The Introduction Thread

[Mira]

Welcome, Nicholas! Glad you're here, and good luck with school.

And I think history has proven that many young writers are extremely talented.

[writersink]

Nice to meet you Nicholas. Just so you know, I'm a student too. We're great writers! (Maybe. A little.)

[Bobcgirl8]

Hi! My name is Rebecca.

I recently finished my first novel, and am starting the hunt for an agent. I write fantasy, generally for adults, and have an entire series planned out. The first book, STARKIN LOST, will be the first of a trilogy, followed by other trilogies that will all be interconnected.

It is a scary world out there for beginning writers like me. I could use all the advice and support you are willing to give

Good luck to everyone else as well. I look forward to getting to know you all through your queries and such.

Sincerely,

Bobcgirl8

[windycacket]

Hello Everyone!
I have always been scribbling something, most often on something other than conventional paper. A napkin, a candy bar wrapper, the palm of my hand. I have been a blogger for a number of years, starting with the digital chronicles of my art, and now I have another blog that I started to keep track of ideas and various 'omg that would be such a cool thing to write about' moments. November 2011 marked my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, and I reached my goal, and upon finishing the really-oh-so-rough novel, I found myself wanting to do more with it. And so, I am doing the work that I hope will lead to getting my story out there.

I look forward to walking the hallways here and getting to know you all!

cari, aka windycacket

[Mira]

Hi Rebecca! Hi Windy!

Welcome! Pull up a chair and get comfy.

[rathrift]

Hi all,

I'm Richard and I'm an emerging author. I've finished the first draft of my book, The Rails of Canaan Heights, a paranormal mystery. With all the changes in the publishing world, I'm both scared and excited. I know I'm no Hemingway or Steinbeck in quality, but I love my characters and have enjoyed the process of watching them get into trouble and out of it again. I'm looking forward to contributing to the forum and hope the wise and experienced among us can offer me and others helpful critiques and mentoring.

Ciao!

[QueenViv]

Hi, guys

my name is Vivian and I've been writing for most of my life. After college, I decided to get myself out there and try to find an agent. But first, I had to overcome one small problem: how do you write a novel? Yep! I started with poetry as a kid and moved to short stories as a teen but I spent years writing screenplays (I actually majored in film). So, I wrote the first manuscript. Let's just say I'm happy my computer fried during a blackout. Then, I wrote the second... which is good in theory... but it only took me some 90k words - and about 25 rejections from agents - to figure out what was wrong with it.

Now I think I have a solid book. I'm really proud of this one and I've put all the hard work (and the several "how to" books I read) to good use. The last 3 years have been a bitch, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I feel like I've gone through college all over again - but in a good way.

The only problem now is getting the perfect query. If only there was a basic formula... or if agents agreed on what they want to see in one.

Well, that's it. I'm Vivian. I'll be around.

[G B Miller]

Greetings everyone!

Allow me to introduce myself, my pen name is G. B. Miller and this is my first commerical foray into publishing. I've done the self-publishing thing previously, but I found that in order to succeed in self publishing, you really need to have a solid background of writing credits.

I've only been writing for a very short time (about 6 years) but only recently decided to get serious about it in early 2010. I have two short stories published ('09 & '11) and recently sold my adult fantasy "Line 21" to Solstice Publishing in February of this year. At the moment, I'm in the queue for an editor but I do have the cover done, which is my avatar.

I'm looking forward to picking everyone's collective brain here in the coming months and I appreciate the opportunity that this forum is presenting to me.

[dios4vida]

Wow, so many new faces around here! Welcome, everyone, and make yourselves at home!

For those who mentioned being young and/or new to this whole writing thing, don't be intimidated! We have a lot of folks around here who are still teens or early twenties, and an equal number of those who are still on their very first novel. We all started there, so even the veterans around here know what it's like to be in your place. Feel free to ask any questions you have, even if you feel they're dumb/ridiculous/been asked before. We don't bite, I promise!!

Looking forward to seeing y'all around the forums!

[cozycoleman]

Hello,
I'm Sharon

I'm an artist with a home based business, I also homeschool my 4 kids, so I can be a bit sporadic on the computer. I do most of my writing the old fashioned way (remember pens and paper?)

I likely won't post much or come back much as I tend to be rather hit and run in forums. It is a failing of mine.

I am working on an autobiographical novel at the moment with about 30,000 in a week! (I decided the brain dump had to happen if I was to move on to other things.) And then all the air left the balloon. The problem is, I'm a bit stuck. And the stickiness always makes me want to switch gear.

I have about 30,000 words down on this one, and about 20,000 on another novel, a sci-fi fantasy based with a workable plot line.

Both of these are my first attempts and I'm wondering if I shouldn't just give up, because apparently I can start a book, but not go any further. Oh, and in re-reading my autobiographical novel I discovered that, while I do have 30,000 words, probably half of those should be kept and the other half elaborated on.

I am British and American, so you can read this with whichever accent you prefer

Any suggestions. Is there a thread for being stuck?

Thanks,
Sharon

[ebook-translations]

Hello everybody, my name is Juergen from Germany. I am not a writer (at least not a very good one;-) but I own a publishing and translation agency. We are only doing translations from English to German and have specialized on fiction. With the rise of self-publishing the demand for affordable and good translations has grown substantially in the past months and we are trying to offer our clients the chance to get their work on the international radar. If you are interested in what we can do for you, visit us at http://www.ebook-translations.de. Best regards, Juergen.

[writersink]

Any suggestions. Is there a thread for being stuck?

Thanks,
Sharon

Welcome Sharon! There is a thread for posting about writing, where you can post that you are stuck. Or, if you prefer being stuck, there are a variety of threads to choose from, including the procrastination thread

[Graeme o'Winnipeg]

Hi all,

My name is Graeme. I have dabbled with prose for most of my life, but only recently have gotten into the online community. It was Craig (first post on this thread) who introduced me here. You can read more about what I do on my website (signature below). I am looking forward to reading your comments and posts and getting to know you all.
Cheers!

Graeme

[writersink]

Welcome Cillian and Graeme! Make yourselves comfortable

[Cameron D James]

Hey all,

I'm a bit of a lurker and thought it was time I officially joined.

My first love is writing science-fiction, but I've taken a bit of a detour lately. I sort of stumbled into the M/M erotic romance sub-genre and am giving it a solid try. I don't know if there are any other writers of this genre here, but that doesn't matter so much -- writing questions and discussions are often genre-less (unless it delves into the specifics of a genre).

I'm approaching writing this genre a bit differently, too, in that I'm attempting to create a platform on tumblr and twitter (and might set up facebook soon) -- so I have at least some sort of web presence. I figure this new genre is primarily based on ebook sales and word of mouth, so being present on the internet is probably a good thing (and so I look forward to exploring the social media board on this site).

Anyway, I'll pop in now and then and maybe we'll get to know each other!