The 100 Rejection Club Or How Writers Find a Support System By Connie Vines

 The old adage among serious writers is to aim for 100 rejections every year.

While I never garnered close to 100 rejections, I've spent my fair share of time on the revision marry-go-round.

At the start of my career, I wrote for magazine publications. While I published half a dozen romantic short stories, my primary focus was the children and young adult market.  

This consisted of historical events/famous people, craft projects/historical cooking and recipes, spooky Halloween stories, etc. Since both sides of my family had a strong oral history and many photos, making history fun was relatively easy for me.

Writing full-length fiction novels requires an almost hermit-like existence. When I was working in the education field, I wrote at night and Saturday afternoons.  

So, since I'm now a professional writer/full-time hermit, where is my support system?

I belong to several well-known writers' groups as a virtual member.

I log onto Zoom two mornings each week with half a dozen authors, all with our cameras off and mic on mute. 

We log on, say hello and a few words of encouragement, then go into dark mode for 4 hours of dedicated writing time. We check in at the end with a wrap-up of what we worked on, but we also just say goodbye until the next day/next week. It's a no-pressure way to socialize and get some writing done. 

The point is that we all need tools and mutual support to keep us motivated and on track.

Not everyone needs this, but I know I do.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Happy Reading :)

Connie

For my books, website, and more:

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

https://connievines-author.com/  (blog link is here, too)

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/vinesbwl

National Native American/First Peoples Heritage Month. By Connie Vines #Crazy Horse #Crazy Horse Memorial #Oglala Lakota

 

Crazy Horse Monument 

Sixteen miles from Mt. Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial.

© All photos are from my son's personal collection. I have permission to post on this site.

The mountain monument is under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land.

3-dimensional depiction of the completed monument

A guide to turning a mount into a monument

Crazy Horse Memorial is being sculpted on Thunderhead Mountain.

Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began the project in 1948. "He believed you can do anything in this world. Nothing is impossible as long as you're willing to work hard enough and pay the price." 

Crazy Horse Memorial honors all indigenous people of North America. This a reminder of the importance of reconciliation, respecting differences, embracing diversity, striving for unity, and appreciating life's deeper meaning as it has always been represented in Native American cultural values.

A glimpse of the sky and the Black Hills

Photos of work in progress

My youngest son has carried on the family road trip tradition. He and his son visited Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Crazy Horse monument this Thanksgiving week. 

My grandson's reaction is an assurance another generation will visit and honor the ways of The First People.

Interesting facts:

Crazy Horse Memorial is the world's largest Mountain Carving in progress.

Korczak Ziolkowski married Ruth Ross on Thanksgiving Day, 1950.

Korczak and Ruth had 10 children, five girls and five boys.

3 of the 10 children and 3 grandchildren still work at the Memorial.

Crazy Horse was never photographed.

The likeness created was developed by descriptions from survivors of the Battle of Little Bighorn and other contemporaries of Crazy Horse.

The dimensions are staggering:

563 by 641-foot sculpture-in-the-round is known as Crazy Horse Memorial. The immense work is as long as a cruise ship and taller than a 60-story skyscraper.

If you enjoyed my Blog post, please consider adding my novel "Tanayia: Whisper upon the Water to your "books to be read" collection.

Happy Reading, 

Connie

XOXO

Connie Vines

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

Connie's Blog

Connie's website

My social media links are available on my blog and website.

Writing During Vampire Hours -- Secrets Writers Keep By Connie Vines #Writing Tips, #NightOwls, #Cowboys, #Western Romance, #Fantasy

⏰🦇🌙 

Vampire Hours?

According to the Urban Dictionary:

When someone keeps vampire hours, they are awake all night and sleep all day. They are unreachable by phone, text, or social media during daylight hours when the rest of their friends are up.

While I do not sleep all day...  

"I don't 'rise' from my bed at sunrise, either.  😎. 

🌞 vs. 🧛

The conventional wisdom is that morning people are high achievers and go-getters, while late risers are lazy. But what if going to bed in the wee hours is actually an advantage?

🕯  On the school site before 7:00 a.m. was my day job (my-oh-my was that torture.) until I recently retired.

The Wonder Years

Staggering into the kitchen, adjusting the curtains so that I was not blinded by the sunrise. And wondering how I was going to get through the day on 4 or maybe 5 hours of sleep.

Wondering: Would I wake up if I spent my lunch break in the car and fell asleep?  

Wondering why I could only write at night? Life would be simpler if I could write during my lunchtime. Le Sigh.

Admissions

While I don't broadcast to the world, I write until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning; nothing goes unnoticed when you live in the burbs. 😎 

Everyone is up at sunrise going to work or working in his/her front yard. 

I wear sunglasses at 10 a.m. when I check the mail. No one 'sees me' until an hour or two before sunset when I sit on my front patio with a cup of coffee. 

They all seem to go to bed (all lights out between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m.) not long after sunset.

My sweet neighbor across the street said, "Whenever I get up at night, your lights are still on..."

"I know..." 😉

🦇 Writing should never be a race to the finish. It should be an extended immersion in a hot tub or a relaxing meditation. Good writers write at night because it's devoid of distraction, there's nothing else left to do in the day, and there's no one else to hurry to.

🦇Bursts of inspiration like this at night frequently within the creative community. Writers, artists, and inventors throughout history have all said they've been most inspired during night-time— think of Tennesee Williams. He spent so much of the night writing he would be found asleep in his bed the next morning, still wearing the same clothes as the day before (source: Williams' notebooks). (Connie doesn't do this.)  

📖📱💻

Do you have a favorite time you like to read?

Please visit my website/blog. Remember my books are on sale at Smashwords, too.

Happy Reading, everyone.

Connie Vines

XOXO

Website: https://connievines-author.com/

Blog: http://mizging.blogspot.com/

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

https://books2read.com/Gumbo-Ya-Ya

https://books2read.com/Lynx

https://books2read.com/Brede

https://books2read.com/Tanayia

https://books2read.com/Here-Today-Zombie-Tomorrow