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A Writer’s Life is Many Lives #WDC18 #amwriting

August 15, 2018 by admin

As I come off this year’s Writer’s Digest Conference, I am thinking about how fortunate I am. I get to do work that I love, and when I spend time around other writers, I am among incredibly generous and supportive people. As author Steven James said during his “Story Trumps Structure” workshop, we are in a rare business where people who could be our “competition” come and share everything they know. He likened it to Apple going to Google and sharing all their secrets.

The magic, of course, is that there is  no competition. Each of us has a unique story to tell, so the more of us the merrier. We don’t have to elbow anyone out of the way.

Back home, I am once again immersed in my projects. For one, I am reading about artists, particularly female and self-taught. Think Grandma Moses as one of many examples. I’m also learning to draw and watercolor. I’m not doing this because I want a new hobby, though I suspect I’ll keep at it because it’s fun. No, it’s a way to understand my main character better.

While I continue my research for that novel, I am living (in my mind) in late 19th-century Scotland. This story idea has sent me to Scotland twice and the old mills of Lowell, Massachusetts; introduced me to proletarian novelists such as Elizabeth Gaskell (think contemporaries of Dickens); and introduced me to genealogy.

When I wrote What She Knew, I studied the victims and perpetrators of the Madoff Ponzi Scheme. I was fascinated with the movers and shakers of Wall Street and what would happen if one of them actually grew a conscience.

In short, as a writer I get to live many lives. I get to play dress up and try on new identities. I get to peer inside the heads of my characters, who I grow to love as if they are real people and real friends.

This is a good life. A happy life. A fulfilled life. Last week I met a lot of wonderful writers who share this journey with me, and I am looking forward to getting to know all of you better.

 

Filed Under: art, fiction, women, writing Tagged With: art, research, writers, writing, writing life

World Literary Cafe: Where Readers & Authors Unite

October 25, 2012 by admin

Last year I had a vision. No, it wasn’t the Virgin Mary in my peanut butter, or a visitation from a deceased great-aunt (as described in next week’s Book Recommendation — I can’t wait to share THAT one with you!). Instead, I thought about how I’m better at marketing others’ books vs. my own.

Don’t get me wrong. I write because I love to, because I have to, because without writing my life feels dull and empty. I don’t want or need to be a bestselling author. However, I would like to find more of an audience.

So, I thought, what if we writers got together and helped market each others’ books?

Fortunately, someone else thought of this, too, and she’s done a far better job than I could have envisioned. Melissa Foster, author of the award-winning novel Come Back to Me and others, has conceived a website of breathtaking scope. If you love reading books, this site is for you. If you are an author, this site is for you. Brava, Melissa!

I’ve known about the World Literary Cafe for a while, but I’m just getting into it. To start, I’m connecting with fellow authors through their Facebook author pages, I’ve been able to “talk shop” with people who are generous about sharing information. For example, one author pointed out to me, in the nicest way, that my Amazon author page wasn’t easily accessed. This led to some conversation with Amazon and some updating on my part…and this is just one little piece of how World Literary Cafe helps authors.

If I’ve learned nothing in life, I’ve learned this:  When you want to succeed, find people who know what they’re doing and learn from them. As I surround myself with the expertise of people such as Joanna Penn, Joel Friedlander, and Melissa Foster, I’m developing a new plan for marketing my books, both current and future. I am deeply grateful for their wisdom and generosity, and I look forward to putting their recommendations to good use.

Do you have a team of experts to help you in your creative endeavors? Anyone you want to recommend?

 

 

Filed Under: books, writing Tagged With: book marketing, books, readers, writers

Special Post: Join the Third Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign!

August 30, 2011 by admin

This one is for my writing buddies out there in the blogosphere. Aren’t we all looking to build our audience, whether it’s to market our fiction or just find readers for all that hard word we do as writers? Here’s an opportunity for writers and bloggers to help each other.

Visit Rachel Harrie , author and blogger, to find out the details! But hurry, August 31 is the deadline.

Filed Under: blogs, writing Tagged With: bloggers, books, building a platform, platform building, writers, writing

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