Wednesday, January 06, 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

I’ve been on this author journey for many years now. While many things become routine or not as fresh as they were in the beginning, it’s neat when something surprises or pleases in a new way. One of those boo-yah moments.

A couple recent boo-yah moments:

Last week, I finished editing one of the stories for my next collection. And you know what? I was just as excited about it. I love the story. It’s been so long since I wrote anything fiction, I was worried I’d forgotten how. But I love how this one turned out.

Since I teach seminars on publishing and promoting, I’m always on the lookout for new sites and ways to market books. I’d compiled some websites in a Word document and finally had time to go through them last weekend. I found a couple really cool ones that I can use myself, which was exciting.

I even learned a new trick last month concerning book formatting!

Anyone else have a boo-yah moment lately?



Over at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, we are announcing the winners of the anthology contest today.






And for anyone looking for an editor, my dear friend Crystal has been editing professionally for over seven years and does a great job, plus she’s very reasonable. Read about her services at Crystal Cleaer Proofing.


65 comments:

Shah Wharton said...

Love boy-ah moments. :)

Happy 2016, Ms Wolfe. May it bring blessings a'plenty.

Shah X

shahwharton.com

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, L. Diane! I'm glad that you love the story you're working on. It makes it that much more special. Best of luck with it and I'm sure it's a great read. :) Hugs. Eva

Denise Covey said...

Hi L Diane. I'm glad you're so excited with your fiction! Your enthusiasm was obvious. And thanks for the recommendation for Chrystal. I might check her out, depending on what sort of an editor she is!

HNY!

Denise :-)

Lynn La Vita said...

You are on a roll, may your boo-yah moments continue to grow and expand over the year and beyond.

As a new member of ISWG, thank you for helping me get started.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

I love your boo-yah moment! Glad to hear you felt the fiction bug bite you, while you wrote your story. It's funny to read "I was worried I'd forgotten how." I feel that way after every writing break I take. Of course, I took a few weeks off because of the holidays. But, for me, the break was also because I'd just sent my first round of edits for my MG novel off to my editor. It's the first time I'd ever done that. So now I'm struggling to catch that writing bug again. Hopefully today...

All the best to you in 2016!

Anonymous said...

I think my boo-yah moments have been "just because it takes some time, doesn't mean it won't happen." You know, the whole having faith thing. Sometimes I forget it. And when I remember, it's like a slap in the face of excitement.

Happy new year!
C.G.

L.G. Keltner said...

I love moments like that! The second I feel like I've gotten the hang of promoting my stuff, I'll probably have one of those moments too. For now, those great little nuggets of time revolve around finishing a project. That always warrants a little victory dance for me.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Congratulations, Diane! Nice way to bring in the New Year. I have two new clients and one of them is writing a book to help parents of dyslexic children. I'm so excited to be involved. Love the feeling of helping with something so important.

Happy New Year, Diane! Looking forward to seeing where your gifts take you.

M.J. Fifield said...

I haven't had a boo-yah moment in a while now, but boy, do I love them when they come around. :)

Tamara Narayan said...

Getting included in the ISWG anthology is a big boo-ya moment for me.

EEGiorgi said...

that's awesome, way to start the new year on a high note! :-) happy 2016!

Chrys Fey said...

Oh, I want that document with the list of websites. :) I'm not sure if I've had a boo-yah moment recently...hmm...

Chrys Fey said...

Oh, I want that document with the list of websites. :) I'm not sure if I've had a boo-yah moment recently...hmm...

Annalisa Crawford said...

Congrats on the short story - it's always great when they turn out just as you hoped. It's great you're getting back into fiction :-)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yeah, boo-yah when I finished reading all of the anthology entries!
The article in Geekdom House and where that might lead was one of those moments for me.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Those are awesome moments. Glad you liked what you wrote so much. Happy New Year!

Crystal Collier said...

We really have to live in those moments so they carry us through the others, eh? Hope you had some epic cheese to help celebrate your moment. =)

Bish Denham said...

So when will that list of sites be available to the rest of us lowly writer bees? Thanks for the link to the editor. Your recommendation means a lot to me.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your writing and finding promotional website accomplishments! That's great! I'm afraid my moments recently have been "boo" without the "yah," but it has to get better sometime, so I press onward. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Denise, please do! She is wonderful to work with.

Joylene, that is wonderful.

Chrys and Bish, I will send it to you. Although I think Joy listed them at the IWSG site.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Boo-yah!!! :)
Happy 2016! I'm so glad that you're having some awesome writing and publishing moments. :)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I have had a few of those moments over the last month. Wish for a few more for this year. Glad your fiction has you pumped.

Arlee Bird said...

I love surprises. I think I need a really good one of late.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

cleemckenzie said...

How great to finish a project and feel great about it. Wonderful way to start a new year.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Happy for you! Way to start off 2016! Hope you have a happy one.

emaginette said...

I'm never really sure. I do have moments that make me feel pretty proud, but I'm more the silent type. I'm glad your year went well though. :-)

Anna from elements of emaginette

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Diane - teaching parts of the subject .. must help to keep you up-to-date - by default and by learning in advance. So pleased the story made sense when you'd corrected it and finished if off .. that's great news .. cheers Hilary

Juneta key said...

There is nothing like the feeling of excitement about your writing. I bet the fact you teach about the subject helps you reinforce what you know and reflects in your writing. Does a happy dance for ya.

Happy New Year
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Cherie Reich said...

Yay for the boo-yah moments! Here's to more in 2016!

Ann Bennett said...

Life is good. C'est vrai?

Christine Rains said...

Yay for boo-yah moments! Here's to a 2016 filled with them. :) Me, I'm battling a bad virus. If I yell boo-yah, I'll have a coughing fit!

Yolanda Renée said...

Happy New Year, Diane, boo-yah moments are so exciting. I even imagined you doing the snoopy dance!

Loni Townsend said...

Woot! I'm celebrating your booyah moments! I think a booyah moment for me is figuring out what this obscure thing is in my story that is introduced in book 2 and comes into play book 4! :)

J E Oneil said...

I could really use a booyah moment! I hope your having fun with your stories. Fiction is the best (although of course I'm biased).

nashvillecats2 said...

Good luck with your story that you are now working on,
Happy New Year and Happy Writing.
Yvonne.

dolorah said...

yay for the winners, and for boo-yeah! moments. I hope you have a lot of those throughout the year.

Nick Wilford said...

Congrats on finishing editing your story and feeling great about it. I hope it sets the trend for similar progress for the whole year.

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Happy 2016 and I am glad you are still in love with writing Diane.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

That's a nice feeling, isn't it.
My latest boo-yah was actually finishing one of the many long-term projects I've taken on. A wonderful feeling.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, L. Diane,

GREAT you had that moment! So cool. Haven't had one of THOSE in a while, but hopefully I will soon...

Thanks for the chuckle about the black kitty.. LOL. Believe me my little guy has plenty of "Westitude!" A nice way to say his a tyrant... LOl. His nickname is the Holy Terrier....

All the best this year!

Anonymous said...

Those moments are great, I find the term you use for them funny. Hope there are many more boo-yah moments to come this year for everyone in IWSG!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Juneta, reflects in my marketing at least.

Yolanda, I loved Snoopy as a kid.

Michael, then we both have our hands full.

Rhonda, it comes from the Disney movie, Emperor's New Groove.

Dean K Miller said...

Every day, when I rise from bed, feeling healthy....boo-yah moment! Cool on finding the publishing things you can use. I have all kinds of records kept that someday, maybe someday, I can use.

Donna McDine said...

You go girl! Excited you are having great moments. Keep up the great work! Boo-yah!

Laura S. said...

Heehee, love those boo-yah moments! Happy 2016, Diane! :)

Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines

Stina said...

Love Boo-yah moments. Not that I've had any lately. I'm just going to enjoy yours instead, Diana. :)

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Yay for your boo-yah moment. Congratulations on your new story.
Happy New Year and may you have more of those moments.

Trisha said...

I am very lacking in boo-yah moments of late - but I hope to have some in the near future! ;)

Happy new year to you Diane, I hope it's a wonderful year for you!

Karen Lange said...

Congrats on your moments! That's always nice. Am curious about the formatting trick. Formatting and the like can test your patience for sure.

LT said...

I am actually slammed with work - a new anthology and a new writer who has her book ready. But as for fiction, I'm stalling.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Diane. After the rough 2015 I had, every day in 2016 has felt like a boo-yah day. Feeling groovy!!

H. R. Sinclair said...

No new exciting things here, but pleasantly new.

Diane Burton said...

Love your enthusiasm, Diane. What a great way to start the new year!

Hart Johnson said...

Congrats on your story polish! Always nice when you still love it when it's done!

shelly said...

My boo-ya moment is to write when and where I can.

Erika Beebe said...

I haven't had the boo-ya moment I want yet, but I can feel it coming very soon. Happy New Year.

Jo said...

Happy New Year Diane. So glad you have written something you are pleased with, seems not to happen to often to authors.

Hope NC has cooled down a bit for you now. It has here, but then it's supposed to be colder than it is.

Kristin Smith said...

Boo-yah moments are the best!! And that is a great feeling when you still love your story as much after editing as you did when you first wrote it.

Thanks for the recommendation about Crystal's editing services. I'm filing that info away for future reference. Thanks! :)

Stephen Tremp said...

Diane, gotta love those boo-yah moments! May 2016 be the most boo-yahiest to date!

Nicki Elson said...

Boo-yah! An author loving her own story is the very best sign that others will, too. Pretty sweet all that advice you've put together will be a help for you.

David Powers King said...

Happy New Year to you! Now that I'm self publishing, I'm getting a crash course in publishing and promoting. Hopefully my Boo-Yah moment will come in the coming weeks. :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! I love those moments. I've had them recently while looking to revise and improve some drafts. I'd like more of those moments concerning publicity and sales.

Michelle Wallace said...

A new book formatting trick? Sounds cool.
Care to send some of that Boo-Yah mojo in my direction?
Happy New Year!

cheerfuloptimistic said...

Gotta love those moments.

M Pax said...

I got to learn some crap regarding websites, which I really didn't want to spend the time on. But I was proud of myself for getting through it. There's more to being an author these days than writing. It's a blessing and a curse. :)