Have you told people you are writing a book?
 
If this is a new project for you, perhaps you have not. What is holding you back? Most likely, fear. Fear of failure. Fear that friends will be unsupportive … maybe they will even laugh. Fear that you will be held accountable … by them and yourself.
 
I didn’t tell anyone outside of my immediate family that I had started writing a book. I was worried for all of the reasons above. I went along this way for many months as I pecked out my first chapters. But once I reached the point that I was confident that I would see it through to the end, I began sharing my dream … one-by-one.
 
Once I began talking, I discovered so many benefits.
 
Telling the first person was the scariest. But my friend was encouraging, and she told me I deserved to do something for myself and have a creative outlet.
 
A while later I told my sister. She too thought it was a great idea, but she was truly shocked when I handed her the first draft just a few weeks later. She devoured it in a weekend. She was my first reader and gave me the positive feedback I needed to move on. (How had I forgotten she had been Literary Agent’s assistant many years before. Yes, she was biased, but she had some experience.)
 
Another month later, I announced I was writing to my book club. Now I not only had a roomful of supporters, but I had a handful of beta readers anxious to read another draft. And better yet, one reconnected me with a mutual friend who was also writing. That person has become my number one beta reader as we move forward in our new careers together.
 
The trend continued. It got easier and easier to open up.  Each time, I gained something. Perhaps it was just more support. Often it was another reviewer. And several times I got an important contact in the industry. And maybe most importantly, I began to feel like an author.
 
Only when my book was nearly agent-ready was I ready to announce on Facebook and in my annual Holiday Letter that I had written a book. It felt akin to announcing I was pregnant in the scary early days where so much can still go wrong. Will I get an agent? Will it get published? Will it sell? These questions are still unanswered. But now that I have shared my dream, I have become accountable to them (and myself) which will help carry me through the challenging road ahead.
 
I encourage you to open up about your writing. It is one step forward on the path to achieving your dream.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

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​Title: Lies We Tell Ourselves
Author: Robin Talley
Genre: Historical Fiction - Young Adult
Length: 368 pages
 
 
Summary 
This book is about two high school seniors who meet when their high school is integrated in 1959. Although the story and high school are fictitious, the author did her research. Unfortunately integration didn’t go smoothly in every school district including some parts of Virginia that fought it for years after it had become the law.
 
Sarah is a college bound black teenager who transfers to Jefferson High School to get a better education. Along with nine other blacks, Sarah is put into remedial classes and has to deal with a barrage of humiliating and dangerous pranks. Linda grew up in a family strongly opposed to integration. These two students are forced to work together on a school project. Over the course of a few months, they slowly come to grip with some of the lies they have told themselves about each other’s races and realize they are not as different as they suspected.
 
The book takes place over a period of four months.
 
 
My Review (small spoiler in 2nd paragraph down)
Although it was painful to read at times, it opened my eyes to our country’s recent history. In all my lessons about integration, I had only learned about adults such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. I had never thought about the children who sometimes had to be the ones on the front lines.
 
I had a hard time putting it down. It was fast paced, and I was fascinated by the history of school integration. This book also touched upon the difficulty of coming to terms with lesbian feelings. The focus was on the girls’ feelings rather than on a physical relationship. There was only a couple brief kisses. 
 
Part of my enjoyment was due to the way the story was told. One-half of the book was in first person from Sarah’s point of view, the other half from Linda’s. (The last chapter was told by Ruth, Sarah’s younger sister.) Unlike other books that switch back and forth between points of view after every chapter, this book only switched a couple of times. For me, this was the best of both worlds. I got to identify with each of their perspectives, but I didn’t have to struggle through the transitions from one point of view to the other very frequently.
 
I am a member of two book clubs, and we read a variety of genres. Plus, as a Young Adult author, I am constantly reading YA books to improve my writing.
 
If you would like to read more of my reviews, check out my ratings at Christine at Goodreads. If you like them, please send me a friend request.    
 
Thank you for reading this post.  

​Several months before I finished my first book, I sat down with a local author for several hours to pick her brain. I was anxious to find out as much as I could about her life and how she got her first novel published.
 
One topic that kept coming up was the importance of building my social media platform. Of course, I had been hearing this for months, but this was the first time another author was giving me one-on-one time and was able to be specific with her advice.
 
Yes, she made some many comments about having a website and Facebook Pages— both of which I was inspired to finish and launch within days of our meeting—but it was Twitter that resonated with me the most. Perhaps it was because it was the one area I had yet to explore.
 
She was able to give me some pointers on how to use Twitter as an author and I have added a few of my own.
 
Get a handle that is easy to find.
The handle is your identifier and begins with the @ sign. I already one as I had signed up, but was not actively tweeting. She encouraged me to change it so it would be easier to find. If you have a long name (like me) or a popular name, you are not going to get your exact name. I finally decided on @christinegrabo because it will pop up if you start typing my full name.
 
Follow Authors
Find authors to follow, especially those in your genre by typing in a few words such as Author and Young Adult in the search bar. In time, that will lead to most of you followers being authors too.
 
Support Fellow Authors
She explained that twitter should be used to help each other out. Right now, I don’t have my own book to promote, but I can help out other authors by retweeting their tweets or reading and reviewing their books.  When it’s my turn, they will be there to help me.
 
Educate Yourself
Of course, she didn’t teach me everything, but it was enough to jump in and get started. From there, I was able to look for tutorials to take the next step or learn by lurking and watching others tweet.
 
Link Twitter to Social Media Accounts
Once you get going, it is easy to tie your twitter into your website or blogs as well as other social media accounts such as Facebook, Goodreads, Linked In, and Instagram. This will help your followers find you in other arenas.
 
I have found twitter to be a source of valuable information. I follow people who may be anywhere on the continuum of aspiring author to bestselling author as well as editors, literary agents, and marketers, and they have lots of pertinent knowledge to share. Plus, it’s a way to feel camaraderie with fellow writers rather than feel I am stepping out into this new career alone. 
 
I encourage you to sign up, get over your fear, and start to tweet. Feel free to send me your first one.  I promise to follow you back.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

​Title: Since You’ve Been Gone
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Length: 449 pages
 
 
Summary 
Emily Hughes is a seventeen-year old who just finished her junior year. As summer vacation begins, her best friend Sloane disappears without an explanation. Soon, Emily receives a “to do” list in the mail. Sloane has created a list of thirteen activities Emily is supposed to complete over the summer.
 
Emily was the shy one who relied on Sloane the past two years to bring her out of her shell. She can’t imagine doing many of the items on the list, a list that includes activities such as: Kiss a Stranger, Break Something, Hug a Jamie, and Apple Picking at Dark. But in hopes that completing the items on the list will somehow lead to her lost friend, Emily begins.
 
She enlists the help of an unlikely Boy Scout type of guy from school and his best friend. She also becomes friends with a girl at work. With the help of her new friends, she works through the list, stepping out of her comfort zone in many cases.
 
The book takes place over the course of the summer.
 
 
My Review
I loved this book! Based on the thirteen items listed on the back cover, I didn’t expect it to engage me. I had picked it up only because I heard that it was good. There wasn’t anything magical or out of this world in the book; it was just real life. However, I would say this is one of the best contemporary Young Adult books I have read. Ms. Matson did an amazing job of getting into Emily’s head and transporting me back to what it felt like to be a teen.
 
I believe many readers, especially those who are not naturally outgoing, will identify with Emily. She feels lost at the beginning of the novel. We root for her as she matures and becomes her own person separate from her best friend.
 
I felt comfortable letting my tween read this novel, as the mature content was limited and not the focus. There was some underage drinking, use of a fake ID, skinny-dipping, and a couple of kisses. My daughter enjoyed it too, by the way.
 
I am a member of two book clubs, and we read a variety of genres. Plus, as a Young Adult author, I am constantly reading YA books to improve my writing.
 
If you would like to read more of my reviews, check out my ratings at Christine at Goodreads. If you like them, please send me a friend request.    
 
Thank you for reading this post.  

​These days with so many electronic devices, people can write anywhere: the office, the coffee shop, the kitchen table, or even outside by a pool. Although you may actually choose to lug your laptop to a variety of places, you should have a home writing base as well.
 
If you are one of the lucky ones who has an entire office to themselves to spread out, this post may not for you. However in talking to fellow writers, I have found that some of them don’t have any designated space. Even if they have a home office, the space has been allocated to their spouse and/or their kids. They get the leftovers. Or maybe you do have your own space, but your day job takes over and your notebooks and writing literature are just scattered throughout.
 
In either case, your writing is not taking enough space in your life, (both physically and mentally). I am telling you if you want to write that book, you will be more productive if you make space for yourself and your writing. You need a place where you can sit and feel, I am a writer.  
 
So clear off that shelf, empty a drawer, and give yourself room at the desk (even if you have to work out some sort of time-share). You are important, and so is your writing. 
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.