Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) engages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement, or anything really, about their writing. A different question is posed each month as a writing prompt. Answering it is optional. For December, the question is: “How would you describe your future writer self, your life, and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream?”
This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Tonja Drecker, Beverly Stowe McClure, Nicki Elson, Fundy Blue, and Tyrean Martinson.
My answer to the question
While most writers will have fun answering this question, it scares me to think about being a full-time author, or a writer who has reached the dream of becoming successfully published, respected, famous, or even well-paid. You see, that would mean there is no time for anything else! And, as much as I love and enjoy and am used to writing, my first and foremost passion is to travel. From experience, I can tell you this is a tough combo! So, I guess my perfect writer life would be to see and experience the world, with enough “down” time to write whatever I feel passionate about and sell the end products. Or, be a dedicated and successful author with plenty of time to travel.
My book progress
As hinted at in my last IWSG post, it wasn’t looking good for my memoir querying progress in November, despite really believing in it earlier. The first week, we traveled from Massachusetts to Kentucky (more about that later) and I took care of my monthly editing job. Then, I was extremely busy with translations for two full weeks, as in 10-hour days behind the computer. The following week, I rewrote the first paragraph of my query letter (and again and again) and submitted my memoir project to 40 more agents. Yes, I did it! Days before Thanksgiving (and my birthday). This concludes my list of 130 agents, gathered over the months.
