IWSG: October 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Dolorah @ Book Lover, Christopher D. Votey, Tanya Miranda, andChemist Ken!


Question: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

Answer: Sure! When story creation takes hold, it isn't created from thin air. Even if you writing SF or Fantasy, the experiences of your life and research are folded into your story--sometimes unconsciously, sometimes with your full participation. 

Early on in the writing of my Women's Fiction contemporary, I realized that the main character--a retired, childless teacher--was a stand-in for my long journey through infertility and the grief it caused myself and my husband. We both taught and loved kids. We both wanted to be parents in the worst way. But it wasn't to be. 

In one very important way, my character was different from me. She was a widow. Thankfully, I am not. With her widowhood, I found her an outlet for her frustrated need for children in her life. Throughout her marriage, her impervious mother-in-law had kept her thumb on the marriage of her son, his wife, and any idea of adoption. While my story was different, adoption wasn't a path for us either. The death of connection allowed my character to get involved with foster children, and a connection was made that led to adoption. A beautiful outcome for my long hunger told through the life of my character. 

Not all stories are one-to-one analogies, but I do believe our experiences influence the choices we make as we tell our stories. 

Happy Writing, y'all!

Next post: October's Book Pusher!

IWSG: September 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler!

Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

Answer: I self-published my two devotionals. One was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award in 2009 in Creative Non-Fiction. 

Now, I'm blogging. The fiction is on hold for the moment. And that's okay. We have to be good to ourselves, too. 

Whatever your path, however you are published, make sure you treat yourself well. That's job one.

Next Post: The Book Pusher has books for you...of course!

IWSG: August 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, Susan Gourley, and Lee Lowery!

Question: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

Answer: Don't get so wrapped up in the "win"--the agent, the contract, the publication (of any variety) that you ignore the real world--family, health--theirs and yours. Be realistic about your needs--emotional, relationship, economic. Don't put all your eggs into one basket--that one pitch, that one query, that one top agent--that you miss the good things--baby kisses, elderly parents and their stories, good time with  significant others, and siblings and friends. In a word, cultivate balance. Learn to live and create at the same time. 

Speaking of balance, I'm learning that lesson as I go. One of my chronic illnesses has decided to add symptoms that are worrisome and potentially something else entirely. By the time this goes live, I might know which. Either way, writing has had to take a backseat for many reasons, starting with my mother's health in the last year. Wish me luck. Say a prayer. Whatever your tradition, I'd love the wishes.

Update: I've developed persistent nausea. After normal CT scans of my abdomen and pelvic regions, we think the cause is my Fibro. Up to 70% of Fibro sufferers have this and it's characterized as morning sickness. At least I have meds and crackers. It could be far worse. 

Next Post: The Book Pusher has a winning list for you!

IWSG: July 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Nicki Elson, Juneta Key, Tamara Narayan, and Patricia Lynne!


Questions: What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

Answer:
Ah! The question everyone asks and really doesn't understand if they don't write. ;-)

I do hope to finish my Women's Fiction MOTHER'S DAY and possibly its sequel--FRIENDLY FIRE--but at the moment I'm dealing with many family and personal issues. If they are finished, I'll self-publish. I know in the past I hunted an agent and a contract, but personal issues make that dream a bit daunting. I know my needs have changed. I have no deadlines, no conferences, no queries, and no pitches lined up and don't expect to. 

My needs have changed based on my health. It's a good feeling to take the stress off and just enjoy writing again. 

Here's to us all! Writers through thick and thin.

Next post: Why the July Book Pusher post, of course!

IWSG: My 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: JQ Rose, C. Lee McKenzie, Raimey Gallant, & E.M.A Timar!

Question:

It's spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?

Answer:

Yes and no. ;-)

I never give you one straight answer, do I?

Truly, the season doesn't affect my writing. For more important is what is going on in the rest of my life. At the moment, I'm still deep in "Momma" care. The surgery was a great success, but we have many appointments to come. As time goes on, I expect I'll be back to writing. (I know my back brain is still churning out ideas.) Until I'm able to devote more time to writing, I'll take notes and think. 

Happy writing to you all!

Next Post: The Book Pusher's May mini book reviews.

IWSG April 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!

Question: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

Answer: How cloudy can it get? More than enough. Since last November, we've been working on my momma's Trans-Aortic Valve Replacement surgery. After scopes of her stomach and large intestine, dental surgery to make sure there are no pockets of decay, and tests upon tests, we have a date--April 10. 

Instead of writing, I've been filling the well that's been emptying quickly with reading, reading, and more reading. In times of stress, we sometimes have to step back and rest. Sit down and read. Search our whirring brains for peace. Thank my Lord and Savior, my family is all in to provide Momma with her choice to go for this surgery for an improvement in her quality of life. At eighty-eight, she 's due the support, love, and care we can lavish on her. Even though she has trouble accepting it. 

And that's where I am. Writing isn't on the agenda until we have all this done and Momma is on the road to recovery. 

Please keep us in your prayers.

Next Post: The Book Pusher has tons of good books for you!

IWSG: March 2018

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Insecure Writers Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham,Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!

Question: How do you celebrate when you achiever a writing goal / finish a story?

Good question! It's simple really. My hubby takes me out for a wonderful meal when I finish a story. Well, he takes me out all the time, so that's not special, but the love that flows between us makes it extra special all the time. When I finish a story, we'll go for an extra special meal--with dessert and wine. Does that work? You bet it does!

My momma's health update: We've been slowly working through all the dental and gastro preliminaries. The pre-op heart appointment is March 19. Prayers and good wishes are craved by us all. 

P. S. The cherry tree is blooming a month early due to this weird warm weather. Now, that the flowers are opening, the temps are headed down. I'm crossing my fingers for nothing below 32 degrees. 

Next post: The Book Pusher pushes books, of course. ;-) 

IWSG; February 2018

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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Stephen Tremp, Pat Garcia,Angela Wooldridge, Victoria Marie Lees, and Madeline Mora-Summonte!

Question: 

What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

Short Answer: What's not to love? ;-)

Long Answer:

I write Women's Fiction. And before you groan, I'll ask if you've ever read Jodi Picoult, or Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre? Truly, all books could be classified under this genre if one of the MCs is a woman. The Women's Fiction Writers Association defines the genre as "layered stories in which the plot is driven by the main character's emotional journey." Many classics fall under this definition. Nearly all of the book club choices do, too. So, again, I ask, what's not to love? I enjoy the twists of fate, choice, and connections that fill the pages of much of publishing today. So if you haven't sampled one of these books (and they include Christian, SF, Fantasy, Suspense, and elements of Romance), check out these lists on Goodreads or Pinterest.

Links: (er...make that one link...Real Life has been real. lately.)

• "Radical Freedom: Writing, Walking--and Exploring the Wilderness Within" is a fabulous article that says truth that we all know

Next post: The Book Pusher, of course!
And just because I have a recent picture from Jamaica, I'll leave you with a sunset in Negril. ;-)