Everyone’s path to publication is different. We’ve all seen the success stories–author’s publication tales–tweeted out to the world, where an author shares their journey to publication. I like to think of it as the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Some adventurers make it over the pass, find a parcel of land, strike gold, make it rich and head home. I’m not naïve enough to think they didn’t sacrifice and work hard and have in equal measure talent and good fortune, but that isn’t every prospector’s story.
We all had some major plans and a detailed vision of how 2020 was going to go for us, but then everything we had planned exploded into tiny pixels and all we can see in the near future is the everlasting smoke clouds circling around us. We are impatiently waiting for the sunshine to break through.
Several of my plans for writing retreats and writing conferences have been cancelled for this entire year, as I isolate myself at home. This sounds like devastating news, however, there is a silver lining to all of this…
Seana Moorhead & Lori Twining writing short stories at a Writescape Writing Retreat
Today is not a national statutory holiday in Canada, but in Ontario, Family Day is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February (and many of us have a holiday away from our daily jobs). This holiday was originally created for people to spend time with their families, however, it also allows a day off between New Years Day and Good Friday (which are three months apart). These three months are a loooooong stretch of time when the sunshine goes on vacation to Florida (to hang out with my parents). When this happens, the Canadians end up battling snowstorms every other day and need to deal with the extremely cold winds whipping through the land freezing our facial expressions of sadness until mid-April.
Family Day is great for people who have young kids that want to celebrate by playing board games all day in their jammies by the fireplace, or going snowshoeing, skating or skiing together in the -35 degree weather. But, if you don’t have children, or if you are like me, your kids have grown up and have moved out, Family Day becomes more of a “Catch-up-on-all-the-other-stuff-you-have-procrastinated-doing” Day.
If you are a writer, it also becomes a “Finish-My-Novel” kind of day or a “Let’s-Write-A-Short-Story” kind of day. After reading Seana Moorhead’s blog post on 10 Reasons to Write Short Stories on January 27th, I thought I should investigate all the possibilities of where to send these newly-created short stories. Then, I decided to share the information with you. There is no better feeling of sending out your work and having it be a finalist (or a winner) in a contest.
The pilot of a De Havilland Vampire experiences a complete electrical failure on his way home from Germany to England. He is lost in fog and low on fuel over the North Sea.
“It’s a very lonely place, the sky, even more so the sky on a winter’s night. A single-seater jet fighter is a lonely home, a tiny steel box held aloft on stubby wings, hurled through freezing emptiness by a blazing tube throwing out the strength of six thousand horses every second that it burns.”
These words are from Fredrick Forsyth’s novella, The Shepherd, a story my family reads or listens to this time of year.
Fans of CBC radio will be familiar with Alan Maitland’s narration of The Shepherd which has aired on, or close to, Christmas Eve for most of 40 years. Readers may also know that Forsyth has written twelve thriller novels including The Odessa File, The Day of the Jackal and Dogs of War. In recent years he has also written his memoir.
This week a writing friend of mine, Colleen Winter, who is publishing her debut Sci-Fi Thriller novel, THE GATHERER in November 2019, sent me a text message:
HELP! I have a million-dollar question for you today. How is it that you give the appearance of being on social media a lot, but you say that you actually aren’t on very much? I’m trying to organize my life and could use some tips.
I chuckled, but
understood the panic of trying to write a novel with a deadline, plus manage
your social media accounts, plus be a mom, feed the kids, show up for your job
in body, mind and in good spirit, shop for groceries, cook, eat, clean up… and
the list goes on and on and on.
Here are some real truths that may or may not answer her million-dollar question:
As most writers know, the success of a writer comes down to the amount of time your butt is planted firmly in the chair and you are writing something. Seriously, without the words, you can’t honestly call yourself a writer.
However, a writer also needs to step away from the keyboard (or the notebook) and venture outside of their solitary writing den and try something new. I highly recommend joining a writing organization, but I’ll be the first one to tell you that writing organizations are not for everyone. There are pros and cons that you should be aware of. Read more
There are so many ways for writers to invest in their future career as an author.
Ultimately, as a writer, it’s your meandering pathway to follow until you get published… However, what if there were a secret in jumpstarting your career and taking the express highway to publishing, eliminating the many wrong turns along the road?
Sometimes, I feel like I have the power to make a difference. Does this ever happen to you? Are you harboring tiny pockets of power that could be used for something good?
What if YOU could be the reason someone smiled today?
What if YOU could make a small difference in someone else’s life?
What if I finished a novel, published it and it was because of YOU that it hit the New York Times Bestseller List? Read more
Everyone’s path to publication is different. We’ve all seen the success stories–author’s publication tales–tweeted out to the world, where an author shares their journey to publication. I like to think of it as the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush.
