Ah, the holidays.  Presents.  And decorations.  And parties – the best part! Recently, my RWA chapter, Rose City Romance Writers, got together to celebrate – minus the holiday champagne.  I was having such a great time sucking in writing brilliance from my chapter mates, I didn’t snap pics of EVERYTHING.  (Surprising, I know!)

Anywho, a couple of pics, great writing friends, and awesome conversation, and the party was over too quickly.  (Personally, I like Jessa Slade’s suggestion that we party once a quarter!)  Some snippets of conversational wisdom:

1.  Rejection is a good thing.  When rejections are announced, we all cheer, ’cause it means a writer is getting her precious work out into the world.

2.  In a world of rejections, writers need to remember to bask in the things that do go well — meeting deadlines, a positive comment from a critique partner, or even one from the editor / agent who rejected the submission.  It’s too easy to get pulled down in this business, and without looking at the positive things we do well, no matter how small, our writing could suffer.  We definitely don’t want that!

3.  Having a debut book is crazy exciting!  Ask any author.  🙂

4.  Lightning strikes create bestsellers.  Authors should be out there with a lightning rod AND an umbrella.  The book needs a certain “something something” that causes it to take off, besides good writing, ’cause, let’s face it, there are always books we all feel should be best sellers — like our own!  😉

5.  Roses are generous people.  Not only were writing and industry advice freely given, we also collected donations for a women’s shelter.  Whether we like it or not, there are those around us who are in far greater need than we could even imagine.

The holidays are busy.  I get that.  But it should also be a time to slow down enough to visit with family and friends, and to reflect on what makes this time of year special for each of us.  You know, you gotta stop and drink the champagne!

What are your holiday celebrations like?

-Melia