#NationalAuthorsDay Hi! Here's a thread about how I love you for buying my books anywhere, but I especially love when you support independent bookstores. You can get delivery through @indiebound via a store near you. Read on for places I love around the US and beyond...

@SenatorBurr , @SenBillCassidy @SenatorCollins @lisamurkowski @MittRomney @SenSasse @SenToomey @Mike_Pence

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I have spent a long time think of this an many months writing and rewriting it I have found it very difficult to put into words my feelings about what has
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happened to the Republican Party. I will say to the chagrin of my many liberal and democratic friends that I was once a Republican. I did not change the Republican Party left me, today I don’t even recognize the Republican Party for it is truly the Party of Trump.
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It has morphed into a party that hates anyone who is not a hardcore Trumper who will not blindly devote themselves to Trump, Republican ideals be dammed.

I say to you, If you want to save the Republican Party leave it, for they have left you,
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I will say without hesitation the rank and file of the Republican Party hates you, and no sir, it is not a small minority of the Party. Let their be no doubt this is the Party of Trump

Before Trump I thought I was pretty middle of the road, a middle right American
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I support a women’s right to choose, even though it would not be my choice

Myself I am not a religious person, I consider myself Spiritual, I do believe their must be some kind of creator, what it is, is beyond my comprehension. What you believe is your right and
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I can feel it in my bones: NaNoWriMo starts soon. If you meant to do some novel planning this month but never quite got around to the planning part, here are a few questions to help you think through your story arc.

These questions are based on Hollywood screenplays, the hero’s journey, and the work of writers who are much smarter than I am—looking at you @RachaelHerron and @LaniDianeRich and @darynda. I didn’t invent any of this.

And, it's totally okay to do no outlining and just wing the whole dang thing! Or do your planning in a wildly different way. But I've found these questions useful. So.

To start, you’ll need a main character. Let’s assume your main character is an orphaned boy whose horrible extended family has forced him to live in a cupboard beneath the stairs. Question #1: What’s missing from your main character’s life?

All of us are missing something. Maybe it’s a feeling of danger or true love or a sense of higher purpose. Maybe it’s a large animatronic penguin that can dispense boba tea through its nostrils. For our orphaned boy, it’s a sense of belonging.

As we’re heading into the #PitchWars showcase and since the conversation seems abuzz...here’s a thread of questions I would recommend you ask not only potential agents during The Call, but references, and clients you reach out to personally:

1) What happens if we don’t sell this project? Are you willing to look at a pitch in the same genre?

I heard a panel recently where half the writers were dropped by their first agent after they pitched their second project. Be sure to ask around outside of the agent on this one.

2) Are you an editorial agent? Why or why not?

Meaning, will they revise the manuscript with you beforehand or just do small edits and send it off to editors. Both have their pros and cons, and one might matter to you more.

3) How many clients do you have and how do you juggle your workload with your clients?

In other words, how much time do they have to devote to you and your career. You can also ask, on average how long does it take to get a project on sub?

4) How would you describe yourself as an agent? What are some ways that others have described you as an agent?

This one I think is rarely in questions lists, but I think it’s a fun one to see how passionate an agent gets about their career.

I realized the other day I've been doing this writing thing for almost eleven years exactly.

I became a writer the day I attended my first writing class at a local night school approx. Feb 8th, 2010.

Out of curiosity, I've been looking at the numbers over my career. (1/)

Can I share those numbers? Yes.

Am I procrastinating on actual writing projects right now? Also yes. Don't tell my editors.

Let's do this! (2/)

Over eleven years I've had:

250 short story submissions*
33 original fiction publications
3 essays publications
200 rejections

*approx. number. My records pre-2013 are shaky. In 2013 I started using The Submission Grinder. I still use it. (3/)

I started writing short stories February 2010 and started submitting them in August 2010. I got my first acceptance in September to a micro-fiction magazine. Nonpaying* and now defunct.

*I didn't learn I should expect a contract for my stories until 2013. (4/)

I "sold" 8 stories to non paying magazines between September 2010 and July 2012. It made baby writer me very happy and also taught me how sloppy many of these mags were, though they meant well.

Eventually I took the advice "writers should get paid for their work!" to heart. (5/)