Everthing I Ever Needed to Know About Writing I Learned from "Annie"

As some of you may know, I have a daughter intested in musical theater, and it's been fun watching her perform and grow as an actress. She was recently cast as Tessie in Annie, and she just got through her first week of rehearsals. Sitting there, listening to them practice, got me thinking about how... everything I really ever needed to know about writing could be learned from Annie.

1. It's a Hard Knock Life A writer's life is not easy. Climb a mountain, slide down a hill. Rejection, rejection, rejection. Like the orphans in Annie, we have to be scrappy, tenacious people who won't let the fact we're orphans (er...un-published writers) get us down!

2. Tomorrow A writer that keeps on going is one who continues to have hope. We have to believe that the sun will come out tomorrow, and that one day, the time, sweat, and tears we spend at the computer will result in our dreams: our book being published.

3. Maybe And then, along the way, we'll get a glimmer of hope: a request for a partial, or a full, or an offer from an agent. And a little further down, we'll get that manuscript out to editors, and we'll start thinking that maybe, just maybe, that one editor will want to buy our book!

4. Easy Street After much perserverance, patience, determination, the time will come, yes it will, that all that hard work pays off. We will hold that little book in our hands, and it will feel like...

Hang in there, everyone! Have a great Monday!

Write your Passion

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." ~Robert Frost

When I was learning the craft of writing, I kept hearing how you should write what are you passionate about.  As an adoptions social worker, I am passionate about helping kids in the foster care system, kids who are available for adoption, and kids who are neglected or abused. So in hindsight, it came as no great surprise, that the first book I wrote and sought an agent for, (and the first book currently on submission) is FINDING PONY, about a teen guy and his sister who eventually get adopted.

There are over 500,000 orphans currently in the United States. Africa has the largest orphan population in the world, and with AIDS, that number is always rising. November is Adoption Awareness Month, and November 4th is Orphan Sunday. If you've always thought about fostering or adopting, think about it again. The need is so great. If you want to help but can't adopt or foster, consider volunteering, donating, or just getting involved.

They're counting on us.