Being a Newbie

I don't know what to call myself anymore. I mean, I am a writer, Davin said so, I finished a book, Janet seconded it, so what does that make me? Am I still a newbie, green around the edges? Or am I a seasoned writer?

I finished a ms. and revised it. I researched agents for my genre, did my homework, really a lot of homework. I wrote a query letter, polished it, sent it out individually. NOT multiple submissions. I waited and waited, the rejections came in. I am now working on my second ms. in that particular series and have also been working on a YA just because it's sort of fun and not like anything I've tried to write before. (I feel if I write out of genre for awhile, I can get back into my own with a cleaner eye.) I helped a friend with a ms. She liked my suggestions. I've done some stuff on the blogosphere. Kind of critiques but not, you know. I've read almost everything I can get my hands on. And then some.

So with all this work done, one book down, however many more to go, does that make me a seasoned writer, or still just a newbie? Is there a time frame on Newbie-ism? I'm not sure. I feel like a veteran writer. I feel like I've spent the quota of sleepless nights wondering about chapters and missing elements, I feel like I've postponed dinner the requisite number of times so that my daughter and the dogs have ganged up on me. I feel like I've been rude enough to my mother when she calls and I let the machine get it because I'm "working" and she knows I'm home. Does that make me a seasoned writing professional?

Or do I have to get "the call" before I can let go of my newbie status? How many books do I have to write before I can stick a cigar in my mouth and grumble about damn typewriter ribbons and damn postage and damn character evolution (channeling Hem here). Or can I just say, I'm as smart as the rest of the people I meet on the blogosphere and say with confidence, I am a writer, seasoned, like a steak.

What to do when not writing

I found a very interesting thread on Romance University yesterday from a Kensington editor named Leah who said you must develop a web presence. Which is why I have this blog. She also said it might be a good idea to comment on other people's blogs to show you're an informed and intellectual person. Which I have done, but I also know I have annoyed more people than showed my intellectual side. Not because I'm stupid but because I'm always there.

Unfortunately where I live has a lot to do with my web presence. I have no critique group. I have no friends. I have no beta-reader. I live a very spartan existence with my munchkin in a very, I mean very small town. When we first moved here I asked the local librarian if she could recommend a reading group to join, she said, "What is that honey?" Obviously I am in the wrong place. But I can't leave, I'm here for my parents. It's very frustrating.

I'm not saying I'm an intellectual snob but you know what, I am. I'll freely admit it. I've read tons of books and own tons of books and borrow tons of books from the library. I put myself through college, and most of the people in this town didn't even get through 7th grade. They worked in the tobacco fields. The women my age and younger are GRANDMOTHERS. They had their children when they were 14, 15, 16. Scary. Some of them have been married 3 & 4 times. And these are the women my age. Mommies at my daughter's preschool are spitting out kids left and right. Women not even 30 have 4 kids already.

Now please, I'm not saying this is wrong, believe me if I were just a few years younger I'd have another child in a New York minute...I'm just saying, good God, get an education, do something with your life, get out of this one horse, and I literally mean one horse town, go somewhere else even if it's just for a weekend. Even if it's just to Raleigh. Get some outside experience and know that babies and tobacco aren't all there is.

To me, there is nothing worse than a woman who is not self-actualized. Even if you try it and find you don't like it, at least you tried it. I read Kiirkegard and didn't understand a damn thing he said, but at least I tried.

So I hope dear reader, now you know why I have this blog and make my pain in the ass presence known on other blogs. I have no one to talk to. I have no one who understands me or even can 'get' what a query is, never mind a logline or a pitch. Forget about Kiirkegard.