Also, I had my very first "Author Interview" this week, which was exciting and encouraging and made me feel a bit like a fraud. (I am not sure exactly what it will take to make me feel like a legitimate author.)
I also worked on the blurb for my book, which I tell you mainly for the opportunity to use the word "blurb."
I am also doing some beta reading for an incredibly talented young author whose writing is so intriguing and whose dialogue is so realistic that it passes the "Envy Test." I had a creative writing teacher back in college that told us that the true test of good writing was when you read something and immediately wished that you had written it. This young lady passes the "Envy Test!"
I have also been humbled this week by continuing to come into contact with new writers (or at least "new to me" writers) that are encouraging and supportive and who have been gracious enough open me into the fold with open arms. Finally, I will leave you with another image related to my story, partly because, as a reader, I always liked getting clues and tidbits.
I know what you mean about feeling a fraud... although I don't know very much about your writing experience yet (having so recently begun following you) but not that it matters! I always set the bar just past where I am... and when I achieve the bar it's ACTUALLY a little further down the path than I thought it was, so I'm not there yet... sigh...
ReplyDeleteI can relate to that ever-moving bar! But at least having something to aspire to keeps me moving forward!
Delete'Blurb' always sounds like someone is ill.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried putting blutack and a post it note on the 'J' to soften the push? Also, if you turn the keyboard upside down and shake it, you may loosen what's causing the space bar to stick.
No, I have not tried the post-it trick. I actually have a post-it, and I am far likelier to try that than to actually getting around to buying a "J" any time soon. [Note: Everytime I talk about "buying a J" I have "Wheel of Fortune" flashbacks. *shudder]
DeleteThat is probably a better way of putting it, but I still hear my professor's voice in my head talking about the Envy Test.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that when he was young, Neil Gaiman wished he had written The Lord of the Rings (which doesn't wish that, right!?), but since he clearly could not, what with it having been written and all, he instead wished that there was a parallel universe which did not know of The Lord of the Rings, and into which he would smuggle a copy, then retype it and publish it under his own name. Kind of parallel universe piracy. I guess that qualifies as passing the Envy Test...
The "envy test" wow. How apropos. Every author I've ever read, even unpublished, I've run across that particular test in myself.
ReplyDeleteHi TZ! I hear you about the envy test. I do that all the time. I also love your blog description--I had a lot of goals to hit before I got to 40. Not published by 40, but nearly. :)
ReplyDeleteHi - nice to meet you and thanks for following my blog.
ReplyDeleteWriting a book long-hand - I am impressed! Good luck and happy writing :-)