Smart Girls Read Romance -- so do the bestselling and award-winning Authors who write this blog.
Join them as they dish about Books, Romance, Love, and Life.






Saturday, July 20, 2013

CONFERENCE FUN!

By Geri Foster

This year I went to the Romantic Times Conference and RomCon for the sole purpose of meeting and engaging with readers of Romance. I had a wonderful time and met many delightful people while at these two conferences. I also had the privilege to meet several of my favorite writers and became a fan to some I’d never read before.

Happy reader

The whole experience was career changing. I returned home determined to write more stories, have deeper plots and develop compelling characters if it killed me. I wanted to be better for those wonderful readers I’d met, and I wanted to be equal to the outstanding writers I’d came in contact with.
That’s true inspiration.

As writers we’re often alone in a dark room in the middle of the night pounding on our computers. We rarely see the end result of our hard work except when we receive payment for books bought. That’s a very cold way of doing business. Yet we don’t own shops where customers come in and browse and we get to know them in the process. With no face to face contact we have no idea what a reader really wants from a writer.  We only have a paycheck and reviews to gauge our success. With only a few tools to work with, we write hoping our readers will like what we’ve spent months writing. If they do, and they let us know, we’re thrilled. If they aren’t happy with our story, we languish for days on how to get better at our craft.

Inspired writer

I think the way to write the stories readers will love is to love what you write.

I pour my heart and soul into my stories. I don’t hold anything back for the next story. The book I’m working on is where all my love, energy, and brain power goes. I dig deep to find everything there is to know about my characters. I push to make my stories as exciting and emotional as possible. When I write the end… it truly is the end for me. I’m exhausted and thrilled, but I also know I gave that book every ounce of blood I had in my body.

Do I love it? You bet I do. It’s the reason I get up every day and come to this computer and work long hours for my readers. I want them to know when they pick up one of my books they’re in for a memorable experience.

Read On!

Geri Foster always loves to hear from her readers and other writers. You may contact her at the links below.

   

10 comments:

  1. Sounds very revitalizing Gerri. You're right, writers spend most of our creative time alone and conferences are a great way to meet kindred spirits and recharge. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wish I'd been there, too. You are an amazing writer anyway, even before you went to conferences. Now you are a ball of fire at the keyboard!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Beth. I think it's really important for a writer to meet their audience, and there is no better place than a reader's conference.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Caroline, Can't wait for next year. I'll be doing Margie Lawson's class in September. I might just get this writing down to a fine art...yeah! What's the odds of that happening. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Like you, I attended RomCon and it was a truly remarkable experience. Interacting with the people who read our books, finding new writer friends, you definitely come back energized and ready to finish more and more books.

    If the day job participates with me in scheduling, I'll definitely be going again next year.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Geri, I noticed a difference in you at our first critique meeting after RomCon. Definitely had a positive effect. I hope to go next year when I crawl out of my writers cave. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kathy, it was wonderful. The readers were awesome. I also made many new authors friend while there. A great experience all around.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gloria, I think you're right. You can't help but get caught up in the excitement. Before you know, it takes over your writing and you realize you aren't writing to just get books out there, you're writing because you don't want to disappoint your readers. Hope you can make it next year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm not sure it's readers who drive me to write. I write because I can't *not* do it. I wrote stories as a kid and I continued through school. I entered writing contests all through school and won a few. My ambition was to become an investigative journalist, a lofty goal for a female of my generation....Then I got bogged down by living and the writing went by the wayside....I started again 16 years ago almost to the day. To pursue my obsession with a clear head, I gave up a business and a different career that was far more lucrative than writing has been. I've worked at meaningless, maddening, menial jobs to support my habit and have the schedule to devote to writing. My social life is non-existent. I just told my husband last night that besides the sacrifices I've made, I now have so much time, effort and energy invested, I couldn't quit it if I wanted to. You'd think that after all of that, I'd be a New York Times Bestseller, wouldn't you?...Anna Jeffrey

    P.S. I don't regret any of it and I do love readers who contact me and tell me they like my books. They have a place in my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Geri, It was fun meeting you at Romcon! I agree, meeting with readers and sharing their excitement over reading and books is the best feeling.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting on Smart Girls Read Romance. We love readers and love their comments. We apologize that due to a few unethical spammers we've had to institute comment moderation. Please be patient with us... we DO want your genuine comments!