A Not-So-Lonely Business

Three years ago I started writing a book.

It was just something I felt like I had to do. I wasn't sure where or how to start, just that I had to start.

Let me tell you that writing can be a lonely business.

But it doesn't have to be.

About forty pages in, I realized that I needed to get a little outside of my head and start talking to other people who were also writing books, namely young adult novels.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have found a supportive, creative, and dedicated writer's group right here in my own town. Once a month, we get together in a coffee shop downtown to comment on each other's work. We are five women writers of mainly young adult and middle grade works. Our books span many genres within those categories: paranormal, dystopian, humorous, historical fiction, etc. Our lives outside of our writing span all sorts of categories as well: mother, grandmother, teacher, editor, on and on and on. But it's the insatiable urge to write that brings us together.

We write.

We read each other's work.

We offer encouragement, suggestions for improvement, ideas, and advice.

And we lend a ready ear as we go through the long and not-so-lonely business of writing.

Let's discuss