Well you would indeed be correct, but I could counter with- "Sure sure, most every writer has a blog these days but! But with a capital "B", I am me with my own voice and isn't that sort of the point?"
Now that we've moved past that stage, let's have some coffee and chat.
First, let's get to the basics.
I always read stories and came up with stories for as long as I can remember. It was part of me, who I was, who I am. For a while I had, despite this predilection, decided I was going to grow up to be Indiana Jones and go hunt for priceless artifacts.
Fast forward to today- I really don't feel that way anymore. I mean I actually do really love history, anthropology, etc. etc. and the things that entail being a proper archaeologist, but I fear that was a track in life I just did not follow.
So here we are today. A few answers to probably questions:
Yes, I write. No, currently I am not published. Yes, I want to be published someday but I am also currently in the waiting period of hearing back on whether I have been accepted or rejected from graduate school. See aside from the whole loving to write thing, I kind of like teaching and have some fancy Ideas of being an tenured professor that lectures about books all the time.
I blame this one woman- Elizabeth Popiel, an associate professor at my undergraduate alma mater. She is, to put it best, a force of nature. Also a union scenic designer by trade who works for one of the Big Networks in NY doing set things, I am convinced she doesn't sleep. She was my professor and mentor for years, still is my mentor, and decided some years ago that despite pursuing a degree in Technical Theatre that Writing was my true calling.
So she encouraged me, suggested I apply to grad school, told me anecdotes and such and in general essentially said to me some of the best motivation ever to pursue that goal, to keep writing, when I was initially rejected last year by University of Baltimore and felt very dejected-
"Hey you! Don't you give up now and make me kick your ass! I didn't raise no wimp!!"
Which honestly, she would never actually kick my ass, but it was definitely a "Okay, I'm not giving up on this."
I remember sitting in her kitchen, waiting to see what she and her husband (Actor/Writer/Comic/Professor/Wunderbar Don Stitt) thought of my writing portfolio. Liz had expressed she was pretty blown away with it, especially the historical fiction piece that left her in suspense and wanting more. I knew she would have encouraging things to say, and even if she felt some writing was weak she has a way of spinning things to highlight what works and positive ways to fix what doesn't.
And then Don appeared and I was nervous and anxious and terrified he would thinking my writing was horrid. Don is rather brutally/frankly honest when it comes to these things, which I also needed.
So there he is, holding my manuscript, and goes (I'm paraphrasing here)- "You know, when it comes to writing there's just this certain thing, a spark, that just isn't something you can learn in a classroom or be taught. You either have it or you don't and most writers don't. That being said- you definitely have it, the spark, and if this is the path you want to take...Go for it. Do it. You have what it takes."
So in the lovely, horrible, and nerve-wracking period I am in of the Grad School Waiting Game, I have been working on some manuscripts.
Now here is something one should know about my writing-I don't stick to one genre. I write in many.
Currently on my hard drive is the following-
- Two romance genre WIPs
- A YA fantasy WIP that will probably be a trilogy
- An adult fantasy WIP that will probably be a trilogy
- An historical fiction mystery series
- Another YA fantasyWIP
So this, to sum up, is my introductory blog post. I shall now return to my movie Mary: Queen of Scots, my coffee, and plot plotting.
Cheers!
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