Excuse me, I have been informed that these are bears. Bears, in fact, and not humans! What a relief!
Let’s pick up with what we know about humans. I’ve been informed that they are very important to have around. Because as a writer, you sit in a room by yourself (if you are lucky) or in a room with co-workers (oh, sorry) and it gets a little echo-chambery with you playing all the parts, and by ‘you’ I mean ‘me.’
For instance! Let’s say you (me) are writing the second book in your (my) epic fantasy series. You realize you can’t write, no one liked the first book, you’re a complete failure, and even your cats hate you. (I, I, I’m, my, etc.)
That’s when your fellow humans come to the rescue! Your writing group can remind you that yes, it needed some work, but the first book was really good, and they like the second one even better. Your beta readers (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) can text you in the middle of the night with fan art of your characters. (This was the best 3 am of my life.) Your husband asks if you’ve finished the third book yet, and no, you may not become a barista.
And if you’re really lucky, you get to hang out with ITW, the International Thriller Writers, and go to Thrillerfest in New York like I did last weekend. In among the famous writers, the panel discussions, the (many) cocktail parties, was the best thing a fellow human can give you: validation. We all are climbing the same mountain. (Apparently Steve Berry is at the top.) We all have the same night-terrors, bad days and panic, and we also have the same joys. We love the same thing: bourbon writing.
That’s me with Ed Aymar, the managing editor of The Thrill Begins, ITW’s online resource for aspiring and debut thriller writers, probably having a deep conversation about plot structure or something, who remembers?
Oh, those Fabulous Fictionista broads are good for a laugh, too.
