This week has been an interesting exercise in connection making. Where I have not succeeded in getting my book out the door, I have widened my social circle to include more writers and bloggers. First, I reconnected with a childhood friend who quit his job as a lawyer to restructure his time to better allow himself to write fiction. Now he works in tech from home and writes nonstop. Talking shop with him was one of the highlights of my week– so nice to connect with another writer.
Then, last night at a work party, I talked with a writer who is working to publish his memoir about investigative journalism. His take on the publishing world and the advantages of self-publishing were very interesting. I left the conversation feeling encouraged to find a writing group to push myself to the next level.
On top of this, I boosted my online networking efforts to prepare for those pesky query letters. I reached back out to my personal Facebook community to bump up my author page likes, and then, thanks to a fellow blogger on WordPress, I discovered Sacramento Bloggers. Major score! Turns out there are a lot of women with similar interests blogging in the area. Not only has this bumped up my Facebook likes a little further, but I’m also very excited to follow their blogs and make some more connections.
Remember my little attempt at a girls’ blogging club this summer? Sacramento Bloggers has me beat. Very excited to participate!
The only downside, all of this networking stuff has eaten up some of my precious writing time for the week, leaving me feeling a bit scatterbrained as I attempt to focus. So, time to revisit the dreaded action list:
1. Enter remaining changes for last few chapters from my lovely proof-reader.
2. Get my rough query letter ready for individual agents. Submit to all 31 on my list. This was meant to be my July activity, but now it looks like my October fun. Thankfully my fall break is coming up, so hoping to get this done sometime between October 4-14.
3. Pick what’s next! I want to give myself a few weeks for this, so my goal is to be ready to join the Nanowrimo crew by 11/1 with my next story idea. I have a few in the works, just need to pick. More on that to come, I’m sure. This time, instead of trying to get 50k words out by 11/30, my goal is just to write well, with focus, for the entire month and see what happens.
Now all I need to do is stop multi-tasking and focus…
oliviaobryon 
I’m liking the first one … an attorney who restructures his life to focus more on writing. Hmmm…
Thought that might resonate 😉
Yes … let’s see, a restructured life of writing, along the Oregon coast, with an ocean view. As long as there is pizza and beer, I’m pretty much there.
Oh man, amazing pizza at this little place in Yachats:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g52148-d1493892-Reviews-Heidi_s_Homemade_Food_Italian_Specialties-Yachats_Oregon.html
What are you trying to do to me?
Ah…the life of a blogger! People do not realize that it takes a lot of work and is by far more time consuming than a “hobby.” Finding time to write, to think about what to write, adding photos, networking, updating social networks…it never ends! But getting yourself out there is an important thing as well! It is always an interesting challenge to decide which to spend more time on. I want to produce quality posts yet in order to gain readership have to build relationships! But to keep them coming…good writing as well! Good luck as you find that balance! 🙂
I completely agree– the networking is important and the finding balance is key. I just wish I had more time to do it all! I know, I’m not alone… I get antsy when I don’t meet my writing goals, but I’m trying to be more comfortable with just letting life happen and knowing I’ll get there as long as I continue to work. Just peeked at your blog, love the pictures and decorating ideas!