On September 24th I participated in the Baltimore Book Festival to promote my published books, SECRETS AND SACRIFICES, JENNY'S PASSION, LILA'S VOW, and ADAM'S TREASURE, and my October 31st release MOONLIGHT AND ILLUSIONS. I've been to the Baltimore Book Festival three times now, but it always amazes me just how many authors and books there are taking part in this festival. I am honored to be numbered among them. However, it does make me feel a little like a small salmon swimming upstream, just one of many in the struggling school of fish trying not to get eaten by the bear just waiting for us...and the bear is obscurity.
Although there is comfort in knowing you aren't alone in the struggle to reach your goal (which is to eventually make a living with my fictional writing), these types of events also make me realize how hard it is to be a remotely special fish among so many. But they also make me aware of how great the other fish really are.
Getting together with my fellow Maryland Romance Writers to do readings and panels for this event is always fun. These wonderful ladies take me into their midst without question or hestitation despite the fact that I haven't made a regular meeting in several years. Not a one chastises me for my absence. The ones I recognize welcome me with open arms and the ones I only know through Yahoo messages, seem genuinely happy to have me there. I am humbled and grateful for this community of authors. Because, despite the fact that we are all, in a sense, competing with each other for the same prize, we all know how hard the journey is and cheer each other on to each success, large and small.
Because the prize of publication and great book sales may be shared by so many and it is a prize that keeps on coming, we are able to be generous with each other. One author's success does not in any way diminish another author's chances to reach that same level of success. And that is the beauty of this tough, competitive business. We are each held up for inspection based on our own merits. If Miss Suzy Author makes the NY Times Bestseller list, her success gives us hope. Her success does not crush our own dreams.
So, intraverts like me swallow our fears, calm our trembling hands, and get up in front of an audience to read from our cherished creations and pray that someday soon our own dream will come true and our author friends will cheer for us...and we know they will.
Getting together with my fellow Maryland Romance Writers to do readings and panels for this event is always fun. These wonderful ladies take me into their midst without question or hestitation despite the fact that I haven't made a regular meeting in several years. Not a one chastises me for my absence. The ones I recognize welcome me with open arms and the ones I only know through Yahoo messages, seem genuinely happy to have me there. I am humbled and grateful for this community of authors. Because, despite the fact that we are all, in a sense, competing with each other for the same prize, we all know how hard the journey is and cheer each other on to each success, large and small.
Because the prize of publication and great book sales may be shared by so many and it is a prize that keeps on coming, we are able to be generous with each other. One author's success does not in any way diminish another author's chances to reach that same level of success. And that is the beauty of this tough, competitive business. We are each held up for inspection based on our own merits. If Miss Suzy Author makes the NY Times Bestseller list, her success gives us hope. Her success does not crush our own dreams.
So, intraverts like me swallow our fears, calm our trembling hands, and get up in front of an audience to read from our cherished creations and pray that someday soon our own dream will come true and our author friends will cheer for us...and we know they will.
To find out more about Diane's books and her successes, large and small, visit http://www.dianewylie.com.
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