Found a book to take my mind off... AND:

Yeah. Just great.

Writer in a color chart...

Need to fiddle in a new one now:

Searching for new writer's community.

(pink - as in search for the pink unicorn)

Thanks Authonomy and Harper Collins!

(back to crying. Turquoise)

Shhhh!!! Still suffering from Authonomy loss...

No, it was NOT my introduction!!

Ok, I may have just introduced AUTHONOMY to you - but the fact that it shortly after announces its closure has NOTHING to do we me! I hope...
Sadly - here is the post. And all Authono-MITES are now frantically searching for a new home.
As do I.
Suggestions welcome. (I will go and cry while you read.)

Reblogged from Authonomy-Blog

A Message from Authonomy

It is with great sadness that we must announce the closure of Authonomy.

We created Authonomy in 2008 as a way of discovering new talent by throwing open our doors to unagented, aspiring writers, and asking likeminded writers and readers to help us discover and champion great work. Through Authonomy, we found fantastic authors, such as Miranda Dickinson, Steven Dunne and Kat French, and published incredible titles, such as The Qualities of Wood and Someone to Love Us.

Unfortunately in recent years publishing of titles from the site has slowed as we have opened other submissions channels, and the community has become smaller, so the decision to close Authonomy has been made.

HarperCollins remains committed to discovering new writers, and this is reflected in our dynamic, genre-focused, digital-first lists such as HarperImpulse, and our open submissions windows for innovative commercial imprints such as Voyager and The Borough Press. We would encourage the very talented members of the vibrant Authonomy community to continue to show us their work through these channels.

In the meantime, the site will remain in operation until 30th September 2015, to give you ample time to retrieve work, exchange manuscripts with your friends on the site and arrange to keep in touch.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for playing a part in the Authonomy story over seven wonderful years. We might have had the idea, but it was truly made by you and your passion for the written word.

We hope that you have gained something special from belonging to the Authonomy community, whether that is the ability to evaluate your own work more easily, new writing skills, or friendship and support from your peers. Above all, we hope you enjoyed it. We certainly did.

We very much hope this is not goodbye and that you will continue to interact with us via one of our many other routes for submissions. Until then, we wish you the very best for your future and for your writing.

The Authonomy Team

HarperCollins

Writer's Break

How a Vacation from your world will benefit you!

 or:

Why You Need to Take a Vacation from Your World

part 2 

by Emily Tjaden - reblogged from This incandescent life

I’m not talking about going out of town, but if you want to/can, that’s great. Take a real vacation, as those are exciting. But what I’m talking about is far more simplistic than that. Just take the day off. Go somewhere if you want, but the most important part is to let your mind go. Get out of your story world for the day. Don’t even think about it.
This is something we as writers often neglect. We forget the real world; the here-and-now, and get caught up in creating things that could be. And you know, it’s amazing how nothing drains the well of creativity faster than this neglect. We forget where such things come from.
“Write what you know.” You’ve heard the saying—we all have. It’s just that we all have a fairly small pool of knowledge in the grand scheme of life. And we wonder why the well runs dry? Stop swimming in the pool and dip your toe in the ocean. The fact is, inspiration, even for fantasy, comes from the real world.  It comes from life. That’s why it’s crucial to take time to experience it outside of your own world. Doing this will directly fuel your creative juices.

As writers, we pride ourselves on perception; on assertiveness, and attention to detail. Then why is it so easy to sink so deep into our own worlds that we forget to stop and look at the things around us?
Go outside today, or if you’re busy, make some time in your schedule to leave your story world behind and go on an adventure. A real one. Take a walk, or meet a friend for coffee. Experience life. Ask questions. Take time to wonder about things perhaps unrelated to your writing. Who knows? You may end up with a plethora of inspiration.

Writer's vacation: Leaving your world behind for a while!

or:

Why You Need to Take a Vacation from Your World

part 1

 

by Emily Tjaden - reblogged from This incandescent life

 

As writers and other creative types, we spend a lot of time inside our own heads. That’s where we do our best work, after all. Our minds are constantly employed; we spend copious amounts of energy pondering ideas, creating unique characters, stories, and worlds—not to mention putting it all on paper. It’s not altogether surprising that writers are often accused of “living in a fantasy world.” Let’s be honest; sometimes we kind of do.

The time we spend inside our own worlds isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s our job. The problem is, writers sometimes find it much more difficult to take time off than people who work other sorts of jobs. For many of us, writing is not only our job, it’s our obsession.

It turns out that a lot of writers are prone to be workaholics. We simply don’t know how to take time off. And I don’t just mean taking time off from sitting at our desks, staring at our blinking cursers. I mean taking a vacation from that world.
If you’re anything like me, you demand a lot from yourself. If you didn’t write a thousand words today, you’re a lazy slacker who needs to cut Pinterest from your diet for a week until you catch up and meet all your goals. (Okay, I’m not that bad, but you get the picture.) Writers—serious ones—tend to set standards and self-imposed deadlines.
There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, keeping yourself on track is important. It’s your job. But as creative types, we can be very self-critical and leave little margin in our self-imposed schedules. We make ourselves feel guilty for taking time off. We even feel guilty for wanting or needing that time—even if our creative well is running dry. Instead, we just get frustrated.
Despite the toll it takes on our energy and brainpower, it’s super easy for us to convince ourselves that we don’t actually need to take vacations; that if we just work harder, things will eventually fall together. But the fact is, you do need that time. Time away from your work—whatever it may be—will help you do better work. It’s crazy, but it’s true.