Laurie's Journal

Happy Monday! I promise a shorter (but not necessarily sweeter) journal entry today. Really! Cross my heart.

Action!
Actions I've taken as a writer. Where am I? What am I doing?

I’m still investigating, researching and beginning initial forays into the self-publishing arena. It’s skeery! And daunting. And like any venture into unknown territory, it’s difficult to know how and where to blaze the first trail. *brandishes machete and GPS* We shall overcome.

Meanwhile…this is the week! Friday is the day the phone calls go out to those who’ve finaled in the RWA Golden Heart. It’s March Madness for writers. Our own version of the Academy Award nominations day. Announcement parties for the Golden Heart finalists last year launched the SFR Brigade and Paranormalists communities, as well as the creation of the “Unsinkables”—the GH Class of 2010 (of which co-blogger Sharon is a member). As Sharon mentioned on her journal entry, you can tune in to the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood (the GH Class of 2009, of which Sharon is ALSO a member, and a group that’s still blogging strong after two years!) to party with the excited nominees this year. Read T Minus Four and Counting to Golden Heart Day by new author Hope Ramsey to get an idea what all the fuss—and nerves—is all about.

*ahem* I have a tag suggestion for this year’s class. The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood is an impossible act to follow, and the Unsinkables was so fitting after the Nashville floods moved the RWA event to Florida last year. I think linking this year to current event—The Earthshakers?—would be in poor taste. But how about... the Seven Elevens? Since RWA Nationals are being moved up this year and the Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday night, July 1st, I thought it was a fun play on words for the landmark day. July 2011. 7/11. The Seven Elevens. Whatcha think? (*cough* Other than the fact it sounds like an all night convenience store?)

Discoveries
New authors, cool web sites, great resources, great workshops, great online sites!

I’ve discovered a cover artist I think I’d like to work with and a professional e-book formatter. What, no details? Not yet. I hope to give you all the juicy details in future entries.

The Squeeze
Writers are sponges when it comes to soaking up writing tips and tricks. Here's where we squeeze out our sponges for the week.

I was recently challenged to come up with a new word for what I do that’s a bit more descriptive than “writer.” I’d heard others use terms like “penmonkey” and “sentence-sculptor” but after pondering these and a few more grandiose names (universe shaper, grammar god) I decided on “Wordcrafter.” Yeah, that fits. Simple and to the point. I am a crafter of words. I’ll go with that. Can you come up with your own spin on that?

Pssst!
The latest buzz. Submission calls. New publishers. Industry changes. Inspirational sayings or quotes for writers. And our take on them.

The latest promo tools for authors. Trading cards. Think baseball cards…for books! This idea has blasted off in the last two weeks as a new way to promote books by way of collectible, affordable printed material. For a peek at one really attractive design, check out Ella Drake’s cards for her award-winning story Firestorm on E’Terra here.  I think this is a fantastic idea and something avid readers may invest in.

Quotes Heard in Passing:
“One man's ‘impossible’ sooner or later always becomes another man's ‘watch my smoke.’”
- Cyrus Keith

Bookshelf
Books we're reading and mini-reviews. Writers must read voraciously. Sometimes we find gems in the literary universe or sometimes certain elements of a book really speak to us (and our muses). Do we know about book giveaways? A big debut? We'll dish on those.

I’ve started three books but have no “finishes” to report. Stay tuned. Hey, I’m doing better than last week anyway.

Happenings
Events, conferences, cons as well as Facebook, Twitter and blog events.

We’ve posted our drawing winners for our 25,000 Hit Celebration Pick Your Prize giveaways. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate. We’re now over 26,000 hits and well on our way to our next landmark.

OMG, did you see the Supermoon? What a sight. Though warnings of doom abounded—storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions—the Supermoon event passed with ooohs and ahhhhs instead of emergency alerts. (Please and thank you. I think we’ve had enough catastrophic events of late, don’t you?) The trigger to this amazing sight was the moon passing its closest point to the Earth – 221,567 miles – in 19 years. The scientific term for this is a “lunar perigee.” It’s not all that rare of an event in astronomical terms. Previous supermoons happened in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. (Each year had extreme weather events.)

On a somewhat more sober note, here’s a very eloquent and heartfelt statement about disrespect toward our servicemembers who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice by one of my IPs on her D. L. Jackson blog.  Right on, Dawn!

Ping Pong
We'll comment back to our co-bloggers on things they've posted on their journals.

@Donna @Sharon
Well, guys, this is the week. Time to take a deep collective breath and think ahead to what another year will bring and where it might take us. The road of a writer is probably one of the rockiest and disappointment-strewn paths a person can follow—but every once in awhile we have those shining moments to celebrate, like Sharon’s big announcement or Donna’s contest win, or an event that can totally change the course of our careers.

*fingers and toes crossed*

Be back next Monday.