Yesterday I went to my first meeting of GLAWS…Greater Los Angeles Writing Society. A very nice group of writers in the area trying to mentor and support each other in the craft. It is perfect for my needs right (or write…haha) now.
Of course, I wrapped myself up as Cat and mostly listened. It was rather amusing. I signed in and walked into the mostly empty room (ever early, that’s me) trying to judge where to sit. Not the front row! said my inner coward. Not the back! said my inner Cat. So I took the first seat in the second row of the middle aisle. Perfect. Great view of the speaker without having to look at anyone else in the room. My favorite position…seen but not seeing.
I immediately joined up…a cheap $50.00 for the access to people with more experience in their craft than I currently have. And while the next educational session features David Morrell (who wrote Rambo) I can’t attend that one. He was a professor at U of I when I went and, of course, I took his course. What an ego! Now, I’ll admit he had just come off that huge accomplishment and I was but 19 and that was over 20 years ago…but boy did it color my view!
But not of GLAWS! They have critique groups and a forum and the David Maas (very famous agent) book on pdf downloadable for members. And they will be sponsoring a writer’s track at LOSCON (Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention) this November. Last LOSCON was were I met the whole organization. They had a booth in the exhibit area. This year they’re hoping to have a hospitality suite and possible a party suite! PARTY! Although with writers its more like…party…shush, I’m reading!
Funniest thing was recognizing people at the GLAWS meeting who were at LOSCON last year. The very tall blonde with the little recorder who was in several panels I attended…she was at GLAWS. One nice looking man with a trim salt & pepper beard, I could swear he was there. And they talked about taking an agent to dinner where she let authors pitch to her. That had to be Dumas…her panels were incredibly informative for me last November. But she doesn’t take what I write so I never approached her. Plus she works for the Greyson Agency and they are huge! Intimidating because I had just finished Cat and was working on Sarah and only then actually feeling like a writer.
But the speaker they had on query letters yesterday was wonderfully helpful. And what she does professionally is mentor young authors into the business side to get them not just writing but publishing…for a fee. Yeah…can I afford it? Can I NOT afford it? How long do I spend trying to get Cat published before I try to move on the other things floating around my head? I’d rather not break into this when I’m 50 and that’s really not that far off, people!
So this step with GLAWS is perfect timing. I need people in the biz to help me decide what to do next in pursuing this dream. I still have Dick’s offer to give me a wee referral to the publishers he knows who publish erotica but I really need Cat and the sequel Sarah to be the best they can be before then. And for that I need at least GLAWS if not an actual paid editor.
Oooh and they have a summer party. Although, I’d rather NOT see some of them in bathing suits…there were a few I would! Yummy and creative. Just think…if anyone can pull off role playing almost as good as actors…it’s probably writers!