Write On Con 2012

2012 Suckas

Okay. I've kind of been dreading doing this post for a while now. Some of you who know me well have heard my bitching. I know, I'm sorry, I've been really whiny lately, but I've been sick. That's no excuse? Fair enough.

So what have I been crying about? Well, I've been attending Write On Con for three years. Three. Years. I've had some great successes in the past. Winning a query contest, earning a full request based on my first 250. So you might wonder what's getting me down.

Well, I've been attending Write On Con for so long, and blogging about publishing and query letters, and writing, and all that for so long now, the Con kind of just serves as a reminder of everything I haven't accomplished. I have plenty of friends who got on to the writing/publishing corner of the internet a lot later than me, and already have books published. I'm not jealous, I swear, I love my friend's success, I'm just ... tired. I'm tired of working so hard for my dreams, and having so little to show for it.

But you know what? My friends, my dear, close writing confidants, are right. I've learned so much, and come so far, it isn't right to be so hard on myself. There are plenty of reasons to be excited. I've had more than five agents read my full manuscript, and not one of them called me a hack. I've had published authors read my work, and both compliment my writing and spend their own precious time giving me invaluable advice. I've made friendships--nay, partnerships--that will last a life's age (that's Tolkien for lifetime, deal with it). I've finished (nearly) two epic manuscripts, and started two others. I've met, IRL no less, some of my very favorite authors.

So I need to keep my chin up, keep my eyes on the path in front of me, and quit doubting myself. After working a query tomorrow and Friday, I'll be going back on hiatus, but I do really appreciate all of your support.

If you'd like to read more, you can find the first five pages of WARRIOR-MONKS (which I've never put online before): here (the formatting is shite, due to being in a forum, so please bear with me).

The first 250 words are here, but you will have already seen them if you read that first post.

I'm also taking part in a sort of query workshop with my query, here, even though the older version has actually garnered a pretty good deal of success in the past, just because I want to be an active part of the Con, because helping other writers really is a passion of mine.

I also wrote a brief tutorial if you need help coding your signature, here.

BTW, if you read these posts, please comment, and rate the posts, because that will help more people see them, which will help me get more feedback.

Other than that, you should really participate in Write On Con. Even if you don't need the help, others do. I know plenty of published authors who frequent the forums because they love to pay it forward as much as I do.

YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME.

I love and need you all like Oxygen (this is stolen from Bethany-with love and jade), dear friends and readers, and I promise to keep chasing my dreams if you will.

Solidarity, beaches.

A Friend in Need

It's like 4 AM. I'm sitting here at work, because I came in to cover for the overnight guy, and I keep nodding off, but I can't stop thinking about my friend, Candace.

The Misadventures in Candyland is my all time favorite blog. Hands down. It's the funniest, bravest, most honest thing I've ever read. I dearly miss reading her posts every day, like I used to get to do. Candace has been going through some rough times, lately, with a very difficult pregnancy, and .... well, it's not really my place to put her business up on my blog, but you should go read her post.

Like now.

I already sent her something to try to help, but I would really like it if some of you could lend a hand as well. If everyone who normally leaves a comment here could send Candace and her family even just one dollar, for her wonderful children, Lillihammer, and the Sullinator, it would probably be enough to carry them through to the next paycheck.

I can promise you this is not a scam, and is 100% genuine. Candace gives a lot of her time and effort to a lot of good causes, and because of tough times, this time the cause is her kids. So please, if you can afford to do anything to help, please do.

And if you can't, Candace's blog is still an incredibly entertaining, but also informative place to visit.

You can read about:

How Fartypants are a necessity for getting the Party Starty, or

Why landing an agent is not a Unicorn Toot, or

Just a little bit of Christmas Random, or

Pretty much any post Candace has ever written. She will make you laugh. Promise.

Candylandgang, out.

Things I Love: Part Five

I couldn't decide if I wanted to do books or friends today, but I'm swamped for time again, so I'm going to go with friends who like books.

Since I started blogging a little over a year ago, I've made a lot of friends. Most of you are writers, readers, or publishing professionals. Almost all of you love books as much as I do.

There is nothing better than being able to discuss books with people you respect, who care about books and stories as much as you do.

Leigh T. Moore and I don't always agree on whether or not we like the books we read, but we always have the best discussions about them, and we always have a ton of fun debating books.

Steve Abernathy is one of those guys who has read so many great books that I haven't really been alive long enough to be familiar with. I love learning about modern classics from him that I probably wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

Bryan Russell is a bit like Steve, in that he's read so well and so widely that I could probably never keep up. He breaks down books on his blog in interesting ways that I have never seen before. Being a former bookstore owner, he also knows about a lot of books.

Nathan Bransford is obviously a publishing superstar, but he's also a friend of mine, as far as online friendships go, and he has some very interesting tastes in books, and reads a lot of things that I haven't. I remember well the day he brought it up that he had never read The Lord of the Rings, and then a wonderful discussion ensued in the forums, in which he shared his experience with all of us.

What do you like better, books? Or people?