Writers in the Storm

by Orly Konig-Lopez

When the idea of writing morphed into a dream to get published, I quickly realized I had a lot to learn. I sought out writing organizations that would provide the opportunity to meet other, hopefully like-minded, writers.

What I discovered is that there are a lot of writing organizations. Some niche focused, some general. All had great things to offer. But none were focused on what I needed as an aspiring author of women’s fiction.

Then someone recommended an online chapter under Romance Writers of America that was dedicated to women’s fiction. I couldn’t believe my luck!

In the two years since joining, I’ve met amazing writers—multi-published authors (can we say fan girl squees?), debut authors and aspiring writers, treading water just like me. I met my fabulous critique partners, learned heaps about publishing, and gained the confidence to go after my dream.

As many of our readers will remember from a post Laura Drake wrote for Writer Unboxed in December, RWA decided to refocus the specialty chapters so that they better align with its mission to serve career focused romance writers. While that decision was right for RWA and the many romance writers under their umbrella, it left a lot of us feeling homeless.

See a Need, Fill a Need

In my house, we watch a lot of animated movies. The other day we were watching Robots and one line stuck in my head. The slogan for master inventor Bigweld (played by Mel Brooks) is “see a need, fill a need.”

The need is for an organization dedicated to women’s fiction. Whether the stories are contemporary or historical; literary or commercial; include a dash of romance, a heap of romance or none at all; the stories all have one common thread—they are about a woman’s emotional journey.

A new organization—Women’s Fiction Writers Association—is being launched to fill the need. It will be an inclusive community of career-focused women’s fiction writers with networking, education and support at every step in their career path.

Why? Because being part of a supportive community brings dreams down to earth.

Finding that Perfect Fit

Below are a few of the organizations that I know of. I’m sure there are more out there so if I’ve missed some, please post the details in a comment.

• Backspace
• Savvy Authors
• Novelists, Inc.
• Pennwriters
• Liberty States Fiction Writers
• Romance Writers of America
• Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
• The Writer's Center
• The International Women's Writing Guild
• Sisters in Crime
• The Authors Guild
• Historical Novel Society
• Mystery Writers of America
• National Association of Independent Writers and Editors
• National Writers Association
• Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
• Western Writers of America
• Horror Writers Organization
• Carteret Writers

And, of course, if you’re interested in learning more about the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, please leave a comment and we’ll respond.

Note: Writers In The Storm is not endorsing any of the above organizations, this list is meant as a reference only.

So? What do you think? Do you need the support of a group, or do you go it alone? Do you know of any groups we missed?

Today's guest, Barbara Claypole White, is a strong woman, a great mom, and a Women's Fiction Author -- a good one, as you'll see from her post. Here's Barbara:

Readers constantly ask if my debut novel, THE UNFINISHED GARDEN, is autobiographical. Since my heroine is a young widow, the answer is always, “God, I hope not.” There are, however, echoes of my life in everything I write. Writing is my escape, my coping mechanism, and the way I process my world.

A huge part of that world is dominated by son’s OCD—a debilitating anxiety disorder that is often described as an allergy to life. An award-winning poet, the Beloved Teenage Delinquent has battled OCD since he was four. He’s the poster child for fighting mental illness stigma: He’s stunningly good looking, funny, compassionate, has lots of friends, a near perfect GPA, his own band, a cute girlfriend…. But he and I have visited hell together. More than once. How have we survived? Hope, humor, and the British war mentality. Plus, we both use OCD to fuel our writing.

And yet, when I talk about the inspiration behind my fiction, I walk a fine line. My son may be out of the OCD closet, but my husband is intensely private, and not every part of our life needs to be shared. Anyone in my OCD support group will tell you that OCD destroys families. It nearly destroyed mine. Parts of that are still raw, but the experience helped craft the story that became THE UNFINISHED GARDEN.

TUG is classic women’s fiction. It’s the story of my heroine, Tilly, but only because of my hero, James. James is brilliant, charismatic, and obsessive-compulsive. He wasn’t my first hero, and yet once I unleashed him, his insights into Tilly created her character arc.

James evolved out of my darkest fear as a mother. Compulsive behavior is ritualistic and appears bizarre to people who don’t understand; obsessive thoughts are isolating. One Friday night, when my son and I were crumpled on the kitchen floor crying as he said over and over, “Make it stop, Mommy. Make it stop,” I had a horrible thought: What if, when he grew up, no one could see beyond his quirky behavior to love him for the incredible person he is? What if he ended up alone because of his OCD? That doubt led me to James.

But that was just the beginning. Once my son and I started exposure therapy—when you meet fears head on—I saw the incredible courage it takes to boss back OCD. Navigating ordinary life as an obsessive-compulsive is like walking through a minefield. To keep moving forward takes herculean bravery. Some days you’re strong enough; some days you’re not. As with any war, you have victories and defeats. That’s the side of OCD I wanted to show through James. Incidentally, he’s the least messed-up character in the novel. Despite his OCD, he has a strong sense of self.

By the time I sold TUG, my son had been OCD-free for three years and James’s struggles belonged to a life I had left behind. Then junior year of high school hit, and OCD started creeping back into our house. During my book launch, I prattled on about how my son had beaten OCD, unaware that he was drowning. Then his anxiety exploded. Within a week, we were both back to crying on the floor. It seemed nothing much had changed in thirteen years. In the months that followed, we struggled, we got back into full-blown treatment, and we both turned to our art: song writing and poetry for him, novel two for me.

Novel two may have nothing to do with OCD but it is about mental illness, issues of control, and parental fear. My heroine is the mother of a graduate student with clinical depression. A holistic veterinarian, she sees the world very differently to the way I do. She’s calm and spiritual; I’m passionate, opinionated, and I yell at inanimate objects. We had been struggling to connect, until I wrote these lines:

“Parenthood started with such optimism. Your child would achieve his baby milestones, collect gold stars, maintain a good grade point average, hang out with the crowd that didn’t drink and drive. And then, when you weren’t paying attention, it all stripped down to one horrifying truth: you just wanted your son to find the will to live.”

I was crying at the time. I cried through most of September….

Funny thing, though—once I understood my new heroine’s journey, I felt better about my own. Using the crap of everyday life to feed your fiction can be empowering. It lets you think around corners. Truth doesn’t have to hold you back. You can find joy in darkness; create your own happy ending and write a better story for yourself. Wait…that’s my new hero’s arc. Sorry, I’m off to write!

Does your life end up in your books? Is it hard for you to write? Or is it cathartic?

To celebrate visiting Writers In The Storm today, I will be giving away one signed copy of THE UNFINISHED GARDEN. To enter, please comment below with your email address.

Shannon Donnelly is back this month with a topic that I have spoken with other authors about, but never seen in a blog before. I can't wait to read the comments, to see what you all think!  Here's Shannon:

Something happens when you read a lot—very often stories come to you. A lot of folks brush these off, or just don’t want the fuss and work of trying to take those bits and make something of them. But if you start writing the ideas down, you very soon start digging into the technical stuff. And then you start reading as a writer.

It’s like knowing how a magical act works—some of the enjoyment goes away when you know how that elephant really disappeared off the stage.

Generally, this isn’t a huge problem—but it can become one if it eats away at your enjoyment of reading.

You start to look for misplaced commas, for the wrong word used, for poor characterization.

You shake your head over awkward viewpoint transitions—you start to notice viewpoint transitions.

You sigh over weak dialogue—and become envious over sparkling wit on the page.

In other words, you keep leaving the story because you’re too busy taking it apart.

This does not make for a fun read—and even great books can suffer from an overcritical mind.

However, every now and then, a book comes along that’s so good that you want to settle back and be a reader again. This is the time to turn off the editor/analyzer and read for the pleasure—for the joy. This is a place to remember why you ever wanted to be a writer—because for a short time you are transported to another time, another world, and you get to play with a bunch of cool people.

Now a really bad book can do the same—if there are so many awful mistakes, it overwhelms the editing part of the mind and you can just marvel at the awfulness. (Bad movies do the same—they’re so bad they’re good.) It’s the books in between that can be difficult to read as a reader.

The longer you are a writer, the more you tend to lose that ability to step back into reading. But it’s actually important to hang onto this joy—it’s what got you started with stories, and it’s what will keep you going. This means you have to do a lot of hunting—and a lot of reading too. And it’s a good idea anyway to learn how to turn off the editor and stop nitpicking and just enjoy. Even if you know how the elephant gets off the stage, you can activate that wonderful part of the mind—and just pretend.

Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written."

Her Regency romances can be found as ebooks on all formats, and with Cool Gus Publishing, and include a series of four novellas.

She also has out the Mackenzie Solomon, Demon/Warders Urban Fantasy series, Burn Baby Burn and Riding in on a Burning Tire, and the Urban Fantasy, Edge Walkers. Her work has been on the top seller list of Amazon.com and includes Paths of Desire, a Historical Regency romance.

She is the author of several young adult horror stories, and computer games. She lives in New Mexico with two horses, two donkeys, two dogs, and only one love of her life. Shannon can be found online at sd-writer.com, facebook.com/sdwriter, and twitter/sdwriter.