Do You Belong to a Critique Group?

Last Saturday, Cathy Maxwell, New York Times bestselling historical romance author, was luncheon speaker at a writer's conference in Virginia Beach. The importance of critique groups to Cathy's career stood out for me during her talk.

When Cathy joined Virginia Romance Writers she had recently developed a dream to become a published author, but she hadn't written anything. She did, however, become a part of a critique group. She then brought in other aspiring writers to that group, including Mary Burton, now another New York Times bestselling author, who hadn't yet written anything at the time. They, along with several other writers she named, read each others work, passing manuscript pages to each other often while working at their day jobs.

The critique groups worked for them. They supported each other and obviously became successful writers.

Soon after I started writing fiction, my instructor at the community college where I was taking a writing class formed a critique group with some of her students and I was part of it. We read each others work and learned a great deal in the process. Unlike Cathy and Mary, we were not all romance writers. Several people wrote non-fiction and later had successful books published. None were New York Times bestsellers.

Do you belong to a critique group? I know a lot of people who believe their successful writing careers began there!

For the Love of Writing - A Conference at Virginia Beach

For the Love of Writing, a Conference at Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center gets under way Thursday evening with an opening reception. Lots of fun and learning for those attending. Keynote speakers will be Barbara Samuel and Cathy Maxwell. Editors and agents will be there to take appointments with attendees.

On Saturday at 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., I'll present a workshop: "Writing Fiction and Non-Fiction, How to Do Both." The event is sponsored by Virginia Romance Writers.

Exciting news for Notes Along the Way! This blog won first place in the 2012 Virginia Press Women's Communication Contest for Blogs: Special Interest Sites. The two posts entered were: "Women's History Month - What Woman Most Influenced Your Writing," March 25, 2011 and "My Three Best Hotels of 2011." The entry will now go to the 2012 National Federation of Press Women's Communication Contest for judging.

Hang on to Your Dreams and Write, Write, Write

"Veil of Dreams" (detail) MM Sikes

If you have a dream, hold on to it and write, write, write. I recently read an article about best-selling author Cathy Maxwell, and it made me remember how important it is to hang onto your dreams, especially if you are a writer.

I've known Cathy for over 20 years, from the time before she was a published author. She joined Virginia Romance Writers a few years after it was founded and soon undertook the role of a vivacious leader in the organization.Cathy has an amazing smile, and long after she leaves a room you remember her smile. That beautiful, happy attitude has helped Cathy become and remain an outstanding, successful author in historical romance. The article I read said that it took Cathy two years to sell the first novel she wrote. She now has 22 published novels and has been part of five anthologies.

Cathy had a dream, and despite adversity when she lost her husband in a tragic accident, she hung on and continued to write. Romance novels account for nearly 50% of mass market paperback sales. Her books are part of that popular market.

But you don't have to be a romance writer to be a selling author. If you dream about writing mystery or even non-fiction paranormal books, hang on to those dreams and keep writing. Write, write, write until you sell. That is a real key to success.