I could have some growing up to do

As part of this writing adventure this year, I made it one of my goals to find and join a writer’s group. Naturally, I went online to see what I could find. To my surprise, an online writing group popped up right away. They chat online and then meet at the nearby Borders store about once a month to share and critique each other’s work. I happen to work in that particular Borders store, as they carry our cards. Traveling back in my mind, I remembered seeing a group of people there a few times chatting intelligently in a circle of black leather chairs. Ah, that must’ve been the writing group listed here.

While I felt pretty nervous about joining the group, I pushed past it, knowing that this situation presented just another hurdle for me to clear. So I sent the email to join, was accepted as part of the group, and started receiving the messages from members.

Each week the moderator asks the members to provide an update of what they are working on, and how it is going. The emails flooded in. One stated he was still just posting on his blog and left the address for others to reference. I followed the link and found a somewhat cryptic short story that jogged back and forth in a manner I couldn’t seem to follow. A female member stated she completed another chapter in her book. She stated she would bring it to the next meeting to workshop. Another member shared that she may have finally secured an agent to market her book.
Wow! Excitement and intimidation surged through me. One of them has an agent huh, cool. I read on, “We’ll see though, I’ve been burned before. Not many agents are willing to take on gay erotica when it comes down to signing on the dotted line.”
Gay erotica? Mmmm, this was a little hick-up in my brewing anticipation. Is that a new genre? Suddenly I morphed into a 12 year old, blushing at the mention of sex, not to mention gay sex or worse erotica? How is that different exactly? Ok, so how immature am I? I scolded myself. Yet, I couldn’t help thinking of this woman bringing her newest chapter to Borders and reading it aloud for us, and then trying to critique it. I envisioned my crimson face and neck giving me away as a totally un-evolved person and writer. She must be a really great writer if she is working with agents and that only heightened my anxiety.

So, I unsubscribed to that group. I guess I have to take things a little bit at a time. I did become a member of a writer’s group/community in downtown Indy. It is called The Writing Center. I take my first workshop there on Monday night. The class is called, “Getting Started.” I can handle that one. Maybe in a couple of months I will have gained some maturity and courage to expose myself to genres and styles way outside my realm. Then you may hear me say, “Gay erotica? Oh yes, it is quite the expansive genre. .. really empowering material…” Or something along those lines, so get ready.