We have a new member!
It was lovely to welcome Carole Anne Carr to our small, but perfectly formed, group. She is an inspirational and talented lady who has packed so much into her life, enjoying a staggering array of career choices; deputy headmistress, actress and C of E minister, to name just a few of them! Carole sums it up perfectly by admitting to being a “Random shopper in the University of Life!”
But it is her love of writing historical children’s fiction that is keeping her busy these days. That and her love of writing and reading blogs – which, incidentally, recently led her to an unexpected blessing. Through her blogging connections she has come across an agent who is keen to represent her…and why wouldn’t he? Carole’s a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered! Even though Carole says the target market for her stories is 10 year old boys, Ros, one of our other members (and most definitely NOT a 10 year old boy), devoured the book. Check out Carole’s website.
The theme of this month’s meeting is setting goals. Sometimes, there are so many other things going on in our lives that writing takes a back seat – at times even feeling like a guilty pleasure! But it is important that we find the time to write, keep ourselves motivated and maintain the momentum or else it can all too easily come to a juddering halt.
The support of loved ones is invaluable but, at the end of the day, the onus is, literally, on us! When we’re not up to writing, for whatever reason, we can’t call a temping agency for a stand-in. No-one else is going to do the work for us. It would be great to call in a temp and say, ‘Just finish that chapter for me, would you? It needs to be done by 5pm, thanks!’
…..Or would it? In some perverse way, don’t we love the mental anguish and torture we sometimes endure to fill that blank page that stares back, taunting us, when the words don’t flow as they should?
Isn’t it all worth it for the times when the words effortlessly present themselves to us and we curse our fingers on the keyboard for not being able to keep up with our racing thoughts, trying to commit them to print before they disappear as quickly as they came?
Marketing is another hot topic for discussion - traditionally NOT a writer’s strong point. When it comes to promoting our own work we tend to be a little backward in coming forward, sometimes viewing the whole process as being boastful. But, if we don’t champion our own writing then why should anyone else? A couple of members who have had experience in this field throughout their working career (John & Ros?) are hopefully going to come up with some marketing ideas for our next meeting.
…..HOT NEWS OFF THE PRESS…..
Another new member will be joining us on our next meeting on the Thursday 5th May.
Martin Nicholson is a self published writer of non fiction books and ebooks so we look forward to meeting him very soon.
