Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Inspiration: The Sappiest Blog Post I Will Ever Write

The Thursday's Children blog hop is a chance for authors to write about what inspires them. Thanks again to Rhiann Wynn-Nolet and Kristina Perez for hosting, and everyone else ... consider yourselves invited to join the blog hop fun! 

     Remember that really sappy love song, I'm everything I am because you loved me? Well, if you're not into sap, I don't suggest you read any further. This is going to get pretty mushy.

     On Thursdays, I blog about the inspiration behind my writing. Today, I'm posting about a friend who hasn't just inspired my writing; she is responsible for the fact that I am published at all.

     Meet Regi.

     Yes, most of my writing pals already know Regi, author of the chocalate-enhanced WIPpet posts, creator of the Fairy Blood novel, lifetime proponent of NaNoWriMo, and friend of all tweeting authors. (See, I warned you this was going to get sappy.)

     Regi and I are both part of the same homeschool group, and we met at a park almost two years ago. I have three kids; Regi has four. For about a month of each year, our children line up in perfect chronological order.

     Regi and I became mom friends before we figured out that we were both writers. All we knew was that our kids got along great and that we were both in the market for new homeschool pals. Finally, about a month into our friendship, Regi told me the truth.

     "I do this crazy thing every November and write a full length novel."

     That's when I knew I had found a soulmate.

     When I met Regi, I had two and a half  manuscripts to my name, but I still maintained that the only "real" way to become an author was to proposition agents and publishers until someone finally took pity and picked me up. And if you didn't know it by now, Regi is one of the indie author movement's greatest proponents.

     But in order to make the big jump into the world of self-publishing, I needed more than just an indie cheerleader. I needed to get over my aversion to spending "superfluous" money.

     It would take way to long to describe all the ins and outs of how it worked, but a while back Regi was instrumental in helping me start my own home business leading homeschool clubs for kids (including Regi's). It has nothing to do with writing, but it brought in a cash flow nevertheless, a cash flow that helped me take the financial plunge into self-publishdom.

     If that weren't enough, Regi was the one who convinced me to get a twitter account, who encouraged me to start this blog (at the time I was blogging exclusively about special needs), and who introduced me to the WIPpeters and the wonderful world of online author camaraderie.

     I know Regi's not all that into sentimentality, and it's possible she's needed to gag once or twice while reading through this post. But I do hope she knows how much I value her friendship, and now I'm glad that the entire blogosphere knows it too.

Meet Regi: Check out Regi's blog or follow her on Twitter. You'll be glad you did!

Random Fact: Between my three boys and Regi's three girls, there's a decent chance Regi and I might one day share grandchildren.

Don't forget! Help support disaster relief efforts when you buy The Beloved Daughter from alanaterry.com/oklahoma (Shipping to US only. Sorry!) CLICK TO TWEET!


25 comments:

  1. Having a friend who understands writer-craziness "from the inside" might not be essential, but it sure does help. I'm glad you have Regi, just as I'm glad she has you :)

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    1. Thanks Rhiann! Yes, I think we're both pretty lucky!

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  2. This really moved me, Alana, and having got to know you both via the WIPpeteers it was great to find out more about your friendship. It's a really lovely post and I like the way the mushiness was diluted just a little by the image of Regi gagging... Writing friends are invaluable as this writing life can be a lonely place to be otherwise.

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    1. Thanks Kate! Yeah, I didn't confirm if Regi gagged or not, but I wouldn't be surprised. ;)

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  3. Awesome! You guys are so lucky to have each other. My CP really GETS everything about the writing life too, but unfortunately she lives halfway across the country. What a great inspiration to have someone so close!

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    1. Thanks so much! Yeah, I guess we are lucky to live so close.

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  4. It's always great to have friends who truly understand those little voices we listen to.

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  5. Inspired by friends. Great post. You are very lucky to have such a supportive person in your life :)

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    1. Thanks Cassandra! I hope the same can be said of you!

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  6. Friends are the best and so glad to hear you met a soul mate to encourage your writing! Thanks for sharing and introducing us to Regi! :)

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    1. Thank you Shanah! I'm honored you stopped by.

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  7. Gah! I'm flabbergasted, honored, warm-fuzzied, and a little embarrassed... mostly flabbergasted. =0)

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  8. It's great to have such a wonderful friend.

    http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2013/05/inspired-by-beginnings-thirteen-things.html

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  9. I'm glad you've found a "real-life" friend to share the ups and downs of writing with! I have lots of writer friends, but sadly I've found them all online and haven't met them! It's great, and I'm glad I at least have that, but just once it would be nice to meet over coffee or a pint and discuss the writing world. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Jeannette, I hear you. I have several online writing friends I would love meet in person, but most of them live on other continents!

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  10. Thank you for joining us! Writer friends are the most inspiring. Just look at me and Rhi ;-)

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    1. So true! Do you two know each other outside of the online world, or did you just connect virtually?

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  11. Beautiful post! A dear friend is a magical being who can always turn a bad day into distant memory.

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  12. Wow! What an amazing story and not sappy at all. People like that come into your life for a reason and I'm happy you found someone who shares your passion for writing.

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  13. Aw so far behind in the blog posts I almost missed this little hidden gem - and it's about ReGi. I think she is Awesomesauce with a capital A too. Nothing like someone else who shares your passion and is an active cheerleader. What a huge blessing.

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