What did I wish I’d known at the beginning of this journey? Where to start? There is so much that I’ve learned over the years and I wish I’d had someplace like the Romance University to go to. Now? While I’m nowhere near being an expert, I’m comfortable that I know the necessary basics and will continue to pick up new information.

Thanx for joining us here at MM, Adrienne. Sorry I’m so late in chiming in. It’s that busy, busy, busy work/writing scheduling that keeps me running late.

Hmmm…we’ll have to get to work on this one!

I think one thing writers are often unprepared for (certainly true for me!) when they transition from aspiring to published is the new relationship a debut novelist has with “the public.” It’s not a “fame” thing so much as a “boundary” thing. You become more visible in every way (in person, online, etc.) while, at the same time, needing to re-draw lines between yourself and some others in order to protect your privacy and your writing time. I think some of those Realities of a Writer’s Life would make interesting future lectures.

Thanks to the MM gang for another great guest!!

Some of the agent interviews we’ve had are the ONLY interview that agent has ever given, and we get enormous traffic to our site just from that alone. It is fun thinking of new ways to make things better, and Adrienne you are so right, the right people are absolutely essential.

Dealing with Edie, LaDonna and Liz is a pleasure and we are now friends for life. At Dallas, like Edie, people stopped me to say they knew me from MM. That was the biggest compliment ever.

Edie, that is wonderful about the agent linking to Magical. I’m not sure there is a better form of flattery.

Now I’m wondering about Adrienne’s Thursday night activity. lol

I never really knew what “labor of love” meant until RU. I LOVE everything about it. Are there hard parts? Yep. But there are far, far more good parts.

Plus, I get to act as a referee when my blogmates are acting up! Highly entertaining.

I can’t wait until Nationals. We’re really looking forward to connecting with our Visiting Professors. They’re are amazing.

Like Kels said, we love our readers too. They keep us motivated.

Kels, don’t forget I inspired Adrienne’s Thursday night activity this week.

Hugs, Tracey

People know us! LOL When I was at the RWA conference in Dallas a couple years ago, people would stop me and say they knew me from Magical. It’s given me a presence on the Internet. And I would never have written so many blogs without Magical. It’s given me confidence.

We’ve also contacted agents and editors to be our guest bloggers. I was doing researching agents on Agent Query last fall, and one of the agents linked to her blog with us. That was cool. And not only agents, but writers too. From best-sellers to non-published writers, they’ve all had something interesting to say.

It does take work. We do book reviews on Saturdays and on Sunday the “week ahead,” about that week’s guest blogger. But in the end it’s well worth it.

Off to my Thursday evening activities – LOL.

Kels

Although, that Kelsey, she has a smart mouth!