Friday Fricassee

Dear Hearts!

Those of you on Twitter may have seen my mini-love-fest tweet last night:

***WRITERLY GROUP HUG*** I love my tribe, y'all! I love being a part of this vast community of creativity!! ❤️❤️❤️ **air-fist bumps for the non-huggy-types** PASS IT ON!

— Authoress/Jillian (@AuthoressAnon) March 22, 2018

There wasn't anything specific that spurred me to type that little message. Truth be told, sometimes it just hits me how amazing the connection among writers is.  And I'm ever thankful for it.

Ten years is a long time to run a blog, and throughout the past decade, folks have come and gone.  Mind you, many have also come and stayed (and oh, I love that!), but the good news is that many have come and gone because, well, they've been published!  No more need to enter Secret Agent Contests or learn about the basics of writing craft.  This blog, for them, was one of many stepping stones, and I'm happy to cheer them along their way.

Some, of course, have moved on because they've decided to no longer pursue writing as a career.  And some have moved on because that's what people do.  We lose interest, we go in different directions, we change our preferences.  It's all good.

The main thing is that, regardless of who's a part of this particular community, the writing world at large is a warm and inviting and vibrant thing, and I love being a part of it. I love the way we cheer each other on. I love the way we kick each other in the butt. I love the way we commiserate and empathize and remind each other not to take ourselves too seriously.

And now, as I'm seeing new names and meeting people who are just taking their first, stumbly, excited steps toward authorhood, I'm reminded that the journey continues.  The roster may change, but the well-trodden path is daily hit with new feet.

Those of us who've been doing this for many years can dip into our well of experience and say, "Here! Have a drink!"  Those of us who are starting out together can say, "Hey, let's walk together." On it goes...on and on, and the human spirit never dwindles.

Do you all realize the part you play in this? Can you see what an awesome thing we have here? What an awesome thing we are?

And that's the story behind last night's tweet. (Because you know there's ALWAYS a story. It's what we do!)

So.  Monday = submissions for our Tenth Birthday Blogpitch.  If you haven't already read them, the details are HERE.

And if you haven't yet subscribed to my author newsletter, GO HERE TO SUBSCRIBE (and also sniff around my web site!).  There's a free giveaway for subscribers this month; sign up now so you don't miss your chance to win.

That's that! I'm off to happily begin what is essentially my first day of Spring Break (which is this household looks like NO LESSONS AND NO DANCE CLASSES TO DRIVE MY LITTLE DANCER TO ALL WEEK, and which will translate into cleaning things I don't normally clean, walk-taking, and ALL THE WRITING. All the glorious, uninterrupted, soul-quenching writing!

Happy weekend, all!