~ Aspiring Author ~
Ali Hodges
NEWS & EVENTS
The goings-on around here for me. For anyone who's curious or bored. Join the party!
04
Hiatus
March 23rd 2016
Greetings from the land of the gainfully employed and creatively starved.
In May of 2015, I gained new employment, my first 40 hour-a-week job (don’t laugh) in the field I’ve been trying to get my foot into just in case my writing doesn’t reach a higher potential than a hobby. However, a high-end salon receptionist requires many more off-the-job hours than I was prepared to give. (I’m not a fan of spending three hours on my appearance unless I’m going to a function or an interview). Lesson: better to be a receptionist where image isn’t as important as a salon that charges $300 a haircut. (No joke)
So, needless to say, my long absence was due to six months of withdrawal (work, crash, find some food in there somewhere, repeat) and then six months of marinating in my drug of choice as I made up for lost time. Though it’s back to ramen noodle, I’m okay with that so I can be writing again. Especially when that boost of oomph has me shaving off a much-needed 15% (20,000 words) from my current big project.
*sigh of happiness*
I’m going to give it one more big push (of writing full-time and working part-time—thank you hubby!) and hopefully we’ll see some movement on the writing front. If not, then writing will become part-time and work will become full-time (gotta pay the bills) while I hope and persevere towards the dream of that one day swapping back.
Feel free to jump over to the blog section for my next entry on all the brick walls that writers face. Time to get out the rock-climbing gear! (HA! Can we tell I write fiction?)
03
RWA
May 23rd 2015
Today I mark the milestone of becoming a member of RWA: Romance Writers of America. You don't have to be published to become a member, but actively perusing a career in romance writing should be the main goal for being a member. I'd heard of RWA—it's kind of hard to be an avid romance reader and writer without hearing the acronym, or at least hearing about the RITA award—and wanted to do some research. I was delighted to find out that you didn't have to be published to be a member. They have some phenomenal resources and I'm very happy to be able to extend my network to include more people that not only write, but also specifically write, romance.
I have to admit, I feel very accomplished considering some of the strides I made just in the last several months. From creating my Facebook author page, my author email, my website here, joining Twitter, and now joining RWA. I sent out my first query letter today for Be My Druidess and can’t wait to send out more. Hopefully 2015 continues to be productive.
02
Carolina Writing Workshop 2015
April 13th 2015
I will be attending the Carolina Writing Workshop, to be held in Charlotte, on April 18th, at the SpringHill Suites Charlotte-Ballantyne. I will be taking full advantage of the fact that this particular conference happens to be coming to the town I live in. The main focus is on 'how to get published.' A whole day of advice on traditional and e-publishing, as well as some helpful tips on query letters and finding an agent. Several agents will be there, along with Chuck Sambuchino, whoes posts about agents and query letters have already helped me a lot.
I'm really looking forward to the seminars. The fundamental rule of 'good writing gets noticed' is still true, but a little extra on structure and hook never hurt. Especially since, now-a-days, a writer's voice must make an impression in the query letter before their full work even sees the slush pile.
I know I will learn a lot this coming Saturday and I'm very excited. Hopefully I will also make some good friends and contacts while I'm there. And, of course, a blog shall follow.
For any information, please visit their website: Carolinawritingworkshops.com. As of this post, there are still seats available. And if you learned of the workshop from here, please track me down at the conference and say hello!
01
The First Post (soundtrack-worthy music ensues)
February 17th 2015
This is the iconic first post that I'll look at, hopefully, twenty years from now and either cringe, or laugh; preferably the latter. While I also have a Facebook page for my hopeful-author status, it's been recommended, by too many sources to count, to also go ahead and have an even bigger web-presence. (This is my little spec of presence in the digital universe as of now. Big leap for me, but hey, it's a start.)
I never thought I'd be the blogging type because, if writing short stories isn't my forte, then blogging (in its tee-tiny-ness) should be way out of the question. Right? Nope! I realized that I constantly have micro-ideas that would be good platforms for blogs. Not only that, but as of now, two years post-degree, I find myself missing the atmosphere of the academic environment. For me, that also includes my writer's group. While we keep up on our Facebook group page and through texts and such, I miss having them close to just randomly write with, bounce ideas off of, discuss or rant with.
So, guess what—this is the new blank canvas. While, of course, I won't be forsaking my beloved group for this page, it'll be another addition to the arsenal; anoher avenue to stretch into so that I don't curl up into a rut. Hopefully, if my writing takes off, even a little, then this will be a great diary or yearbook of sorts to record the goings-on. It will also serve as a good place to connect to my readers, which is very important to me.
So, off to write blog #1 and we'll see where this goes. CHARGE! (Yes, Tim Bass would be proud of me for holding back the desire to put an excessive amount of exclamation marks after that—we can also tell that I've been to one too many Charlotte Knights games.) *cough* never *cough*