But Ya’ Gotta Have Friends

One thing that has always stood out to me, even before I signed up for Twitter and joined the #WritingCommunity, was that being a writer is never as lonely as people like to say it is. Not to say that anyone is trying to stir up drama by saying, “being a writer is sooooo lonely,” or they are looking for sympathy. They’re speaking to the fact that all of us spend countless hours, day in and day out, burning the midnight oil, waking up hours earlier than others, secluding ourselves with the voices (characters) in our heads. We spend a lot of time not being with other real, living human beings. So, in that way, it can seem lonely. Writing, in and of itself, is not a social activity. You can’t really write dialogue and have one of your own in real time, can you?

However, there are so many communities available for writers. The Writing Community on Twitter is exceptional (depending upon how you view it and use it) and can provide a lot of support, education, and camaraderie. I’ve “met” so many wonderful people who make me feel super awesome that I write. Sometimes we talk about our projects, writing, our WIPs (work in progress)…and other times we have full conversations utilizing only highly inappropriate and sexually charged .gifs. It’s fun. It’s like Tinder, except no one is actually trying to get laid (in fact, a lot of us are asexual, demisexual–or just too tired to even consider it). It’s a very safe place and a lot of fun–belly laughs every minute.

That is the other thing about writing communities–unlike some other groups, they are (usually) an extremely welcoming group to all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, and so forth. We have LGBTQ+ folks, male, female, agender, gender queer, gender nonconforming, black, white, brown…we only care if you are friendly, kind, helpful, and want to write. Arbitrary characteristics do not matter. It’s very inspiring. I love that group of amazing weirdos with all of my heart and hope that they know that.

When it comes to my friends (especially my IRL friends), I don’t often mention them in dedications or here on the website. Mostly because they do not demand or require that I do so–in fact, many of them do not want recognition, just friendship. I have so many wonderful friends who help me learn to write better, teach me tricks, do work for me (shout out to the piece of shit who maintains this site and uploads my blog posts–and makes them more readable–for me because I am hopeless), beta read, on and on and on. Friends point out things like “work on using more contractions” or “maybe educate yourself on passive versus active voice” or “have you thought about such-and-such?” I love them. Especially since, if I say, “Fuck you, I do what I want!” they don’t take it personally. Which is another reason I don’t mention them by name much–I don’t want people to think my mess ups are their mess ups. Recently, a friend uploaded work for me and did a bunch of formatting so I could use the weekend to have an actual personal life. I am so grateful!

I’m going to create a page (okay, okay, my website guy is going to create a page) called “LGBTCrew” full of suggestions of people you should follow on Twitter if you are thinking about joining the #WritingCommunity, so, just look in the header for that link!

One person I do want to mention today is Dean Cole (@DeanColeWriter), an integral member of the #WritingCommunity. First and foremost, he is the sweetest guy (and I want to hump him, obviously), but he also did some work redesigning the covers for my “Jacob Michaels Is…” series (also known as ‘A Point Worth LGBTQ Paranormal Romance’ series). You can read about that series here. The covers are just amazing and will, I think, elevate the series and make it more visually appealing to current readers, future readers, and potential readers.

So…let’s do a cover reveal and title for the fourth book in the series, shall we?

Ready?

Sweet, right? Dean Cole is amazingly talented! I’m so glad we partnered up to redesign the covers. I never hated my covers for the series, but I knew that having a professional design them would be so much better–and Dean was just the pro to do it. I’ll be forever grateful he slid into my DMs–sexy British guy that he is! You’ll also see the new covers for books 1-3 appearing on Amazon soon!

So…if you are looking to have a cover designed, maybe reach out to Dean. He’s easy to talk to, doesn’t take suggestions or rejections personally, and LISTENS. At the very least, maybe you’ll become friends on Twitter? Just like all of my other friends, I’m so glad to have “met” him and gotten to know him. He’s a great guy and obviously crazy talented. Also, he wrote an amazingly fun, funny, and heart-warming M/M Romantic Comedy called ‘His Boy’ that you have to check out. You can find it here:

You won’t regret it! You can read my whole Goodreads review here.

I know, I know. This is the second post for this week and I promised I would only do one a week. I’m a liar. Please accept my heartfelt apologies. Next week will be a regular Tuesday post. It may or may not be a sneak peek into ‘Jacob Michaels Is Not Jacob Michaels.’ I guess we’ll all see on Tuesday, right?

Tremendous Love & Thanks,

Chase