She's not weird, she's a writer...

Living on the flip side of the planet I don’t get to connect much with other children’s and YA writers, but this past weekend has been a blast.  There is, I have to say, a lot to be said for connecting with and spending time with one’s peers.  Facebook is all well and good but it’s cyberspace, and nothing really makes up for “real” connections.  Hugs for example, while well meant, just don’t really translate that well through time and space.

Of course, in the usual feast or famine way, this weekend saw not just one, but two of my oldest writing and critique pals in town.  Author Jackie Marchant, and my long time writing buddy (whom I’ve known for nearly eight years but have never met), Claire Atherstone.  Jackie is travelling with her husband, Eddie, on a WWW (World Wide Wine) Tour of the southern hemisphere and Claire was “home” from New Zealand to visit family.

 Mini Who? Not Mini-Me!  - with Claire Atherstone

The thing about connecting with other writers is you get to remember that even though other people mostly look at you strangely,  you’re not weird – you’re just a writer – because, let’s face it, we’re not exactly like other people.  We wander around listening to the voices in our head – and occasionally talking out loud to them too.  We forget to make dinner for our families, we keep odd hours – often as determined by a capricious muse, we have an excessive capacity for chocolate (and wine – note: Jackie is on a WINE tour!), we’re ridiculously determined - we soak up rejection like sponges and just keep going.  Most importantly, we talk the same kind of language.

“Eddie is absolutely the worst passenger,” said Jackie, launching into the time when…
“That is just not true!” objected Eddie as we sailed over the top of the mountain.  “You’re embellishing!”

Next to me, Lovely Husband burst out laughing.  “I’m glad I’m not the only one subjected to this!”

“It’s called telling a story!” exclaimed Jackie and I almost simultaneously. “We’re writers,” we chorused, “what do you expect?!”

 The windswept look - with Jackie Marchant

During a wonderful weekend filled with a lot of food and a fair bit of wine, stories were told, shared, exchanged and compared. Afterwards Lovely Husband said, in a wondering kind of voice, “You’re kindred spirits.  I listened to you talking to Jackie and to Claire and I realised you’re passionate about what you do – it’s what you have to do.”

And hard as it sometimes is, he’s absolutely right – we write because we must, and we connect with other writers so we know we’re not alone in this extraordinary pursuit of creating stories for children and young adults – a pursuit which often makes people look at us as though we’re really not quite “all there”, and which is often fraught with failure and rejection  - but always lightened by the sheer joy of creating stories.

Aside from all the fun of the past weekend, the one thing I’ve come away with, after months of disempowering and soul-destroying slog with the build, is the burning desire to get writing again.