Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday Fricassee

It's raining outside my wee office window; it makes me want to curl up and write all day long. What is it about rain and writing? Surely I'm not alone in this.

Anyway, I have a lot to say about your responses to my "And So I Scream" post. I will, however, truncate it, so as not to drown you all in purple prose and tempt you to take back your compliments on my writing. *grin*

I wrote about the "soul-scream" not so much because I needed to vent (which, of course, I did need), but to reach out with that "we're all tethered by the same cord" thing that draws us together. Somehow I knew I wasn't alone in this screaming. And I hoped that there were others of you who needed to read those words as much as I may have needed to write them.

You proved me right.

It helps to know that someone else is screaming. Someone in Buffalo or Seattle or Peking or Amsterdam or Dublin or Denver or Thousand Palms, California. And if my scream helped to loose or to justify or to enhance your own -- well, I'm happy to be of service.

Some of you brought up an interesting tidbit, not only in Wednesday's comment box but previously, concerning the what-happens-when-Authoress-is-published? Will she divulge her identity in order to rake in the sales and accolades? Or will she continue to hide behind her red hat?

Mr. Authoress and I have discussed this at length. Because, of course, I have every intention of being published (and you all share that attitude, right?). And I'm wondering -- what do you all think? Would learning that I have a real name spoil the fun? Or would the release of my book be the perfect time for my own "unveiling?"

I kinda like being anonymous. It feeds my hermitic nature. But maybe that's not a good thing.

I'm all ears!

And of course I'm going to gush about this week's winners and the overall success of our third Secret Agent round. Yay EVERYBODY! Next week we'll do another in-house crit fest.

My coffee has gone cold so it's time for a trip to the microwave. Have a glorious weekend and I'll see you Monday!

12 comments:

  1. Definitely unveil yourself! The publicity will be worth its weight in gold.

    And that's saying a lot, what with the markets crashing and all!

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  2. You mean your name isn't Authoress? I thought your parents just named you very well!

    Even if you did announce you were Jane Doe from Texas, I think I'll consider you Authoress.

    Tell you what. When your book hits the shelves tell us the title and anyone who is curious can read the authors name. Everyone who loves the anonymity can cover up the name and just read the book :o)

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  3. Uh, heck yeah, you should unveil yourself.

    How else are we going to know which novel is yours?

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  4. UNVEIL!

    You'll get even more readers of your blog, and we can all rave about you on our own blogs. :)

    Can't wait to see your work in print!

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  5. I want to be able to buy your book so you're gonna have to unveil yourself. ;)

    But think of it this way. We'll probably all still think of you as Authoress anyway. :P

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  6. Here here!

    You have to unveil when your first book is published. Absolutely mandatory. You can still refer to yourself as "Authoress" if you like. ;)

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  7. Yes. I vote spill.

    I don't think people love you for your mystique. ;)

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  8. I'm on the fence on this one. One hand says it would be a great boost to your credentials on your query letter to announce you host and run this popular writing-centric blog. The other hand says that when the hustle and bustle of real life and the publishing world get to be too much, it would be nice to retreat someplace where No One Knows Your Name (insert Cheers theme song here).

    So, for the benefit of your professional writing career, I'd say yes reveal yourself, but for your mental health, I'd say no.

    Gee, that wasn't much help at all, was it? :S

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  9. Oh, remain anonymous. I guess I'm in the minority here, but just think how free it would be, esp once you are hugely famous & can't be yourself anywhere else!

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  10. No, I think you have the personality to sell your book without telling everyone who you are. You can just start another blog and give a link to it here without saying it's you! That way you can still vent occasionally as 'Authoress' without anyone knowing it's really Jane Doe (who's published, so how dare she vent?)I'm sure published authors have their bad days too.

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  11. Here's another scream from Amsterdam.

    I think once the time is right, and your novel is about to be published, you must unveil yourself. This blog can be an important promotional tool for you. Also, it will be tangible proof of success for all other hopefuls out there.

    I'm sure that those here from the early going would continue to treat you as Authoress, no matter what.

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  12. well, i'm in the minority, but I kind of think you should remain anonymous. Ultimately it's up to you of course, but you could always make a different website to promote your books- you don't need to use this one. On this blog, you can say whatever you want. You can be frank and completely honest b/c no one knows who you are. You can give tough love without making people angry. And if, one day, you become a big-name author, I think this little space on the internet where no one knows or expects anything, would be invaluable.
    And remember: Miss Snark never revealed herself, even when she hung up her high heel shoes and left her blog.
    I hope you have reason to make this decision soon!

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