Countdown to #getPOSSESS: Day 5

mood: social butterfly-y
pandora/ipod: "kiss with a fist" by florence + the machine

It's SCBWI weekend here in Los Angeles which for me means I've got a ton of writer friends in town. It's like camp, I swear. I've got dinners, lunches, cocktail meet-ups and pajama parties coming out the ying yang this weekend!

It's so exciting.

So I wanted to talk this moment on Day 5 of the countdown to spill my guts on how important a support network of other writers is.

I can't even begin to relate how influential, supportive, inspirational and solid my writer friends have been. Whether I was unagented, unpublished or sitting on a multi-book deal, these men and women have been FRIENDS, colleagues, helpers, critiquers. Let me show you some examples:

I need to get the word out about a cover reveal, giveaway, whatever? DONE!

I need a blurb for my debut novel? DONE!

I need connections at a bookstore in the middle of a state I've never been to? DONE!

I need an introduction to a librarian/buyer/bookseller? DONE!

I need beta readers with a ridiculously fast turn around time? DONE!

I need to whine about deadlines? DONE!

I need someone to pat me on the head and call me pretty? DONE!

Realistically, there's no way to repay the debt to my writer friends. All I can do, is try and pay it forward one day, to give back to up-and-coming writers in the same way that someone gave to me.

There may or may not be a YA Mafia, but if there is they're a pretty awesome bunch.