Sunday, January 11, 2015

Getting Involved

When I was a child I loved to write. As an adult it a passion that has not faded but instead grown into a burning flame approaching bonfire status. I have simply enjoyed telling stories and taking my readers or even those listening if I shared aloud on a journey that came from my imagination. 

After awhile I noticed that many of the short stories I came up with had resemblances to the previous ones and that my lack of life experience was hindrance to my story telling. I began traveling more, studying different cultures and meeting as many people as I could. I talked at length with people others may have found unappealing such as the homeless and worked to overcome language barriers so that I could learn about those around me and the world as they saw it.

Traveling has become a secondary obsession for me and goes hand in hand with my writing. I am currently looking at doing a book for each of the places I have explored and doing my best to incorporate all of the things I have tried, surfing, skydiving, snorkeling, ultra light piloting, and so many others. I love being outside and it is my goal to bring those elements into my stories.

I also have been doing my best to be hands on with the promotion of the writing work I create. I enjoy the live events like signings and interviews. Again it is an opportunity to talk to people as well as be able to interact with those that have found some value in my work. It is important for me to find out who I am reaching as an audience and what draws them in so I can continue to grow my readership base.

I find that partnering with other authors and artists can also create a wonderful ross promotion opportunity while also affording myself the chance to meet new and interesting people. Sometimes those people bring heartbreaking stories while others bring with them a sense of inspiration and new connections for me as an author. It is a matter of making sure I let my supporters know how much they matter to me and to genuinely be interested in what they have to say as well.

I even do my best to make sure I am involved in the worlds I write about. My debut novel was about dancing and I was very active as a dancer for years. I have a tried to help out at animal adoption and awareness events including the rescue of several animals of my own. The current ones being what I call the Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit. How do you get involved in your writing worlds?

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