I have an analytical nature.
I am a people pleaser.
These things are at odds most of the time. I'm telling you this because I H-A-T-E DRAMA.
And I write fiction.
It's a conundrum of the highest order, it's a Rubik's Cube with missing colored tabs, it's mass confusion, and if it's that way for me, I have to believe it's that way for most of us!
Ruthy here, so excited to be celebrating another birthday in Seekerville!!! Cue the lights! Start the confetti drop! Hit the music!!!!
TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH KOOL & THE GANG!!!!
Our theme is #nolimits.
No limits means that you must be willing to come crawling out of your self-imposed shells and see the light of day to a certain degree to be successful in this business. It means you have to be willing to s-t-r-e-t-c-h to achieve goals.
It doesn't mean that you can't pace yourself.
It doesn't mean you can't do things your way, in your time. That whole tortoise and rabbit moral?
I'm a tortoise, but I'm a tortoise who crawls ahead every day... and that helps ace the goal!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A RABBIT TO WIN, AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK AT MY PACE.
But you do have to work. And you have to work knowing you can go as far as you want and do as much as you want which equals: No Limits.
Lots of writers/authors are introverts.
If I asked for a show of hands, how many of you would call yourself an introvert?
How many would say "I'm shy." or "I'm not good with people." Or "I'm reserved. I like the sanctity and anonymity of my writing cave, leave me the heck alone, Ruthy!!!"
Honestly, you've come to the right place, because despite the whole social media push these days, and the fact that you can connect with people and other authors in wonderful places like Seekerville, writing is a solitary job. You write it. You fix it. And these days, you can even publish it!
Times have changed my friends, and in light of our NO LIMITS theme, I want to celebrate our 8th birthday with you by doing something I haven't done in a couple of years here... Instant Editing With The Ruthinator!
You haven't lived until you've survived a day with the Ruthinator in the house, with the back-and-forth of this and that as we work to polish an idea, a line, a paragraph or a page... And then you take the advice given by me (and anyone else who wants to chime in, EEEEK!!!!!) and you can take it...
Or leave it!
The gloves are off.
The gauntlet has been THROWN. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
*******
So here's what we do. You post an excerpt, and we'll talk about it.
And I'll be here all day, all evening, with youse, (except when I have to get my hair trimmed) and we'll talk about the strengths and limitations of that page.
Now you don't have to agree with what I say or with what anyone says, but this will give you an idea of what's working for me and what I'd like to see polished.
"Now, Ruthy," you say. "Why do I care what you think? Why would I do this and risk embarrassment in front of thousands of people?"
To which the Ruthinator responds, "Go big or stay home, Cupcake!" :)
We don't have to be extroverts to be successful authors, but you do have to be willing to take some brave moves. There is risk involved. Your delicate little feelings are likely to get hurt from time to time (okay, TRAMPLED is more accurate, but I don't want to scare anyone! Too much.) and you know what I'm going to say to you, don't you???
It's time to take those forward steps you hear about all the time. So today, I want you to take that forward step here, with me, and any other Seekerville friends that wander by. I want you to be brave enough to post something, courageous enough to take a chance, and then you can see what folks say and either take the advice or don't! No harm, no foul.
Easy peasy, right?
You don't have to be brave to be an author, but you do have to have the courage to try and fail, because that's the most common scenario... and those who end up succeeding are not the best! No, sir!
They're the ones who DID NOT QUIT.
Eventually, the cream rises to the top.
So that's our birthday mission today, my gift to you. I will critique with you for the entire day, and I brought along some very tempting morsels to go with our theme!
Limitless Coffee!
Dark chocolate frosted homemade cupcakes, with or without sprinkles!
Hot tea, sweet tea and Snapple for my tea-lovers!
Chicken Salad sandwiches for lunch, with lettuce on toasted, fresh, Manhattan bagels.
Hey, I know how to party, and this is all quick, pick-up food, because when I'm editing or revising, I don't worry about the kitchen... I worry about the page.
And that's what we're going to do today, in honor of this 8th birthday. A day of critiquing with the Ruthinator...
And we'll see who lives when the day is done!
And in honor of blatant self-promotion which I excel at because yes, it's part of the job!!!! Today I want to turn your attention to our newest collections, releasing in TWO DAYS as part of our holiday gift of faith, hope, love and sweet romance!
"A Heart Full of Christmas", a collection of sweet and inspirational romances that assure us we can go home again... and might find a little angelic help along the way! This collection was so much fun to work on that I can't even begin to tell you! So yes, you should run, not walk (well, button push, actually) over to Amazon and grab this one... and while you're at it, grab the historical, too, because I had so much fun being in that one as well!
CLICK HERE FOR "A HEART FULL OF CHRISTMAS"!!!
AND CLICK HERE FOR "HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" a delightful group of old-time Christmas stories from me, Janet, Pam and Julie! So much fun!!! Old-style fun, and there's nothing wrong with that, is there?
I love this, Tina thought I'd forgotten to add the birthday meme in (AS IF, RADCLIFFE!!!!) so she tucked this here for me....
Thank you, Tina!!!
