Thursday, December 1, 2011

Cheerleaders

The support of my family; another tool in the writer's arsenal.















"Come on honey, publish lots of books so I can retire and we can move to a cabin somewhere. You can write on your laptop by the fire and I can build stuff out in my shop."

This is my husbands mantra. He tells it to all our closest friends. He even told it to all the people in the local bar we went to the night I signed my first writing contract.

We both know statistically speaking the chances are slim that he will ever retire before the age 80, but this is our dream. My writing has become a shared dream of my entire family.

I have been writing with a pad and paper for 10-15 years. It wasn't until last year when my husband bought me my first laptop for Christmas, I got serious about writing, joined a critique group, and started querying on a regular basis.

The difference between having a vague dream in the back of my head along with a compulsive hobby, and reaching out to the writing community to learn what needed to be done was a push from my husband, not to mention mother, mother-in-law (who just wants to flaunt that her daughter-in- law is an author to all she knows). These are the people who pick me up when the agents, reviewers, and writing world in general slap me around.






There have been days when I thought I was crazy. There are millions of aspiring authors out there. Some good, some very good, who am I to think I can stand up in their company? When my head goes there, I need only look around at my three fans, who love and adore me. No matter what crap I write they think it's bloody fantastic. They cheer and tell me how I am their favorite author, and it is enough for me to pick myself up by the boot straps and solider on.

Who is on your side? There is someone who looks to you with adoration in your writing crusade. Someone who smiles when you get your 40th no-thank you letter (or worse, no response to your query at all) and tells you "Who cares what the rest of the world thinks. Keep going! You can do it."
Who is it? Even if it's your dog, or guardian angel, this is your chance to toot their horn.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My mother-in-law is my biggest cheerleader. She was here for a week over Thanksgiving and went over my WIP as I was re-writing it for critiques.

Casea Major said...

My biggest cheerleaders are the ladies in my close crit partners and I have five who I consider more than critiquers. They are friends of the highest order. They are the ones who go through the daily grind with me and pick me up when I'm feeling low.

My husband wants me to succeed and allows me my dream.

Mart Ramirez said...

I think me myself am my biggest cheerleader:)

Your Hubby has the right idea! That sounds like a fantastic dream!!!

Lia Davis said...

My friends at work and of course my CPs are mine.

My husband also can't wait to retire when I'm published. It is my long term goal to replace my income so I can stay home and write.

Lisa Kumar said...

My crit partners and writing friends are invaluable. I wouldn't be writing without them. Also, my husband and my mom, not to mention my non-writer friends, are very supportive of my writing efforts.

Sheri Fredricks said...

My husband and my crit partners (of course!) keep me motivated and moving on. Gives me something to think about when I'm writing my Christmas cards this year. Thanks for your post!