The SHU Life

So I went down to Seton Hill University again earlier this month and it was fantastic! The Troublemakers had modules on POV, the business of writing, setting/reasearch, and revision. And we also had our Critique groups. I submitted part of a new piece that I'm working on called Los Diablos. It's a romantic suspense about an undercover cop who is infiltrating a biker gang called Los Diablos and a reporter who is investigating her brother's murder, but more on Los Diablos at a later date. 

At SHU, I spent lots of time with my Troublemakers and with a bunch of other students. People I met in June have graduated and left us. But many of them will be back in June for the pseudo-residency. :-) 
Our guest speaker this time was Jonathan Maberry. He was fan-tabulous!!! There was so much real world advice during his talk. Not only did he talk about dedicating yourself to the craft, he gave excellent up-to-date advice on the business end of things. He was really down to earth and approachable. He answered all of our questions and seemed genuinely happy to be there with us. 

So those key things he talked about that really stayed with me were: 

• To use social media sites to help promote not only yourself but other writers (both within and outside your genre) 
• To interview authors or experts and post them on your blog (which I'm hoping to do soon)
• To do your reasearch with experts (and not just one) 
• Your name is your brand - you're not just selling your books, you're selling yourself 
• Don't say anything negative about any books online where people could use it against you one day (very valid advice) 

 So after reaffirming my writing life at this SHU Residency, I came back home and gave my two weeks notice at my morning job. I'll still be teaching in the afternoons, but it's important for me to have the mornings to do things like write blogs and synopses, and design websites and revise pages and all that good stuff. So to my SHU family, thanks for giving me the nice little kick in the ass to get going on my writing life!