I'm guest blogging over at AJ's Notes, with award-winning author Autumn Jordon. Stop by for a chance to win an e-copy of MOUNTAIN FIRE! Deadline is Midnight PST tonight, so you still have a chance to enter.
0 Comments
So, I joined RWA in January. I wasn't really sure what I was going to get out of it, but I wanted to join a group of writers with similar interests, who are travelling similar paths. I am planning on joining an online chapter of RWA as well, with the hope of gaining critique partners, meeting other romance writers, and generally improving my craft.
RWA has an extensive website, with industry stats, workshops, newsletters and more. It has so much information it is overwhelming at first, but I'm working my way through it. And last week, I took my first online class in RWA University! It was called “Let Your Characters Write Their Plot”, and was presented by Christie Ridgway. Somewhere along the line I read there were almost 800 participants in the class, from all over the world. Never having taken an online class before, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. I was amazed. Every morning, Christie posted the lesson in the forum. Each lesson had three or four questions at the end, which could be answered based on your work in progress or on a novel you had read. If you wanted, you could post your answers in the forum. And then Christie answered them all. Yes. All of them. Her notes were quick and to the point, but she even replied to questions about her replies. I have no idea how she kept up with it all! It was a fun, interesting experience, and one I hope to repeat soon. Tomorrow will be British Columbia's first ever Family Day. It is a new statutory holiday, meant to relieve the doldrums between New Years and Easter.
For us in the northern part of BC, February can be an awful month. Winter still has us in it's fist. The piles of snow reach their peak, and despite our certain knowledge that it will all melt, some days it just doesn't seem possible. Groundhog day means very little to us...there is six more weeks of winter coming, no matter what a rodent sees. The best part of February is it is finally obvious the days are getting longer. We no longer drive to and from work in bleak blackness. And days like today make it even more bearable, when the sky is a clear, peaceful blue, birds flicker through the sunshine, making swift forays among the leafless branches, and the snow gleams white. My houseplants take a beating at this time of year. My gardener's instincts are beginning to awaken, but everything outside is still locked under a crust of ice. So I I clip and clean my few indoor plants in desperation. The extra day away from work and the brilliance of the day outside also inspire me to write. I've taken a break since finishing revisions on “Reservations for Two”, a contemporary romance. But my fingers are starting to twitch, ready to start work on my next manuscript. Happy Family Day (to those of you lucky enough to celebrate it). |