That one person. That village. A report from #RWA13
Samantha and I wearing mustaches at an RWA party hosted by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.
I’m posting a little road report from my first Romance Writers of America National Conference. I’m having a great time, and I’ve gotten to meet my friend Samantha face to face for the first time, after a long and rewarding online friendship.
Meeting Samantha, who is an invaluable critique partner to me, got me thinking about the friends I’ve collected since I began writing, and the old friendships that have deepened. I really love Samantha’s writing, and her limitless ideas. She is my fixer (like Kos is Andre’s). I usually give Samantha my manuscripts when I am almost done because she is such a sensitive and careful reader—she catches all my loopholes and character glitches.
Samantha is just one of the people I have come to rely on as a writer. I have the person I trust to read all my raw copy when I just need an initial reaction. I have the person I call when I need professional, writer-ly advice. I have the person I call in my insecure moments when I get stuck in a project or awed by another writer’s talent, I have the person I send pictures of my boobs tattoo to so she can tell me priests shouldn’t posts pictures of their boobs on the Internet. ”Why the picture?” you ask. Well, there’s a perfectly good reason: My tattoo will be one of many author tats featured on the A Little Bit of R & R book blog tomorrow.
I’m learning that, like raising a child, writing a book (or raising a writer) takes a village. Sometimes I freak out about how much help I need. Even though my priest-self knows asking for help and being part of a community are healthy virtues, the insecure writer in me fears that if I need help, it’s a sign I’m not skillful enough.
Being here at RWA, which is a huge conference full of smart and supportive people, is a great antidote to that self-sufficiency myth. Every workshop I attend and conversation I am having here reminds me I am not supposed to be able to do this alone. I am looking forward to joining other writers’ villages this week, and inviting more into mine—because as writers and as human beings, we are stronger when we support each other.
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