Tuesday, June 16, 2015

My So-Called Writing Life ~ @oddlynn3 #LynnCrain #amwriting



Yes, this week is very late again and last week was totally forgotten. For both I apologize but I do have good reasons.

This past week from last Wednesday to today, it has been very, very humid. Humidity and I don’t get along. Matter of fact, I have been accused of being depressed because when it’s too humid, I normally sleep a lot during the day. Of course, what people don’t see is that I sometimes stay up all night because I function better.

Then there are the headaches that I get. They aren’t really migraines but the pain is pretty close to the same according to my doctor. So, when I’m hurting and have a headache because of humidity, I will retreat to sleep. Though there have been a few cool days, like today, I’ve needed a nap nearly every day anytime from noon until 6 in the evening to just function somewhat normally. I haven’t been this way all my life but it did start in my early 40s when I began menopause and hasn’t let up since.

Today, I had a nap and also a Skype call with my agent that took precedent over everything else. It was a fantastic call and The MacKenzie Clan series will hopefully be at a NYC publisher very soon. Starting July 6, she’ll be shopping this one around. Today book 1 is called Loving the Scotsman but it started its life very, very differently. You can look up Where’s My Underwear? or Loving the Scotsman here on the blog to get the full scoop on this wonderful story and the rest of the series.

Yes, it went from a romantic comedy to a more serious book but I blame the characters for that since I’m a pantser all the way. I started writing this nice little short story that morphed into a novella and the next thing I knew it had a life of its own and a backstory to match. It took me a few years to complete because I wanted it perfect and IMHO, it is. It’s also an award-winning book that hopefully will find a home very, very soon. I’ll be writing Book 2 and 3 in the coming months and posting some wonderful snippets right here for My Sexy Saturday.

Today’s real subject is something I’ve been thinking about and it was only in the past three weeks when two incidents happened that made me think about it long and hard. One of the incidents was where I conveyed a bit of information about an agent to an author friend and the other was where I gave my opinion on a speaker coming to my State side writers group.

I didn’t feel bad about giving out the information because I felt it was based in fact but then a few comments let me know that my view was suddenly skewed. My information had become irrelevant and I wondered how that could have ever happened. I was always so on top of the latest info and everything in the publishing world.

I would attend a couple of conferences a year, read everything that I could get my hands on regarding markets and the like. But without the face time I had with other authors where I could gauge information relayed to me, to be truth or personal opinion, I had little to no basis on what I had said because my information was old. About five years plus old. That makes what I said irrelevant to the current situation.

Sure, I had passed on information based on things I had learned from other writers previously. And that information probably was true, or perceived as true, when it was given to me. However, five years down the road, not so much so and therefore only hearsay and irrelevant.

No, I am not one to arbitrarily give out bad information. I normally give out information told to me from reputable sources or seen first-hand. I don’t tell tall tales about agents, publishers or other authors nor about speakers, no matter who they are or how I might personally feel about them. If I give out information it is usually something I’ve heard or seen sometime within a 6-12 month time frame.

However, you have to be in situations to get that information and since I hadn’t been to any large conferences for five years, I gave very old intel. And that is bad. I apologize to everyone as it wasn’t my intent to give out information that didn’t mean anything but it did teach me a lesson. Don’t get hoof and mouth disease unless you can back up your facts with up-to-date information. Everything else is hogwash.

Am I sorry that it happened? Yes, I am sorry but I am not sorry that I tried to do some author friends a solid and pass on that information. Authors, for all their time spent alone, do not live in a void and one of the best ways to learn is to put yourself out there at conferences, writer retreats and meetings where you can actually brush elbows with readers, authors and other publishing professionals.

Next time, I will check my facts more carefully and try to remember where and when I heard that tidbit. Obviously, not all tidbits are meant to be shared and that’s a whole other story for another time. But the tidbits I do share will at least be learned from a more relevant time frame.

Next week, I hope to share some information regarding my recent release and what I did to advertise it. While my sales were small, I do feel I got some really good data from which to make some assumptions for future releases.

Until then…


Lynn 

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