Ya gotta have friends

Whoo! I'm a little giddy today, because I just handed in a book yesterday. That means I have written. And while there are many, many more words to be written from here on, to 'have written' is worth a bit of celebration.

When I first discovered a group of writers in the Twin Cities area (the local RWA chapter) I had just sold my first book, but I'd never really been around authors before. Never. I thought I was the only one, plunking away at my typewriter, forging out my masterpiece, ready to make a million. So when I sold that first book, I was a little itty bitty bug standing on this huge rock, with no one else to point me in the right direction, or make suggestions as to how to handle this incredible business of publishing.

And then I stepped into this wonderful sisterhood of writers.
Some were published, all were working on the story that spoke to them, and a few were struggling. They were thrilled for my sale. They understood when I asked about things such as submissions and proposals. They didn't scoff when I accidentally mentioned a favorite character in the context as a 'friend'. Their minds were busy with adventure and romance and wild and crazy sex scenes. They were my people.

I'm thankful for this group of writers. And other writer friends and acquaintances I've met along the way. I understand completely when the magazine articles state that writers are most likely to drink themselves to death or commit suicide. I can understand, but only to the point that, those must be the writers who don't have a supportive cache of fellow writers to talk them up from those writing lows.

Writers need community, whether they believe that or not. Yes, we are solitary workers. But we've got to escape that confinement once in a while. It makes for better stories. Creativity is stifled if you shelter it too much.

Anyway, I'm rambling. What I wanted to do today was send out a huge thank you to all my fellow writers. Right now, in Dallas, the big ole Romance Writers of America conference is in high gear, through the weekend. Writers are meeting, gossiping, celebrating, schmoozing, pitching; they are filling their wells. I'm sitting at home, wishing I were there, because I've come to learn, it's not so much about the workshops—its the connection with those of my ilk.

Are you a writer? Do you have fellow writers you can connect with? What about the non-writers who visit here? What kind of connections do you make to 'fill that well'?

M