This is the first post.
So, this is my blog. This could be embarrassing. Actually, not really. It won’t be any more embarrassing than what I do in real life, so I suppose you can just count on my ridiculous transparency here in cyberspace as well. Buckle up, kids. This could be a bumpy ride. :)
As for what this is? I think any writer wants to be see their blood, sweat, tears in a bound version, sitting on a shelf at Barnes & Noble, Borders, or any other bookstore. I mean, we writers seriously type, type, type away. The we delete everything we wrote and type again. Then we think we’re done, but we’re really not because while in the shower, we’ve come up with a mastermind idea. Our eyes then glaze over after seven hours of staring at the screen.
My MacBook is connected to my body at this point.
Then it happens. You become so emotionally involved in the world you’ve created that you refer to yourself as the MC by accident when telling someone about the story. Who, me? Psssh. Never.
Once you cross that threshold of writing because you’re bored/it’s amusing/whatever, to writing because you hope someone else might enjoy reading it, it happens. I think it happened to me when my best friend, Beth, threatened to not talk to me if I didn’t finish Bridger. Now, I’m pretty sure she would have still talked to me…but I’m also pretty sure it would have been incessant pleas to tell her what happened to Ashlyn & co. As much as I loathe hearing about Joe Jonas and Hanson (the men in her life. kind of.), I also didn’t want to hear about me having to write more. Plus, I wanted to see if I could finish a book.
I could.
I did.
Beth and Laurel beta-reading Bridger
Bridger was a distraction from college finals that got wildly out of hand. I was encouraged to try my hand at writing from a friend, so I figured it had to be more fun fleshing out fictitious characters than writing out lesson plans. I obliged, and over the next month Bridger was created. I’ve handed my MS out like candy to anyone willing to read it. I was surprised to find that people enjoyed it. It made me feel warm and fuzzy and all that jazz to see people becoming emotionally attached to my characters. That’s about the time I realized this was way too much fun. With others encouraging me, I decided to try to find an agent for Bridger.
Beth annihilated my MS. Took forever to put those pages in order again.
Bridger is now being sent out to the “wolves,” aka literary agents. :) I’ve been amazed by the support and encouragement I’ve found amongst readers, writers, literary agents, etc. The whole industry seems to be one big community, which is so much fun to experience. Being able to interact with other writers through venues such as #YALitChat and Twitter has made me excited for what could be yet to come. Agents are accessible, down to earth, and some are flat out hilarious in their Tweets on what not to do while querying. (Colleen Lindsay instantly comes to mind) There are so many agents out there willing to give you a nudge (or a shove if you’re looking at Query Shark‘s blog) in the right direction. It’s been educational and fun so far. :)
Do I have an agent yet? No. I do, however, have a few agents reading my material. You can bet your favorite book (or first born child, whichever), that I’ve crossed every crossable appendage I have that one of them will enjoy it as much as I do. I don’t think my mom’s opinion counts, so I’m holding out for the confirmation from a more outside source. :)
Anyway, long story short, this blog will follow my hopeful adventure into the :fingers crossed: publishing industry. That way, if anyone else ever wonders what this crazy business is like, well, you’ve come to the right place. That is, providing I get anywhere. Otherwise you’ll just be reading a crazy woman’s rants. But hey, that might be fun, too. :)
You don't even wanna know.
More to come. For now, go check me out on Twitter, at my official webpage, or read the first draft of my novel on Authonomy. Please feel free to leave comments…I love meeting new people!
Me. In a hat.
No trackbacks yet.