Importance of Writing Groups by Kiss Carson

 

Today AWR is thrilled to welcome a new author to us Kiss Carson. Kiss has been gracious enough to chat with us about the importance of writing groups.

I’m a member of a face-to-face writer’s group. It’s called Romantix ~ for lovers of reading and writing. Only half of us write romance but all of us read absolutely BUCKETLOADS! There are seven members in total and although we all lived on the north side of Brisbane at one stage, we are now scattered around Australia, sometimes the world. Skype has come in very handy during our monthly meetings, and we’ve even been reduced to typing meetings because someone’s internet was unreliable. Each one of us has a specific writing skill, be it grammar, editing, research, character development, plot development, promotion, or writing sex scenes (this topic calls for some very interesting conversation and not for public consumption. But that hasn’t stopped us on occasion). When we come together, we use these skills to help and encourage each other.

 

My Romantix girls keep me going when I’ve reached that dreaded saggy middle; they give me plot solutions; tell me if a scene is working, and are excellent pep-talkers. We celebrate every milestone and commiserate every rejection but then point out the positive side of that impersonal form letter. I guess what I’m trying to say is that without my writing group I may have stopped writing years ago.

 

When I formed Romantix about five years ago, now, I put a notice in the local library’s newspaper, posted flyers at the shopping centre, and gave the details to Romance Writers of Australia. There had to be other writers close by, and within a few weeks I was contacted by Zoe, the first member of our little group. I’d hit the jackpot with Zoe, she was -and still is - the most knowledgeable writer I know and she is also my editor. I send her my manuscripts before I send them off to the publisher. Zoe gracefully pointed out that “eyelashes don’t batter”. Ah, yes, I had my heroine battering her eyelashes. Tasty? I think not!

But most of all, our writing group is fun. Looking back, Romantix would be the best writing tool I have (apart from my brain…oh, and my computer), and my advice to novice writers would be to find yourself a writing group, maybe two or three, depending on what you want to get out of your groups. Visit your local library and ask the librarians if they know of any local writing groups and I’m sure they will steer you in the right direction. Contact your local writers’ association chapter. They’ll be able to help you, too. Or, create your own. Surround yourself with a network of writers, experienced and beginners, online and face-to-face. Someone is bound to have an answer to that 3am question that won’t let you sleep, and if you’re really lucky you’ll make some life-long friends.

 

To the wonderful girls of Romantix. I dedicate every word I write to you.

 

Kiss Carson

My blog page is www.kisscarson.blogspot.com

Twitter - @kisscarson

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kiss-Carson-Romance-Writer/276144898615 or Kiss Carson

FAIRVIEW

BY

KISS CARSON

 

The idea of a murder mystery party is simple. Someone pretends to die. The guests solve the murder. Simple. But when Marina Cornell is invited to Fairview House by her brother, solving the murder becomes a lot harder than she expected, especially because she is so easily distracted by Jackson Bradley, the gorgeous owner of the estate.

 

Cast as the nanny to watch over Jackson’s younger sisters, Marina is told blood-chilling stories of suspected murder and abandoned children, and it becomes quickly apparent that something isn’t right about the Bradley family. Or the house. One by one, the Bradley siblings are found dead and Marina finds her perception of real and make-believe distorted. Someone really is killing Jackson’s family, but the murderer is the one person she never expects and in the end, she must rely on more than love to save her life.