Showing posts with label NTRWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NTRWA. Show all posts

North Texas Romance Writers of America President's Letter December

#GiveMas


This week on the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning Show one of the hosts Jenna Owens talked about how she’s at the point in her life where she doesn’t really want presents. If she wants something, she just goes and buys it herself. But what she does value from her friends is time spent together because in their busy lives that seems to get rarer and rarer.
So this year Jenna is spending quality time with each of her friends while they go do something to give back to the community. They decided on working at a soup kitchen for this first year and even coined the hashtag #GiveMas for anyone else who wants to share what they will be doing this season toward less spending, more giving.
This struck a chord with me because the limited time I get to spend with my sisters, my friends, my critique partners (who have become my sisters and friends), and all of you at NT is time I cherish above any tangible gift.
(Not that I don’t like presents. Who doesn’t?)

I’m beyond excited to see as many of you as can make it to our Holiday party. Some of you I haven’t seen for a long time as circumstances have made it hard to come out through the rest of the year.
But whether you make it or not, my “intangible” gifts to you all, besides the giving of my time, are these:
(This is the part where you pretend I’m the #GiveMas fairy, waving my magical wand over your collective heads.)

To you, er, I mean, y’all, I give:

An abundance of creativity and story ideas.
Continued joy and enthusiasm in the day to day craft of writing.
Confidence that what you are writing is good. Really good. Your work has paid off.
Hidden pockets of extra time to pursue your dreams.
The understanding to measure your success by whatever standard you define it for yourself.
Good writer friends to surround you with encouragement and knowledge from their own experiences.
Along with empathy and wisdom to do the same for others.
And finally, the courage and perseverance to continue the journey on whichever path or paths you decide to take.

Have a most wonderful excellent Holiday Season! It’s been my pleasure and honor to serve you this year!
  

Clover Autrey

NTRWA President 2014

Critique Partner Michelle

CPs Jen and Gina

CP Chrissy



My pal Mary Malcolm

Mary is one of my NTRWA chapter mates and she is so sweet and funny. She's just one of those people that everyone likes to be around because she makes them feel great. Anyway she was generous enough to let me do an interview with her for my Examiner column, which I always like to reprint here.

Diner Girl has only been out a few short weeks yet it is already your publishers #1 Bestseller. How does that make you feel?

I don’t think back flips translate on paper very well, but that’s how I feel. I feel like a back flip. *grin* No, truly I am surprised/ecstatic/thrilled/terrified and have wet myself at least twice. Don’t judge me.


Tell us a little about Diner Girl.

Diner Girl is such a sweet little story. You can absolutely read the back cover blurb anywhere, so instead I’ll tell you about the behind the scenes story. I took a creative writing class with Von Jocks and wanted to write a romance novel. I’d been thinking about a situation for weeks, the idea of having to whether out a storm with a total stranger and how that would go. So, my thought was, what if this stranger turns out to be your perfect kindred soul but you’re so busy living your life that you don’t see it right away? That’s what Diner Girl was born from.

Jennifer is this busy-living-her-life waitress who wants to succeed on her own terms. Mark has more resources than he knows what to do with, yet can’t see his own passion past his believed obligations. When they come together, it is obvious to the reader pretty much from the beginning that these two were meant to be together, but they have to make it past their own pain, and reset their priorities before either can realize they are meant to fall in love. I love this concept. I think a lot of people can relate to that. Perhaps they’d met their perfect kindred soul but were so busy living their lives they forgot to “live” in their lives. I want Diner Girl to reflect the idea that life is short and you should embrace love when you find it. That’s my only goal for this book.

What's something most people don't know about you?

I can write backwards, in cursive, readably. I Love that about me. *grin*

Anything else you'd like to talk about?

Let’s talk about ducks. No, kidding. Mostly, I want to encourage people to follow their passions. When I started that creative writing class, I’d actually been on track to go to medical school. Math and science are easy for me and I’m naturally curious, so I had always wanted to be a doctor. Thing was, when I started writing, I found it consumed me. If there is something in your life that you Love, something that you would spend every spare moment doing if you could, then do it. Don’t be responsible. Forget about what others think or getting that bigger television or that cup-o’-java once a day. Follow your passion and believe that your love for it will make others love it, too.

Where can readers find you?

Well, of course my website. I’ll be attending the North Texas Two Step conference on November 6th and 7th. Um....Every third Saturday of the month, you’ll find me curled up with thirty of my closest friends at La Hacienda Ranch in Colleyville for the NTRWA meeting. When work permits, I attend the DFW Writers Workshop in Euless on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. Oh! I love this little coffee shop in Burleson, called J.J. Mocha’s. If anyone wants to e-mail me at: marymalcolm@yahoo.com, I’d love to set up a time when I’m not working to meet you there for a cup of coffee, or tea, and definitely a cup of their soup or a cinnamon roll. Mmm, love that place. Also, I practically Live at Central Market in Fort Worth. Truly. It is my Mecca and where I go to breathe. If you ever are in the area and want to breathe with me, I’d Love to meet you there!
Thank you, Mary, you are such a sweetie!