Toss Around Thursday - First Readers

I've had some goals to meet this week, and they've kept me busy! The wip is so close now. I've read through it start to finish, making edits as I go. After a short blogging/getting kids off to school/grocery shopping break, I'm going to go through it one more time (hopefully much more quickly this time!) before dropping it in the laps of my first line of beta readers: my mom, my dad, and my husband.

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I know what you may well be thinking: Not such a good idea to depend on family critiques of my work. Well, my poor husband is being forced to read it for technical content. This wip includes guns and knives and cars. While he's not really an expert either, he knows a lot more about them than I do. He probably won't have much to say about the writing or the story itself.

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My mom and dad, however, can and do provide invaluable feedback. My mom reads more books in a month that I probably read in a year, so she knows a great deal about what constitutes good writing. And she's not afraid to be brutally honest. She's one of my biggest supporters, and she's realistic enough to know I need honesty, not an ego boost. She also knows she won't hurt my feelings. I've learned from past experience that I don't have to take every piece of advice I'm given, and that the critiques I do receive are a gift, not a personal assault (I suppose sometimes they may be, but I've never received one of those - thank goodness!)

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Late as always, I missed doing a Mother's Day post, but I've included a picture of my mom with me and two of my three sisters above. Can you guess which one is me? Happy Belated Mother's Day, Mom! And thanks for all your love and support over the years.

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So what I'd like to toss around today is this: who are your first round critiquers? And do you ask your family to read and/or critique your work?

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I know I haven't been around much this week, not posting or commenting nearly as much as I'd like. I even considered taking another blogcation, but I honestly miss you guys too much so I didn't want to do that unless I had to. But with a little luck and a lot of hard work, I should be able to get enough done today to spend some time in the blogosphere tonight.

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And don't forget to enter T.J.'s Famous Friday Contest! I probably won't be entering this week (I don't have much creative energy left after a week of heavy editing), but I'm looking forward to reading/watching the other entries! Especially because Jen over at unedited says she made a video and it has my name in it. Eek - I hope that's a good thing! :)

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Late Breaking News: I just signed up for the Let's Talk Blogfest over at Fiction Groupie. On May 18 post a short excerpt of your favorite dialogue scene. Roni's even giving away a $10 Amazon gift card. I hope to see you there!

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P.S. Does anyone else have trouble getting line breaks in between paragraphs in Blogger? I had to put those asterisks between my paragraphs because it wasn't recognizing my line breaks and ran everything together. Are there any tricks to that I should know about?

Writing Buddies

This seems like a good time to talk about writing buddies. I've been blessed with an awesome group of writer friends that I met in July, 2008 at the Highlights Foundation Writer's Workshop at Chautauqua. We call ourselves the Wad. Don't ask me why, it's a name Rhonda came up with, I think. That should tell you something about Rhonda.

Anyway, there have been some big events for the Wad lately. In March, Amy won the Grand Prize in PM Moon Publisher's First Annual New Authors Writing Contest. Her book, The Invisible Sister, is scheduled for release in September 2010. You can check out her blog at http://www.lux-st-clare.blogspot.com/.

This week Tess announced the sale of her first book, With a Name Like Love, scheduled for fall, 2011. Congratulations, Tess - you must still be walking on air! You can check out Tess's blog at http://www.tesshilmo.blogspot.com/.

And today is Sharon's birthday! You can hop over to Sharon's blog and wish her a happy birthday at http://www.skmayhew.blogspot.com/. While you're there, enter Sharon's Three Wishes contest for a chance to win a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card. But you'd better hurry, her contest ends Dec. 10.

I'd love to send you to Heidi's flickr page, but I have no idea how to link to flickr. Sorry, Heidi! And Rhonda, Kim, and Diana, you're just going to have to jump on the bandwagon and start your own blogs so I can link to you, too.

Writing is a solitary pursuit, involving long hours spent alone, unless you count the people in your head, of which we writers usually have an ample supply. Friends of the living, breathing variety are a welcome change. They offer advice, support, critiques, a shoulder to cry on, and a laugh when you need it most. Thanks girls, and congratulations on all your successes!

Your turn: Do you have a critique group or other group of friends that share a common interest?

Until next Sunday, happy writing, and may your coffee pot never run dry.