Here's to you! The other day I found myself checking email and fell into a mid-day I.M. session with a reader. It was cool. I don't use instant messaging for anything, but there I was...chatting. The next day, I did it again with a different person. So, in two days I talked with two different readers in a way I haven't before. The first reader has a blog where I've been interviewed and she's excited about the traffic she's been getting lately. Other readers are finding her blog and enjoying the interviews with writers she puts up there.
Pretty cool! She hosts readers connecting with writers connecting with readers. Readers connecting with other readers who like the same books...passing along author names and titles to be read.
It's all a circle which begins with a writer getting an idea. If writers didn't sit at their computers and work that idea into a story, the circle wouldn't begin.
The second reader is simply a fan of romance who loves to spread the word about her favorite authors and stories. We talked about family, we talked about the stuff of life, about other sites where I've seen her kind comments and we talked about what I'm working on.
While I'd been fretting that I'm not busy enough, that maybe other writers are more prolific, she pointed out that I've got a lot of work to do with two publishers and multiple contracts.
Being entirely focused on the story at hand tends to blur the big picture for me. I worry so much about what's happening in the moment for my characters, that I forget I'm also working toward larger career goals. Weird, but then, what writer isn't?
It was a lovely conversation and I was reminded of the circle again. Writing can be isolating. There are days my phone doesn't ring...my voice is actually rusty at the end of the day because I've only used it for brief comments to the pets. "Wanna go pee?" doesn't quite exercise the vocal cords.
The brief break I took for these conversations energized me. I went back to my WIP and looked at it with fresh eyes. It isn't a flat story with flat characters that everyone has seen before. It's the start of a circle of contact between strangers.
So, here's to our readers! They cheer us on, they love our stories as much as we do and they happily join our circles to talk and share.
What a fabulous way to spend my time! Thanks so much to every one of you!
Posted by Bonnie Edwards ::
11:35 AM ::
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