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It’s been an exciting three years since Rosie and Taylor made their debut.
Since that time, I’ve promoted my Five Star release around the country, had fun listening to two book clubs review the work and attended several workshops and conferences to promote my writing life and learn about the craft. Believe me, a writer can’t let her guard down...there’s a lot of competition out there and many, many great books by talented writers. One can never learn enough about the writing process. |
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Romance takes a hold...
In November of 2004, I was elected president of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers...a chapter of the RWA national organization. 9000 plus strong, we read, write and promote romance novels. What fun! Our Mid-Michigan chapter has 70 members and our goal is to see that everyone gets published. Not an easy task...but doable. It takes dedication first, then persistence, revisions, critiques, rejections, determination, persistence, revisions, critiques...well, you get the picture. |
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Rejections...
The R word is the least favorite word in a writer’s thesaurus. But it can be used to our advantage. Often a form letter states: ‘Thank you but your work does not meet our needs at this time. Good luck with your writing.’ Okay, that goes in the file. Eventually it will be discarded but I keep the rejection letter on hand as a reminder not to send the same manuscript to that particular editor again. When I receive a personal rejection letter that highlights the submitted material, I sit down to savor the response. Sure, I’m looking for ‘send of a revision and we’ll reconsider’ but if an invitation is not offered I don’t trash the personal letter. I take it to heart. This editor or agent has paid attention to my manuscript. If they offer advice, I consider how to improve the manuscript. Rejections are just another tool for my workshop. I don’t hit myself in the head, don’t feel like I’m been shoved down the drain or lashed with a thorny whip. I learn from each and every rejection. |
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Acceptance...
What can be more fun than a letter that begins with ‘thank you for submitting your manuscript. We would like to publish your work in...' Wow! Better than a birthday cake, better than losing ten pounds, better than a day at the beach. Wow! Every acceptance calls for a bottle of champagne. I’ve been lucky in 2005...Crimson Dagger published "Dog Gone" in March. Senior News published "Fragrant Blossoms" in October. Silver Moon, a new E-zine is publishing "Bone Music" in January, 2006. Good thing the acceptances don’t come every day...hmmm, the champagne bill might run higher than the payments. |
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Meet Wil at one of these events...
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