#IWSG for August 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

The awesome co-hosts for this month's IWSG are: Tamara Narayan, Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders!

This month's question: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?

I was writing since I could make sentences. I still have a poem about the moon I wrote when I was five which won a ribbon in my town's fall festival. I have the binders of short stories I wrote about the neighborhood kids from when I was eight through my teen years.

The first short story I tried to get published was rejected, and I threw it away. I was eighteen, and I had very thin skin. I remember it was about a college aged psychopath killing the boys who didn't love her back, and who really didn't know she existed at all. That rejection kept me from letting anyone else see my writing for over twelve years.

I did keep writing, though. When I finally started submitting stories to venues again, more rejections came my way, but I was older and wiser more stubborn. I kept putting myself out there until a little drabble about alien pet care was accepted. My first acceptance. And I made a dollar from it! I would have been ecstatic without the dollar, but I keep it in a frame on my desk to remind me to never give up.

Friday Five for July 24, 2015

1. A few more short story rejections came my way this week, but one with an offer to send something else. My local critique group liked my horror flash piece. I'll be sending that out today. This year has been a much better one for me writing and submitting short stories. I'm still working on longer tales, but I feel good that I'm practicing the craft and getting myself out there.

2. This week was rough in some aspects, and I settled my soul by watching a bunch of B rated movies. Zombeavers gave me exactly what I expected from a low budget horror flick about zombie beavers. Sharknado 3, well, I watched the whole thing, but it's my least favorite of that series. I laughed, but I groaned far more. The top one which I highly recommend to B movie fans is Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead. It's a ridiculous idea (zombie Nazis) taken over the top and done incredibly well. Much better than the first film. I also saw Inside Out with my son this week. Thumbs up!

3. Two reviewers responded to my queries. There are a lot more that I haven't heard from, but two is far more than the zero I had in response to my queries last December. It's like pulling teeth trying to get stories reviewed.

4. I was over at the Untethered Realms blog this week talking about the joy of listening to stories. Click on over and tell us about listening to your favorite storyteller.

5. As I'm sitting here, the light keeps flickering. Just now, accompanied by absolute silence, it went out. Only the lights. Not the computer. I know it's probably just the light bulb, but what a great ambiance for the ghost story I'm working on!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Five for July 10, 2015

1. I'm back from my trip up north. We had a great time celebrating Canada Day with my family. I finally got to meet my adorable niece and equally as cute baby cousin. We were tremendously busy and totally exhausted. I still haven't caught up on sleep or anything else. My brain is all foggy. I just need one night of really good sleep.

2. Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word of Masked Kiss' release. You guys are awesome! Though I wasn't around for the release, it was top rated at Ellora's Cave for two weeks. I need to regain my focus and start to plan a tour for the series.

3. I sent out seven short stories before I went away, and I've had three rejections. I submitted the stories elsewhere. It's difficult at times to keep pushing forward, but we must do so to achieve our dreams.

4. I haven't had a chance to write lately and I'm starting to get the writer shakes. The kind that make you want to start typing away at any keyboard you see! There's less than a month before my son starts school. (Yup, he starts on August 4th. Crazy!) So things on my blog will still be slow until then, but I'm eager to jump back into my writer's life come August.

5. It's finally Friday. Yay! It's been a long week. What's on your agenda for the weekend? Minions is out in theaters. It's at our local drive-in. I think it's time for our little guy's first drive-in movie experience!

Friday Five for February 27, 2015

1. It's been a busy, busy week. Lots of doctor appointments and school stuff going on. My son got the thumbs up from his eye surgeon. He's healing perfectly. Vision is equal in both eyes and no more surgeries are needed. Yay!

2. I finished all my March tour posts and sent them out to the hosts. Whew.

3. One short story rejection.

4. I'm prepping to start a new novel.

5. I know it's a very short five today. It's been a long week. I'm looking forward to a lazy weekend. Don't forget there's still a few hours to enter to win Zombie Dice!

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Friday Five for November 21, 2014

1. I'm so close to finishing my third and final D&D novella. I'll get some extra writing time this evening as my son is at a pajama party at preschool. I'll give it that ol' NaNoWriMo push. I have peanut butter cookies ready to be baked in celebration.

2. I had a few short story rejections recently. I have only one left out there in submission. I really need to write some new short fiction to submit. My first project: a Christmas flash piece for my local critique group meeting next month.

3. I don't know if it's old age, but I have developed a habit where I talk to the books I'm reading. Most of the time, I'm alone. I've never done this before. I surprise myself with it sometimes. I always imagined myself as the crazy old book lady. So I guess talking to books is a good start.

4. I ran out of chocolate this week. With all the writing I've been doing, my appetite has soared. My imagination must be getting a major work-out. I wish it translated into actual loss of calories.

5. My son has next week off school and we'll be visiting my in-laws, so it will be a partial vacation from the interwebs for me. Pop on by for an awesome sci-fi book review on Monday and a few D&D teasers on Wednesday. Have a great weekend!

Friday Five for October 17, 2014

1. It was a good week for writing. I got a good chunk of the first draft of the second D&D novella done. If I push it, I might be able to finish it in a few days. It feels good to be back in the swing of writing things.

2. I had two short story rejections this week. Both were short-listed at pro venues, so I won't complain. I'll just submit them again. Hopefully next year I'll get a little more time to write short stories. The folder I keep all the unpublished ones in is getting thinner.

3. It's only two weeks until Halloween! Are you dressing up this year? My son is going to be Batman. Tomorrow, we're going to a local event called the Trick-or-Treat Trail. It's a very family friendly event where the kids walk along the trail and meet fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters who do a little act and give out treats. A ton of fun!

4. I've been critiquing and writing and scheduling blog posts since November will be a busy month for me. I do love it when I see my blogger posts and there are a month's worth of posts done. It's only these Friday posts that I type up quick the night before!

5. This week, Twisted Earths was released. Woo-hoo! Nine twisted stories from nine twisted worlds. It's an awesome collection from the authors of Untethered Realms. And something wicked is coming the last week of October. Wicked good! Creepy Freebies is returning this year. I'm giving away books including a signed copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Five for June 13, 2014

1. Last week I hadn't heard about any of my submissions, but then I received three short story rejections in one day. One is difficult, but three? Not a good day. I have since sent on the stories to other venues. Never give up!

2.Then, to add to those ones, another publisher rejected my novel. I immediately sent it out to the last venue on my list. I shall know by the end of the summer if my book will be accepted or if I'm self-publishing it.

3. As the rejections piled on, I received one email that blew them all away. Very soon I'll have awesome news to share with you about the novella I submitted eight weeks ago. One acceptance makes the dozens of rejections fade away. One step closer to my goal of becoming a hybrid author.

4. Next week I'll be visiting with family. I have two great reviews and a promo scheduled while I'm gone. Pop in and make sure the gremlins haven't fiddle with my blog! Also, click on over to Jeff Chapman's blog. He featured my short story "Ladgarda" as story of the week. Thanks again, Jeff!

5. Have a great weekend and week, folks! Don't forget there are still two amazing giveaways going on at Untethered Realms.

IWSG for February 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

When I was 18, I sent in a short story to a contest. It was quickly rejected. I didn't tell anyone I sent it or that I was rejected. After that, I couldn't find the confidence to show anyone my writing for over 15 years.

Then I met a fun group of online friends through PBeM RPGs (Play by email role-playing games). They really liked what I wrote. I did some fanfiction. They loved that even more.

With their encouragement, I submitted a short story to an ezine. It was rejected.

My friends didn't let me fall into the black hole again. I submitted another story. Then another. After 12 rejections, I had my first short story published.

A writer friend had a book accepted by a new small press. She cheered me on as I submitted a novel. It was rejected.

I submitted a second novel. They loved it! I had my first novel published.

Then The-Publisher-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named ran off with all the authors' royalties.

I felt everything I worked for was gone.

But I did gain the friendship of a wonderful group of writers with whom I still stay in contact with today.

With their support and advice, I continued submitting short stories. I have over 20 published now.

I started to blog and met even more amazing folks. I joined a local critique group and learned so much. I self-published a series of novellas which have been well received.

This year, I'm going to query two novels.

None of this would have been possible without the support and encouragement of other writers. The writing community is awesome. Never take it for granted. And never doubt the value of your kind words to another writer. They may be just what she needs to hear to give her the strength to carry on.

Friday Five for November 22, 2013

1. It's been a slow NaNoWriMo week for me. I've been so busy outside my hermit hole, I haven't had much time to write. Yet I'm still in a good place. As of yesterday, my word count is just over 36,000. I would say I could easily finish that before the end of the month if I had until the end of the month. Which I don't. We leave Wednesday to go visit my in-laws, and so I have to finish on Tuesday. The story won't be finished. I have a feeling this will be a long one, but that's okay. If I ever go back to edit it, it will need a lot of fat trimmed!

2. I've had five rejections over the past few weeks. That's affected my writing too. I've had a lot of leftover Halloween candy therapy. My jeans are a bit tight! Come December, I'll send out my short stories and try other places for them. I also have a few stories whose contracts are up. I can find places willing to take reprints for those.

3. I've baked a lot this past week. Cupcakes decorated as turkeys, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I had to make a schedule for it. I never thought I'd be a woman that needed a baking schedule! Funny where life takes us.

4. I won't be going out to do any shopping on Black Friday this year. I haven't in several years. I find myself doing more and more shopping online. It's really so much easier. I still have a rocket ship to buy for my little guy. There are some nifty ones on Amazon. Do you find that you do more shopping online these days?

5. Speaking of my brilliant boy, he is an official reader now. Yes, he's 3.5 year old, but he can read. His preschool class is small enough that his teacher can read with him for about ten minutes each day. He read two new books for me on Wednesday while I was there assisting the teacher, and he even corrects himself when he misses a word or doesn't say it right. Next semester, I'm putting him in an after school literacy program which he got special permission to be registered in. He'll get to work with the teacher he'll have next year for school. I'm one proud mama!

Insecure Writer's Support Group For June 2013

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

 

The road to publication is long and hard. Sometimes we just want to give up after so many rejections. But the key to making it as a writer is perseverance. Many great novels would've never been published if the author just gave up. So to help inspire you to carry on, here's how many times these famous writers were turned away.

 

Stephen King's CARRIE was rejected 30 times. Stephen threw the book into the trash, but his wife retrieved it and sent it out. Lucky for him! And us.

 

A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle was rejected 26 times. Once published, it went on to win the prestigious Newbery Medal.

 

DUNE received 23 rejections before Frank Herbert was picked up by Chilton.

 

WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams was rejected 26 times. 

LORD OF THE FLIES was rejected by 20 publishers. William Golding was told it was absurd and uninteresting.

J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected a dozen times. It was only picked up at the request of a CEO's eight-year-old daughter. Thank you, little girl!

Judy Blume had nothing but rejections for two years straight.

Don't ever give up. Keep writing. Keep submitting. You can do it!

Cloning device, please

I haven't written anything new this month. Usually I try to get at least something done. A short story or a few thousand words of a novel. It's not from lack of inspiration, but lack of time. And it's frustrating. I had two rejections last week and that only raised my level of frustration. I need to write more. I need to get more stories out there.

I only have a limited amount of time each day to do what I want to do for myself. I'm home alone with a toddler for the majority of the day. I can't do anything on the computer while he's awake unless he's doing something with me. I have emails and blogs to write, and blogs to read. I've been working on revising my latest WIP, getting it ready to submit.

I realize I need to balance my time. I've been trying to shorten emails and not spend so much time commenting on blogs. I'd like to comment on everyone's blog, but please understand, I need to write more. I need to take advantage of the blog post schedule option too.

Or maybe I just need an assistant. Oh, no, a clone of myself. Yes, that would be perfect.

Too much time at the dentist

I composed this long blog post comparing writing to dentistry. I had all these great metaphors and detailed scenarios. It was brilliant.

Okay. It was only brilliant for the horrendous four hours I spent in the dentist's office yesterday. WITHOUT a book to read or a notebook to write in. If I couldn't entertain myself with my imagination, my head would have imploded. I won't torture you with my Writing Is Like Dentistry post. It wasn't brilliant at all.

I had one of those "I'm a horrible writer and I'll never amount to anything so why do I bother" days yesterday. I spent too much dark time in my head at the dentist. I came home to two rejections. One for a short story and the other from an agent. I didn't get any time to write, because my son already had his nap by the time I got home. I started to read Patrick Rothfuss' newest novel last night, but I couldn't get into it. That's a crime in itself. I can safely use the word brilliant for him.

I know other writers have these days, too. Yet, in that moment, you feel like you're the only one.

My writing is terrible. No one will ever want to publish me. I should give up and spend my precious little free time knitting or gardening.

Alright. I don't have the coordination to knit and I burn after five minutes in the sun.

It's hard to take the rejections at times. It's hard when you've had something you love rejected over and over again. It breaks my heart. The only thing you can do is learn from it and keep trying or start something new.

I've done a lot of rethinking this year about what I write, how I write and how I market myself. I've changed a lot of things and they're more true to myself. I practice my craft and my writing has improved. I'm constantly working to improve myself. I've always loved writing and what I write, but I didn't want to be seen as one of those women who write romance novels. (The prejudice I've experienced by some writers when they find out I write romance - any kind of romance - is cruel. That could be a whole blog post itself.) I wanted to be seen as the next Stephen King. It would be nice to have the success of King, but no matter how much I admire him, I will never be like him. I am one of those women who write romance. They're dark and gritty, but they're still romance novels. Facing this truth has allowed me to better market myself and become more comfortable being open about what I write.

I'll take the dark days and my newly crowned tooth and carry on. I'll keep writing until the day I die. I'll write horror, science-fiction and fantasy. I'll write romance. I'll keep writing even if no one reads what I write. It's what I do. It's what I need to do. It's who I am.

I'll just keep trying

Two more rejections. One short story and one manuscript. The short story is not good enough for a SFWA certified publication. I will write another story. It will be a better story. I will craft it with all my skill and polish it until it shines. I have a great idea for a dark fantasy story. I only need to think of a twist for the ending. Something no one expects.

As for the manuscript, it has gotten some love, but it hasn't managed to find a home. It's mainstream paranormal romance (on the erotic side). I received a simple form rejection letter this time. I think I will put the manuscript aside for the time being and concentrate on my newest WIP. This new one was written for a particular publisher. I believe it has great potential. It really needs to be polished, though. And a title. I still haven't manged to think of a title.

I did some editing for my WIP yesterday. I chuckled as I read it. It's a fun story. Nothing heavy or too dark. A wonderful paranormal romantica getaway for readers.