 | Hey Fellow Wanderers, I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I just wrapped a seven-month production gig... and well, as my track record has proven when I'm working 80-100hr weeks, I don't have much time to write. I blame the annoying life maintenance things like bills that need to be paid, and then the eating and sleeping that must be done. ;) Chances are if you watch any of the Food Network cookie competition shows from now to Christmas, you may see the fruits of my absence. But I’ve missed you all. And I’ve missed scribbling. I invested in myself two weeks ago and travelled to the biggest independent authors writing conference there is. I cannot even begin to really capture what that week, surrounded by 1800 indie authors, was like. It was more than I could’ve asked for. After fifteen years of playing with words, it was the first time I truly felt like I was ‘coming home’ amongst fellow writers. The indie author community is so inspiring, kind, and incredibly talented. Did you know that 50% of Amazon book sales are written by self-published authors? I didn’t. But it was one of the many, many things I learned after multiple days in different writing craft and business sessions. And just… wow. So, now I’m home. And recovering from an unwanted conference souvenir (aka covid—after almost 4 years dodging it, it got me). But I’ve also spent the last week editing, compiling and formatting all the WA stories into an anthology as my brain allows. And I’m really hoping (aka planning to work hard) to join those indie authors as a self-published author soon. :) Which brings me to you. Thank you for all the encouragement you’ve given me over the past few years. For taking time out of your days to read, comment, and share these stories with me. It’s because of this community that I believe there are stories I can write that others would like to enjoy. And that’s the biggest gift any writer could receive. So, with that said. Is it just me or did Reddit really change when the API stuff happened? I admit, I missed all of that with my work-ghosting. But when I came back, I realized awards were gone (such a bummer; I loved giving other writers or prompters sparkly awards for their bravery in sharing), the writing prompts sub seems less active, and also—and this is the worst part—all the personal messages I had from all of you were gone as well. Over our time together, several of you have been in direct contact with me and our messages meant the world. Things you shared you were going through, or had gone through, stories that resonated with you and your unique perspective on them, as well as deeply wonderful encouragements to keep going. That was a loss that was hard to accept. But I hope we’ll fill those inboxes up again! I have bought myself some time to write, so I’m planning to take November/December (and possibly January) off of TV work to “play in the sandbox of stories” again. My first goal is to self-publish a Wandering Anonymous Anthology just to get over the fear of hitting publish, using it as a learning curve for the practical aspects of all that self-pub entails, and to have a paperback souvenir of the last few years of scribbling to Reddit prompts. So, to that end, a couple of things:
And now, what you’re probably wondering… but what about Ever Always? EA has been the biggest motivation for dreaming of an author-life but also the hardest one to finish. Dropping in and out of a novel over the course of two years with life season changes and, well, my ADHD… has been a very valuable learning and growing lesson for me as an author. It started as a “pantser novel” i.e. no outline and just free styling. Then, at a certain point, I took it off-line and outlined the rest of it. And found that once I outlined it and had multiple gaps of life distractions, my brain was like “okay, we know how it ends, what’s the next story?” … so that’s what I’m fighting through. As well as trying to determine what would be the best use of writing time in the coming months. Finishing EA by the new year, or allowing myself to develop a series, outline multiple novels and fast write the first one (with fresh ADHD dopamine focus) just to get momentum going for something I will self-publish in 2024. (If the latter, I will finish EA at some point, because I have to for Sofia, Marcus, you, and me. But I might also try to use this valuable block of time to launch something new.) I’m curious about your thoughts after sharing all that and pinned a poll at the top of the WA sub if you'd like to vote. I’ll be making a final decision next week on which direction to go and sticking to it through the new year. So, regardless, I plan on having a full length something to share in early 2024. :) And finally, I just want to say. Thank you. For reading this long-winded update. For being a part of my writer journey. For being you. It’s been life-changing finding this tribe. And I’m excited about the future, whatever it entails. Because for me, my fiction author journey started here, with all of you. Hope everyone (who celebrates) has a wonderful Thanksgiving week with loved ones! I’m grateful for so many things, chief among them all of you. Cheers! ~W.A. (First version of WA anthology cover, not the winner... open to ideas...) [link] [comments] |
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EVER ALWAYS AND MOAR UPDATES...
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