Who In The World

"Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness, but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day." ~ Ernest Hemingway

Don't listen to him. Remember that Hemingway took his own life. Trust me: a writer can palliate her loneliness and feel just fine about it.

I remember too well how it felt, in those noble, lonely days. I had a few encouragers, but they faced formidable foes, both inside and outside my skin.

You've heard the inner voices: "Look at your work: it's amateur stuff. Why waste your time on it when you could do something useful? Something profitable? Something practical? Something normal? 

Then there are the outer voices, notable not so much for what they say but for the way they say it. I remember telling people I wanted to be a writer, and they'd get this wonky look on their faces and say, "oh, really?"

To be fair: those folks may have been giving me encouraging looks. Perhaps it was those voices, those endless voices in my head that turned the whole thing ugly.

But it was ugly. I faced eternity, or the lack of it, each day. And nothing got written.

Then I met a miracle: one dear friend who talked about literature and thought as though they were the most important things to talk about. One day I ventured six timid words: "I want to be a writer." She took me seriously, urged me to attend my first writers conference, walked with me my first steps toward publication, and dear writer friends - toward you.

And what is the good of writer friends? Please take out your Bibles, and turn to Hebrews 10:24: "Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works..."

That's what we're here for, all of us friends. To urge one another on to good writing. To provoke each other to love for our readers, for our craft, for the God we write for.

For further reading: Garrison Keillor has a great page about famous literary friendships.

Making Friends, Building Community at Mount Hermon

Our Novel Matters group went to Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference, and it was incredible. For all of us it was a wonderful chance to sit with people we didn't know at mealtimes and serve and minister to those who are not as far along in the publishing journey as we are blessed to be.  We attended eye-opening classes about the intricacies of this brave new world of publishing --  a world that has changed radically just in the past year. 

Then, in the evenings, we reveled in each others' company -- what a unique group of women I am privileged to know.  One of the greatest treasures of my life are the women whose writing talent takes my breath away.  And since Katy and Sharon won the Mount Hermon Writer of the Year awards, four of the six of us are award-winning authors now!

And, because I am a total technoidiot and cannot put my picture and post at the end of this blogpost, I have moved myself to the top.  I certainly don't deserve to be here other than to demonstrate that I have not yet learned to post last.  

Greetings from not-so-sunny California. Brr! I'm exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. You'll understand after you read the following round table blog. The six Novel Matters gals just spent five days together for the very first time. Here are our reactions.

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Women get to know each other by telling stories.

Stories about home, hearth, and vocation.
Stories that send us running to empty our bladders.
Stories that crush our hearts.
Stories that tell us we are not alone.

We sacrifice sleep, but not chocolate, to tell our stories, sometimes with threads that weave together and some that embellish with startling clarity.

For the last five days, the Novel Matters girls--all six of us!--have been together at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, talking, talking, and more talking. Even though I was assigned to the early-to-bed cabin of the two we occupied, getting to know these ladies proved irresistible. Sleep will happen when I arrive home today. Sitting here with bags under my eyes as big as duffel bags, I don't regret a moment.

Before spending this time together, from my point of view, a newcomer, we were a collection of writers working for a common cause--the growth of upmarket and/or literary fiction in the CBA market. Each woman had become dear for what they offered and the talents they so graciously shared.

Now I have sisters.

They know things about me. I know things about them. And I love them. I ache for their company. I can't wait to be with them again.

We are a community.

~

Sharon here, and Patti's absolutely right. We had the most amazing, amazing time at Mount Hermon this year. There aren't enough superlatives to describe how much fun we had. Since October, when we came together to discuss the possibility of a doing a blog together -- even though some of us had never met -- a friendship has developed, first at the Books & Such retreat in the fall, then through conference calls putting together our ideas for the blog, and then through the fellowship of writing our posts.

~

But nothing, nothing, could top the 5 days we just spent together. I didn't know it was possible to laugh as much as we laughed -- truly, until it hurt -- and to go from acquaintances to close friends in such a short period of time. Most of us got by on about 5-6 hours sleep a night in order to spend as much time together as possible. There were many highlights at the conference, but nothing topped the sheer pleasure the 6 of us packed into our time together. My favorite part was the evening we spent reading our works in progress to each other. My cohorts are incredibly talented women and I'm honored to be associated with them, no longer just as a colleague, but as a sister-friend. I can't wait till we're together again!

This past week has been pure joy. I've known for some time what great company I've happened into, what intelligent, talented women I've found to be my friends and partners on this blog. But now I know so much more.

Such as:

If we ever get in serious trouble, it will be Bonnie's fault.

If we ever get in serious trouble, Latayne is smart enough to get us out.

Patti can make anybody laugh any time without saying a word.

If you ever want to keep a secret, Debbie is the one to tell. Because she was the only one of us who knew ahead of time that Sharon and I would be co-winners of the Steve Laube Agency Writer of the Year Award at Mount Hermon.

That was my favorite moment.
~
They say it takes great intelligence to play the clown. If this is true, then the Novel Matters women must be geniuses. Yes we laughed until we nearly lost consciousness. I might have blacked out once or twice - it's hard to say.
Several things hit home for me this week: Writing is not a competition, but a complication. None of us, not one, should believe that writing must be a solitary pursuit. And, when allowed to soar untethered, the imagination has no boundary.

This past week, I've looked into the eyes of my sister writers and saw there the same creative energy burning unhindered that I feel inside of me. And none of us expresses it in the same way. Katy meanders, unhurried, refusing to bend to the madding crowd - she teaches us to insist on the contemplative, to embrace its fragile arms. Sharon sings songs to our souls, offering healing and truth without reservation - she holds our bruised hands and hums the anthems of hope. Latayne pulls us out of time and space and surrounds us with vivid worlds inspiring us toward knowledge while simultaneously enthralling. Debbie weaves the stories of relationships, leads us into a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world because of who we are and how we treat each other. Patti plants seeds of joy, contemplation and restoration in our minds, nudging us toward embracing our whole lives and all it brings - even when we don't understand it all.

And me? Well, I hope to be an arm around the shoulder, a voice that says, "I understand". A friend for a stretch of your journey.

When all six of us gathered together - in unision with all the others who attended Mount Hermon, we found our strengths made stronger, and our weaknesses diminished in light of true community.

It's a joy to know that this wonderful community not only continues on Novel Matters, but expands daily to include you.


All I can say is "Wow!" What a great time at Mount Hermon. If you've never been, I strongly urge you to make it a priority next year and do everything you can to make it happen. I'm a bit sleep deprived, but filled to the brim and sloshing with renewed energy and inspiration. Not only did I get to deepen relationships with my fellow Novel Matters bloggers, I reconnected with other writers and extended my circle of friends and acquaintances within the writing community. It's wonderful to be able to sit down in a casual environment with an author, editor or agent and see who they are when their author/editor/agent hats sit askewed. We all share the same hopes, fears and dreams, and trust the same Savior to work out His perfect plans in us.

Congratulations to Sharon and Katy for winning the "Writer of the Year" award! It was only fitting that these two friends who met at the same Mount Hermon writing clinic and spurred each other toward excellence should win it together.