Sandra Hults
Author
Because I haven’t had enough coffee for a title…
Current reading: Prophecy – Cassandra Morgan / Mage: The Awakening, 2nd edition
Inspired by: The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
So a first happened for me on Thursday…
I got asked to speak at a writer’s group.
For those of you that know me well, I am not at all comfortable with being the center of attention. I am always stepping back for more knowledgeable, more eloquent people. I come across better in my writing than I do in person. I have an inordinate fondness for the word fuck. I am not always appropriate or fluent. I’m just me and, at times, I feel that’s inadequate for the task I am given. Do I bite the bullet and do it anyway? Sure. It just comes out kind of awkward.
Public speaking is a concept that terrifies me. Hell, at my first book signing I was too keyed up to do a reading . My teenager graciously agreed to do so. So being invited is a big deal to me. To the friend that invited me, thank you. To the people that graciously listened and asked questions while I tried to stammer through a coherent explanation to my process, getting published and everything involved with that craziness, thank you in duplicate. It really mean a lot to me that you feel like I have advice to give. And honestly, I’m a firm believer in paying it forward. When I started a support group did not exist. I knew no other writers in my local area to connect with.
Until I met my husband, people did not get that need to create inside me or respect the fact that it was a need in the first place. I did not understand the need half as well as I do now. I take that back. One person understood but at the time he was so mired in his own situations that I did not lean when I needed to. You know who you are. M’bad. ❤
I meant what I said at the end.
No matter what, keep going. Don’t hesitate. Life’s going to keep right on moving whether you do or not.
What have you got to lose?
So, in a nutshell, I got to meet some new folks who suffer from a lot of the struggles many of us do. Lack of time, stories fizzling out, ideas that always seem stuck in work-in-progress land. In truth, it happens to all of us. I have two or three unfinished, unfollowed through on ideas. Maeseloria takes up a great deal of my time and focus. Admittedly, the single track for my creativity helps with my focus. And, in truth, Maeseloria evolved from multiple stories that I played around with for years. I just found a thread to tie them together and it worked.
At any rate, to those in the group that may be reading this…thanks for having me. I’d be delighted to join you again sometime soon. If you need feedback, brainstorming, even a pep talk…or if you just want to shoot the shit, you have my email address.
In other related news, I see the light at the end of the first-round revision tunnel! The last chapter has been hand revised and needs keyed. That should be tackled this weekend. I’ll keep you posted. I am going to try and post more often here but life has been crazy as of late and the motivation on my part lacking. So with that being said, I am requesting feedback from all of you. What do you like to see on this blog? Do you enjoy the snippets and potential storylines? Do you like the life updates? The social commentary? Do you wish I would post more often? Throw me some feedback in the comments guys or email, or tweet or Facebook me. I’m pretty easy to find.
Sandra Hults 