Writing YA & Beyond

J is a former member of the Alliance of Writers. When she read her work, everyone tranformed into little children, sitting on the edges of their seats, waiting in anticipation of another story.

Me too. I miss that.

Once, I began talking about how my mouse was out--meaning the mouse to my computer died. J came up with a whole story about a mouse getting out...a furry one and funny.

So I found it amusing that in a recent blog she talked about being amazed at the ideas that came from the writers in her current critique group--she forgets that she has always done a good job herself. You can read some of her musings at Writing YA.

Karen, another former member just dropped me a line saying her book is already going into second printing--it came out in May. Check the archives for it.

Good going.

Me, I have to work on my next proposal and am catching up with all my work online in the meantime.

*Sigh* I never stop but I did take three whole days off--never mind I worked more than 30 days straight.

In the writing world, many colleagues are on strike. Which seems strange. Writers need to fight for their rights on many levels but there are a ton of people who write for free.

I understand their concerns because basically, writers are often viewed as bottom feeders. At least the money is big in Hollywood. Bottom feeders with a rich, thick, layer of nutrient rich...oh dear, there I go again...

The Internet and new media makes things a bit tricky. I've had work copied and posted on the World Wide Web without permission and there are worse stories from inside the industry...I actually had one publisher want to use my work perpetually online when she only paid for it in a print magazine. Geez.

There is another place where my work is still up. When do you fight and when do figure it is a marketing edge?

You don't hear many of the publishing world tales unless you are in a dark room, lights dim, poets murmuring in the corner--then you hear whispers of discontent.

Those stories are the ones that make you shake your head and look for a good literary attorney--just in case.

Speaking of attorneys and advocates, the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on the Writers Guild and the current strike.

It is a shame we have to have advocacy groups for this type of thing but also is one of the reasons you should hold professional memberships so you don't have to fight the fight alone.

The only good news is that I don't watch too much television and so I don't miss much of anything during the strike. Those poor writers are picketing when they could be writing!