Instead of an author feature, I decided to do a group feature: Carolina Forest Authors Club.
I never liked the idea of a writing or critique group. I imagined two drastically different experiences when I joined: a bunch of authors chewing apart my writing and telling me what was wrong with it or well-meaning advice that didn't help me. Spoiler: it ended up being neither. We ended up critiquing each other's work, since that was what the group was founded for, and things went smoothly with kind, productive conversations about each other's work. Due to my hectic schedule, I began to fall behind in critiquing but was able to answer questions about the publishing industry since most their writing had started out of hobby, made it to publication, but wanted to start having more readers.
Then Covid-19 struck banning our bi-monthly meetings. Things moved online. Our long-time leader soon folded not enjoying the online environment or the fact no one was critiquing and meetings went off-topic. There was so much going on in people's lives, and there was fear and stress. But without a leader, we shifted to pretty much a democracy. After one meeting, we had given ourselves each a role to contribute to the group. Things have evolved from getting professional speakers to present to our group, to talking about the artform more, still critiquing, discussing marketing or the publishing industry, and much more. The main driving force for all of us, which we rarely discuss, is that we are having like-minded safe socialization. It has been a blessing to be part of this group. And I want to share all these special people, my friends, with you.
Pat Anderson (book and website coming soon)
CJ Carson (book and website coming soon)
I highly recommend joining a writing group. In these days, it is easy to find like-minded helpful folks--friends--to discuss writing with online, for now. It just takes a bit of organization and scheduling. Come follow us on Facebook and see what we are up to.