Well thank you Evie! I get that crap ALL THE TIME from members of my family. Things like, "oh I started to call you the other day but I knew you would be ON THE COMPUTER (heavy emphasis on the last three words). Or my son, the Tom cat, will come home after days of stuff I don't want to know about and when he sees me sitting there reading he'll say, "What? Do you have a fever? You're not on the computer! Is it broken?"

Every one comments on the amount of time I spend on the computer but EVERY SINGLE PERSON that calls me, or would, knows my cell number and that it's on and laying beside me while I work. They are also the FIRST ONES to say, "when you do you have something new coming out?"

If I ever comment back to them and say "well, I tried calling you but as usual, you were at the mall" then they say, but that's different. HUH?

Everyone in my family does this with the exception of my oldest son. He thinks I can do no wrong. Bless his heart....

JJ

Okay Okay, I already promised not to dye his undies pink! But to be honest I have to wait awhile for the bear hug, because TA DA the girlfriend is here! (He'd kill me!)(she's pretty too, he's got good taste)
And you know that means her parents will have to come and get her later and they might even come in to meet me, and ...... OH BOY! Could you people see me at something like a book signing? I'm such a mess!

TVC, I love you for being so honest.

First, your son's adorable to talk about you with his friends. I love it!

I'm a firm believer in the Lord working in mysterious ways. If I recall you are new to the area. This is a wonderful opportunity to network in your new profession. It's perfect. The Lord is opening a door for you. All you need to do is walk through it with confidence. You march right to that meeting/club and take pride in yourself. Believe in yourself. Be true to yourself and you don't worry about any little thing!

Be sure to come here before your meeting and we'll build you up and make you feel like the writer you are.

I can't wait for the day when you blab to your new friends about how scared you were to meet them.

I think this is God at work. Go for it. Open yourself up. Put yourself out there. Who knows what God has in store for you as a writer! I can't wait to hear about it!

Bless your heart Dotsie!
And thank you all for the vote of confidence.
I'll give it my best shot.

There is so much more to this writing than meets the eye. I mean I used to be a pharmacy tech before we moved and I never even thought about people questioning , how good a pharmacy tech I was. I just did my job and forgot about it. I didn't feel inferior to the other techs. I have to learn to adapt that attitude to my writing.

I made business cards for my writing group and we got in a semantics discussion of that whole subject a while back.

The ones who had published, I identified as "Author." Those who had not YET published, I identified as "Writer." I struggled with that and even did some research to determine those titles.
Seems to me you have a right to identify yourself as both a writer because you write, and an author because your work (even if it is only one essay) has been published.
So I say ENJOY!!
smile

That is very interesting Smile, I never even thought about the differences before.

I'm late joining in here but GO GIRL GO! I am positive you will have FUN with this whole thing and by all means - what everyone else has said here is totally true....you ARE an Author and that's an accomplishment to be mighty darned proud of. Now of course you will have to tell us all the details after this "meeting" occurs!

Wow, what a post this was. The information given is so good and should be adhered to. I have nothing new to add except that when given such an opportunity grab it, hold on tight and hopefully it'll be the ride of a lifetime. Go get em Robin..&..God Bless that wonderful son of yours too....

You tickled me with your post. My son did the same thing - telling people, "My Mom is a writer." But mostly he brags, "My Mom is a Children's writer." Seems he got impressed when I had a children's poem published! The inspirational writing doesn't count?! *g*

He's 22, and helps me by letting me run my poetry past him, so I think he feels a part of it. Which I love!

I believe a big part of it is your mindset. Once I wrapped my mind around the idea of being a writer, I jumped in with both feet.

That's interesting about the difference between 'writer' and 'author.' So does it matter what you've had published? Poem? Article? Book? I usually think of 'authors' as writers who've had books published. Does it matter if you were paid?

Can't wait to hear about how much you've learned in the near future with your new contacts!

Donna

TV- in answer to your dilemma I will drop in here the end part of a story I wrote about my writing.


"Now, I finally feel like a writer. The funny thing is, I was a writer all along, but didn’t realize it.
Writing is being a writer. Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, essays, journals, memoirs, poetry, for profit or for your own pleasure, if you are writing, you’re a writer. You can do the grammar checks, the spelling, and the tweaking that perfects it and makes it ready for publication later. Your best work will come from the re-writing. Payment for our work is ideal, but money is not what makes us writers. It is how writers make a living from their craft.
Writing comes from within us. Getting the words out and expressing our thoughts through our written words is truly what makes us writers."

So, you are a writer.

Hope it helps.
Louisa