Grit and Persist: Backstage in a Writer’s Life

Most folks never know what goes on behind the life’s curtain of a writer. Here are events that have happened in my life over the last two weeks.

Writers by the Sea-My Local FWA Chapter

For our March meeting, I shared the stage with Mark Ezra Stokes as we presented The Author’s Digital Footprint. We had collaborated on the topics we would address with the main idea of how writers can get readers to their books.

I started my part of the presentation holding a clipboard asking the audience to sign up for my newsletter. I explained that if they signed up, I would send them my entire hyper-linked presentation of The Author’s Digital Footprint. It worked, and my exercise served two purposes. 1- It showed the audience how easy it was to collect emails, and 2- I got emails. Everyone signed up and has received my handout. A true, win-win.

I discussed basic website and social media necessities. Focusing on the author’s strength of a signal to Google was a significant topic. Balancing the input from an author website/blog along with social media accounts and an Amazon page helps one be seen on Google. My talk emphasized the importance of having an author newsletter and using Google Analytics. I touted the works of Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media and Jane Friedman.

Here is your peek behind my curtain. After my blog about the Amelia Island Book Festival, Fangirling in Fernandina, I had to deal with a root canal. It threw my March schedule off as I had a rare complication and am just now getting back to normal. That meant I created the Writers by the Sea workshop and delivered it all while handling the root canal fallout! Life goes on for the full-time writer.

My Writing Workshop – Pen Ten

Did you know I am a lifelong learner? I love to study, and that includes writing. My writing workshop occurs twice a month, and one meeting coincided with the aftermath of the root canal. Luckily, I had prepared my homework the week before the root canal. I was nervous sharing my writing with the group. It was a scene from my work in progress, In Deep. But with a little beta-read from my Sisters in Smut, Mischa Eliot, Oleander Plume, and Wicked Pens Colleague Angora Shade, I was ready. Never underestimate the power and support of your tribe.

Nick Tanek- Your Kinky Friends

I’ll be doing a video chat with Nick Tanek the first of April. You may remember that I have been on his blog twice. First with The Healing Power of Kink. and second, Our BDSM Erotica Author Friends. Nick has now expanded his repertoire to include an audio/video component. When we worked to set up a time, I told him we had to wait until my left jaw was back to normal.

See how that root canal was central in my life. But I’ll keep you posted here and on social media for when it’s available. So, stay tuned.

Radish Fiction

My next story on Radish Fiction should be up in the next two weeks. I don’t think I’ve had a story capture or take hold of me the way this one has. It’s called Destination Bordello. In Episode one on Radish, I explain in depth how the story came to be.

For now, I’ll share this. In 1988 I was in Fort Smith, Arkansas and dined in a unique restaurant. Initially, the building had housed a bordello, and it is the only bordello listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My muse collected and saved my thoughts and feelings as I experienced the period environment. Now I can incorporate them into this new story. This sexy bordello adventure occurred before I knew I would write.

What’s my takeaway?

Whether handling an obstacle like a root canal or creating a new story from a historical event, use your grit and persist.

You might be surprised at where it leads.