing.  I finished it--REALLY--early on Friday morning, about three o'clock.

It was kind of exhilarating.  I remember when I finished Fearless; I really couldn't believe that I finally done it, finished an entire book.   I ended up playing with it for quite a while before I was satisfied with it.  I was naive enough to think that once I had finished the writing, the hard work was done.  And then I began learning about querying and agents and publishers. . .HA!


Breathless seemed to move along a little faster, but I was still pretty happy when it too was finished. And I was excited to begin the third book, but because it's a little darker than the first two books, it was harder to write.  So the relief I felt when Restless was officially wrapped was huge.

I'm also looking forward to beginning the last book. . .in a dreading kind of way.  I love these characters, and I'm going to be really lonely without them, even with a long line of other characters waiting in the wings to have their stories told.

But regardless, it feels good to have three books under my belt.

Inspiration versus Desperation

Do you tweet?  I've been Twitter-pated since shortly after Twitter appeared on the social network scene.  I find it a small but satisfying challenge to state feelings or events in that little 140 character window; my goal is to get as close to 140 as possible without going over.

Anyway, I follow several agents and publishing companies.  One of them writes a blog with a weekly featured called "How I Got My Agent".  You'd think that would be something good for a writer to read and follow, right?

Sure.  So I've read some of them.  And each one I read, I would think. . ."Hmmm.  That didn't seem like a very tough process for that one.  Well, maybe it's just a fluke."  But no.  The next writer would share a similar story.  I didn't really catch on until I checked out some of the dates in these columns and realized how fast things are happening for these lucky folk.  What made it worse was that I recognized some of the names of the agents who were signing the column authors.

This is very depressing.  It's the kind of thing that makes me want to bang my head against a wall and ask myself why I'm continuing on what sometimes feels like a futile quest.

I know that the blog doesn't feature this column to make non-agented writers desperate.  I know it's supposed to inspire us.  And maybe it's state of mind that makes me see the agent-glass as half-empty.

Whatever, I've decided to stop reading that column and focus on inspiration.  I'm checking out writing conferences and trying to decide what will work best for me this year, because one thing I am learning everywhere is that it's who you know that makes a difference.

And I'm reminding myself of something I wrote a few posts back:  I would be doing this--writing--even if I knew I would never be published.  I'm doing it for love of the process.

And it would be awesome if someone else loved my process, too!