Can we believe it's 2023? Not quite but welcome to the first blog hop post for IWSG for this year. Thanks to the IWSG admins for keeping us going and to our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, for bringing us together in the first place. Find the entire list of participants on this page.
I'm skipping this month's question and putting to page some thoughts going into a new year. As many of you know, my publisher closed their doors at the end of 2022. That's more than 20 published books that are now homeless. Enough to crush my motivation. But...
I have found some things to inspire me.
1. Seeing colleagues having new books coming out. Some are writers I've known for years and have spent time at writers conferences networking together. I love seeing them succeed and it makes me work harder.
2. Reading the various newsletters that come my way from a variety of sources. Some are writing groups like this one and some are from individual authors. I learn so much and also witness the writing successes of the other members.
3. Finding a new author, or new-to-me, that I fall in love with. There have been a few recently, but one fantasy writer I'll point out is Kel Kade. Kel's first serious was self-published and her second series was picked up by TOR.
4. Helping set up registration for the Pennwriters Conference coming to Pittsburgh, PA in May of this year. I love spending the weekend with other writers.
5. Receiving an invite from a successful local author to join her FB group. If you attended last year's Pennwriters Conference, you know Misty Simon. A gifted writer of mysteries who brings a lot of laughter and joy to those she interacts with.
Those are a few things to keep me going on this writing path with all its hills and valley. Things to remind me to work harder. What keeps you going?
"There are no traffic jams along the extra mile." Roger Staubach
"Hope is a waking dream." Aristotle
