Summer 2010
Getting Cozy with Karen.
Summer 2010 Musings
You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.
~ Isaac Asimov ~
I quit!
The sentiment has been on my mind a lot recently. No. I won't quit writing, although I will admit I considered it.for about 2 nanoseconds. The moment the thought escaped its bounds, my brain stood up, pushed its way to the bully pulpit and shouted in my head, "Hi! My name is Karen Docter, and I'm addicted to writing. It's been six months, four days and ten minutes since I last wrote my last full chapter.! "
Yeah, not only is my brain entirely too independent for my peace of mind but it's stubborn as well. It's a good thing we do love to write together. Most of the time. :-)
For those who don't know me well, I've been at this awhile. This meaning working toward a career in writing. Awhile translates to when I joined RWA in the latter part of 1991. That's when I began to think my writing could become my career. Who doesn't want to make a living out of something we love? I wish we all had the ability to get paid to do what makes us happiest. The world might be a better place!
Sorry. I digress.
And that's what this Musing is all about. I wish I could say I've been walking hand-in-hand with Persistence during all of those intervening years. I did well until after the new millennium kicked in. I was writing traditional and short contemporary full time. I had seven books under my belt and had generated interest in my writing with New York and Canadian editors, even if the projects weren't quite what were needed at the time. I can write well. I even had an agent who believed in my projects as much as I did.
Then I got hit with several whammies. The publishing lines toward which I'd aimed my projects kept shutting down, forcing me to evaluate my goals and my genre. My agent closed her doors around the same time. I started a personal relationship with debilitating medical issues. My writing hit a long dry spell. While many authors can write through anything, I discovered my threshold didn't match my yearning. Persistence rolled off the wagon beneath just about everything else.
Yet I'm still not prepared to give up my writing career. Why?
Persistence has been whining in my ear for months now. Every morning she's right there as I brush my teeth whispering schedule changes in the mirror. "Take 20 minutes between lunch and organizing online classes to review the two prologue versions for KILLING SECRETS." Persistence is there when I take a break from teaching class, tugging me toward my laptop. "Kick up your feet to ease the pain and, oh, by the way, take a minute to fine-tune the victim's emotional distress after she's kidnapped." Persistence accompanies me into the kitchen when I throw dinner into the microwave at 9 p.m. after I've shut down my desktop with the intent to decompress from 14 hours of computer work. "Come on! You can at least read through what you wrote last week for IN DANGER'S SHADOW so you're ready to pick it back up in the morning.after I've whispered tomorrow's schedule changes into your ear!"
Persistence has become.persistent. I'm not quite sure what kicked her in the backside. I can't say I even noticed it much until she became downright ornery. But, clearly, she's been sneaking up behind I quit for months and wearing her down.
Hey! You don't have to hit me up the side of the head twice! Wait. Yes. Evidently you do. ? But this writer's getting the message. So I quit.
I quit fighting the inevitable. I quit allowing other things to get in my way, even if my friends throw puppy dog eyes at me to get me on board with a project. I quit dwelling on my health to the detriment of my writing. If I have to go through two surgeries to fix the problems, so be it. I quit pushing my writing, the one thing besides my family and friends that means the world to me, to the back burner of my life. I quit because Persistence is a lot stronger and she's going to keep kicking my butt until I quit quits.
So.I'm back. Did ya miss me?!
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What is happening in my world?
Thanks to scheduling needs and my new impetus to get back on track I'm going to change my monthly newsletter into a quarterly newsletter, at least for the remainder of this year. I still have things to say but my writing time is still too limited to try to be Wonder Woman. I hope you decide to stick with me but I will understand if you decide to unsubscribe to my mailing list. Whether you decide to go or stay, I hope you enjoyed my Summer Musings.
On July 9-10-11, I attended the first annual Rocky Mountain Romance Convention (RomCon) in Denver. It's the first reader convention I'd been to and, I have to say, connecting with readers was a blast. There were a huge number of authors in attendance and I had the opportunity to moderate workshops for many of my favorites. I had some fun creating the "Were Squares" game and emceeing the game with five of my favorite shapeshifter authors. The conference food was excellent, as was the hotel accomodations. I even dressed up for the Monster Ball and the Black and White Mask. Ask my kids how often they've seen me cut loose like that! :-) I met a lot of wonderful readers and can't wait to meet even more when I publish. If you didn't get an opportunity to go to the convention this year, start saving for next year. Writer or reader, it's a great way to explore the industry from a new direction. In the next week, I hope to have some pictures posted on my website. Come and check them out.
On July 23, I finished up my 4-week online workshop The "W" Plot.Or Other White Meat for Plotters© for the members of savvyauthors.com. It's always a lot of fun working with other writers. It's the first time I've not conducted a class on a Yahoo Groups list. It took me a few days to get used to the differences but I found I was able to do some things in Forums that I can't do in Yahoo Groups, and vice versa. The exposure to something new wasn't as traumatic as I thought it might be. Yeah, I'm a dinosaur!
My next plotting workshop begins on Monday, August 2 with the good folks at Yellow Rose Romance Writers. If you have friends or peers who want to take the class, please pass on my newsletter or give them the information so they won't miss out. They can read more about the workshop on my site under WORKSHOP or go directly to yellowroserwa.com. My next full length workshop is scheduled in November.
Several fun things are coming up in September. First, I'm attending the Colorado Romance Writers Writer's Retreat later in the month. An entire weekend of writing is always fun to look forward to after a busy summer. Also in September, I've been asked to spend a week online chatting about plotting with the Southeast Mystery Writers of America. I'll give you more details in the Fall Musings.
In the meantime, I'll be reworking my schedule so that I can find more writing time. There are two novels that need my attention. I'm hoping the next time you hear from me, I will have made some serious progress on one or both. I wish you well with your own endeavors.
As always, if you'd like to comment on this newsletter or anything else, please feel free to sign into my guest book at the bottom of this page. If you're on MySpace, you can find me at myspace.com/authorkarendocter. If you're on Shelfari, I'd love to be friends and share what we're reading. If you're not and would like to be, contact me at karendocter@yahoo.com. All I need is your email address to invite you. I'm now on Facebook, too, under my real name so let's be friends! And by all means, if you enjoy reading my Musings, please tell your friends. They can sign up for their own copy easily at the bottom of this column.
See you in the fall if you'd like to Get Cozy with Karen again. In the meantime, feel free to check out the rest of my website at your leisure and chat with me online.
I wish you a month overflowing with creativity and confidence. May you realize all of your dreams!
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Articles
Plotting.Beauty or Beast?
First Print - savvyauthors.com blog, June, 2010
Born to Write
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - February, 2006
The Big Kids Clubhouse Secret Handshake.Finally!
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - August, 2006
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