The job interview I don’t know I’m having

I love being part of an online community. Apart from my blog I’m active on Twitter and Facebook and am involved with two forums devoted to writing for children. I love the fact that while my children are sleeping I can connect with other writers, friends and family around the world any time of the day or night. I mainly use Facebook for chatting with friends and family, catching up with people from high school I haven’t seen in years and checking out cute photos of my friends’ kids and puppies and houses. I use Twitter for everything writing related and have found many, many awesome blogs and resources. However, each time I post anything, anywhere, I must tread with caution because I never know who might be checking me out. And I never know when I might be sitting the job interview I don’t know I’m having.

Query Competition

Spend just a little time as a writer and you will soon discover the much-maligned, fear-inducing, is-it-rocket-science-or-is-it-simple concept of a query. A query is simply a writer’s first avenue of  contact for a potential publisher or agent. It’s designed to introduce your book and introduce yourself (in that order, I believe) in the hopes that the publisher/agent will find both attractive enough to request a full manuscript.

Dealing with Rejection

Rejection. It’s one of those memory-laden words that instantly transports us back to a time and a place and a particular song or perfume or words. From the hurtful Kindergarten rejection of, “You’re not my friend anymore” to the adolescent heartache of, “I’m dumping you and going out with your best friend instead”, rejection is hard to take. There is nothing pleasant about it. As a writer, however, I’ve had to let go of the emotional baggage of the past and learn to deal with rejection in new and positive ways.