IWSG Day, January 3, 2018, Building Upon A Foundation That Has Been Laid

Hello Everyone,

It is the first Wednesday of the month, and IWSG Time. 

IWSG is a writer support group created and led by Alex Cavanaugh. It is a big help to many of us who do not mind sharing our insecurities, our successes or giving encouragement and help to others. 

So, if you are interested and would like to join, the link below will lead you directly to us:

The Insecure Writer's Support Group 

My report:

Submissions –   None for January 

Outstanding Submissions - to the WEP- An Eternal Beginning

Rejections: Three poems to the Lascaux Review 

Happy New Year!

During 2017, I laid what I consider to be the final groundwork to become a traditional and self- published author. I set up my author website, took a class on back cover and developed my back cover for my first novel with the instructor.  I developed two or three blurbs by taking a class on blurbs and had  back to back classes on setting up my press packets, book trailers, and press releases.  I took a marketing class which included writing a query and synopsis. The marketing was hands-on. The writing coach, a former publisher, and now part-time acquisition editor, took the time to make sure that the queries and synopses we wrote were the best representation of our individual books. She did not give up on any of the participants, and I am glad she didn’t. My horror was writing a synopsis, and she remained with me as I kept submitting changes until I had overcome my horror and now have a first-class synopsis.

I also committed myself, last year, to two online writing organisations that challenged me to write articles and/or flash fiction or poetry that pushed me way above what I thought I could do. Those two online organisations were the IWSG created byAlex Cavanaugh and the WEP created by Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee.  I took each organisations seriously, and whatever I wrote, I gave it my best shot. This writing for my peers gave me the feedback that I needed. I found out through them that I was ready to enter the publishing world. 

The first step taken began with Still Me…After All These Years, a book of short essays published by Karen Helene Walker. I will be forever thankful for that opportunity. Working with Senior Editor Mark David Gerson was a god send. It strengthened my writing muscles and gave my writing voice the clarity it needed so that people can hear, feel, and see what I say.

So, what now?

I keep marching. This month, I am puttering through stories. I have begun choosing the stories from my endless pool of short stories for my first self-publication as I work on my novel that I hope to have ready for submission to an agent this year. I am on a journey. Standing still is not an option for me. With one foot before the other, I am marching.   

The only thing that I know is that every obstacle, defeat, failure and success in 2017  has prepared me for every situation  I will experience in 2018. 

So, like the Prophet Habakkuk, I am standing and  watching, waiting to see how God is going to bring this all together. The surety that I will rejoice is founded in my confidence in Him.  For,

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my  feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.  Habakkuk 3:19, New International Version, 1984, Zondervan.

Have a lovely January and walk carefully as you move through month.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia