Ow-pain

When One Door Closes, Kick Another One Open

Impostor syndrome has been on my mind lately, partly due to that viral thing Neil Gaiman wrote about it and also because I follow Chuck Wendig’s blog Terribleminds and he just wrote a whole article on impostor syndrome and how to deal with it. Seriously recommended, especially if you want to hear a good solid technique. What he wrote really inspired me, at a time when I needed inspiration (i.e. my very first e-book will be coming out in the next few…

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No Filter

Did you know there’s such a thing as “filter words” when writing? I did not, but now thanks to the Tunnel of Rejection that was 2017, I do. In the course of a) submitting my manuscripts to RWA contests for judging and b) having my bits chopped off by the Axe of Editing the awesome staff at eXtasy Books wields, I have learned the stuff they teach you in creative writing. So take writing classes, is the lesson here. Alternate lesson: If,…

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Hopeful Goals (2018 Edition)

Happy Insecure Writer’s Support Group day! The first one in the first month of the brand-new year, which even sounds hopeful and exciting. The co-hosts entrusted with this important start are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor (I personally feel like she and The Ninja Librarian could be friends) Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane and Rachna Chhabria. The question for this shiny new month of January is: What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing? When…

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The Magic of Manuscript Rejections: Part 5

The Query ship sets sail again this week! In batches of three, my latest begging letter will be heading out to seas unknown, trying to lure me in an agent. My first three letters for 2018 have already garnered me three rejections. Here be monsters (if you define monsters as a vicious cycle of hope and rejection, which I totally do.) In honor of the maiden voyage of my completed manuscript (New Adult, alternate universe, with a strong love story)…

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Updates on the Fledgling Author

Time to suck it up and update anyone who cares about how being a professional author is going. I started attempting this seriously in November 2016, so it’s been about eight months. First of all: Hello to Georgianna (what a cool name.) I was afraid it might be creepy to use your personal email address, and my contact page doesn’t show comments so I’m saying thank you on here in hopes that you see it 🙂 Second, Hi to Canada!…

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What’s Valuable About Words

This is an Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. To check out their site or sign up for the monthly blog hop, go here and enjoy all the awesome blog names (seriously jealous of a few of them). Posts might be thin for this month, with people in the throes of the first week of Camp NaNoWriMo (which I didn’t even know was a thing until this year. I’m hanging back to see how it all works before I dive in, so if…

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The 10 Totally Made-Up Commandments of Querying

This is an Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. Since I’m currently querying and fielding nothing but rejections, I’d like to share the pain. Odds are good that some of you are in the trenches with me. The optional August question is: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey? Querying. Avoid querying, if at all possible. No, I don’t mean that. It’s just the bitterness talking. Really, what I mean is: don’t query before your manuscript…

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