The Importance Of Chatting With Other Authors

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of hanging out with three amazing ladies - Leigh K. Hunt, Cassie Hart and T. G. Ayer. These writers have become dear friends since I met them in 2010. We formed a Facebook group first - Inklings. Through posting, sharing and leaving screeds of comments, we got to know each other.

And then in late July this year, I got to meet Leigh and Cassie face-to-face. Tee and I flew down, from Auckland to Wellington, for the night and we spent 48 hours basically talking about writing. It was awesome. I came away exhausted, yet totally inspired. It was cool to be in a room of people that didn't mind you harping on about your passion. We never tired of it. The conversation would lull for a moment or the topic might drift to something family related, but within half an hour we were right back to chatting about writing.

It made me realize how important it is to spend time with people who understand the craft, who are passionate about storyline, character development, and the intricacies of writing. We were able to discuss cover design, marketing tips...have a little moan about the challenging aspects of this job.

I guess the purpose of this post is to encourage you to get involved with other authors. Whether it be online or through face-to-face contact, make the time to share your writing journey with others who will understand it. You will get so much more out of the experience if you do.