Photo by: roberthuffstutter

My husband and I hobbled on over to a used car lot recently. The reason for our less than enthusiastic attitude was our fear of encountering the dreaded stereotypical used car salesman. The man with a big persona (a.k.a. desperate man who talks too much).

You know the guy. The one who hunts you down and seems to pick up your scent even before he sees you. A swarm of salesman suddenly encircles you all in business suits, all waiting until fatigue and desperation gives way to a sale.

Okay it might not be THAT bad! But if used car salesman can smell fresh new meat a mile away, then I can tell desperation from afar as well. When a guy comes running towards me asking to show me his car without even knowing what I’m looking for, I run the other way. Desperation is not attractive when dating or when selling. Read the rest of this entry

photo by: RogueSun Media

I say “acting” because that’s what all writers feel at some point in their careers. That we are all acting, pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, pretending that we are actual writers when there are days we wonder if we’ll ever really deserve the title.

That’s how I felt on the days I put on my mask and became “the journalist.” Since I got my degree in English not Journalism, I wear that badge with both fear and trepidation. I don’t want anyone thinking that I (god forbid!) am a real reporter less they mock my writing style, scrutinize my copy and laugh behind my back at my poor attempt at journalistic prose. After all, I’m not a real reporter, am I?

While undercover in my sad attempt to protect my weary heart from public attack, I still learned a great deal about life. Whether we admit it or not, the process of writing enables us to become the role we fear-a writer. The amazing thing is that when I learn to accept the possibility of the position, I learned a great deal about myself and about life. Here’s what I absorbed from walking in the shoes of a reporter: Read the rest of this entry

Photo by: Onion

I’ve already listed “What Being a Writer Has Taught Me” in an earlier post, but one thing I didn’t mention was how it has changed me.

See, I’m a shy person.  As a grad student in Counseling Psychology I took the Myers-Briggs personality test which only confirmed my introverted-ness.  Yet, when I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard I’m suddenly transformed.  Kind of like superman with his cape I guess.  It makes me “more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”  Well, maybe only in my dreams.  But it does get me to walk straight up to a US congressman and interview random people passing by. Read the rest of this entry

photo by Lisa Norwood

Here’s what I’ve learned.  Tell me if you think I’m wrong or right.  It seems like in the digital world particularly in the area of freelance writing, there is a wave of what I like to call “lit cliques.”  It’s kind of like being in high school, you know which group you belong-the geeks, the oddballs and you know which group you’d like to belong-the jocks, the popular crowd.

Well social networking on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is kind of like a big popularity contest where top freelancers are in one corner and others left feeling like odd man out.  While there are exceptions to the rule (Sherry and John of Young House Love are nice to everyone!), there does seem to be bit of a hierarchy.

My question is this: what does it take to be “in the know” with all of you talented writers out there?  I’d love to step in your corner and relinquish my role as odd woman out.  I think social networking should be about making contacts at all levels of writing business.  We have a lot to gain from each other.

So tell me? Is it just me or are there genuine cliques in the online world?  And if there are, send me an email and maybe we can start our own…

photo by nickwheeleroz

MacKenzie Phillips shocking confession on Oprah startled the world!  At least it shocked me.  And though I don’t have quite a huge secret, I do suddenly have a desire to share a tiny one.  Here it is…I don’t like every writing job I get.  Phew!  It might not be a big secret but it’s a difficult one to say.  Being a freelance writer means I get to live my dream.  I get to work at home and make my own hours which means sleeping as long as I want and going to the gym when I please. Read the rest of this entry

1.  That you need be thick-skinned to handle a mind-blowing number of rejections but be thin-skinned enough to be an observant, sensitive, intuitive and honest writer.

2.  Publishers can get away with a lot like promising to pay you and then suddenly disappearing into thin air.

3.  That you need to have an insane amount of faith (comparable to the number of rejections you receive).

4.  That this would be the best and yet the hardest job of my life.  I’m talking 10 hrs a night and weekends.

5.  That you need to be good at everything (marketing, accounting, managing on top of writing, editing and social networking). Read the rest of this entry