Jul 12 2009
Insert Funny Title Here
I’m having trouble getting moving today. I have three million things to do before vacation, but I keep losing my train of … what was I saying? Oh yeah can’t stay focused.
I’m still processing what I did yesterday. What did I do yesterday? I went to my first INRWA meeting. I sat in a room with a dozen women, most of whom are published authors, and talked writing. How cool is that?
I started writing Third Watch fan fiction in 2002 as a fan in a box. I was the only person I knew who watched Third Watch (maybe why it got cancelled, but I’m not saying it’s my fault). When I started writing fan fiction, I was the only person I knew who wrote. I was a writer in a box. All my writing talk and Third Watch talk took place online (dial up even).
I tried to go to a writing get together, but I told them I wrote fan fiction and liked romance novels and they looked at me like I was something stinky stuck to the bottom of their shoes. I climbed back in my box and limited my creative life to online.
Fast forward four years - I stopped (almost all together) writing fan fiction and tried my hand at writing original fiction - romance specifically. I wrote and wrote, researched and read. I was spinning my wheels (not literally - have you priced tires? Holy Lord!). I found the Romance Writers of America site and coveted membership. It took me three more years to finally stop doing the Wayne and Garth “I’m not worthy” chant and join.
I joined IRWA a couple of days later and instead of following my usual pattern of putting things off until they’re irrelevant, I forced myself out of bed on a Saturday morning and went to a meeting. I’m out of my box. See? Cool.
