And Another Awesome Author Visit: Teri Brown

This week for And Another Awesome Author visit we have the wonderful Teri Brown. She is the author of Read My Lips. To read my review click here. This was a great book that I definitely urge you all to read. To learn more about Teri you can visit her this week at the Class of 2k8 blog, or all the time at her MySpace, or blog. Also in celebration of the release of Read My Lips Teri is hosting a contest that ends TODAY at 5 p.m. pacific. All you have to do though is post her book trailer and tell her about it. Also next week she is having an extraordinary party of at her blog. I mean it is seriously going to be the event of the year. She has a bunch of authors making guest appearances and giving away lots of good books. Your all invited so head on over to her blog starting on June 9 and lasting through the 13th.

Teri joins us today to talk about the generosity of writers. This is a really interesting post, so go ahead read on!!
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When people ask me about how I became a writer, I immediately think of other writers.

Sure, I’d checked out the books at the library, but as much as I love books, human support was the key that unlocked my creative door.

I think I got online in 1998. The Internet was a fabulous new world and my keyboard was its entryway. Since I homeschooled my children, I gravitated toward homeschoolers and then, slowly toward writer’s groups. Then I won a short story contest and it gave me the confidence I needed to stretch my wings. I wrote my first YA novel in 1999 then put away fiction for more lucrative writing and began studying to become a freelance writer. By the year 2002 I had written and published two nonfiction books and a slew of nonfiction articles. Every step of the way there were other writers willing to take the time to share their knowledge and critique my work.

By 2003, my nonfiction career was steady and I started thinking more and more about fiction. When I heard about Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) I was intrigued. I signed up and wrote a horrible, horrible chicklit book. When a writer who read my blog asked me to join her critique group, I was delighted. I think my first chapter shocked them— I’m sure they figured that because I was a professional freelancer, my writing would be much better. How was I supposed to know that a different genre meant a different style and different voice! But they taught me so much and I grew and I grew. I have been a member of many different writing groups and have always been surprised by their warm generosity. Very seldom have I run into the kind of jealousy and backbiting that occurs in other professions. Not that it doesn’t happen, it does…. But I am always, always surprised by it.

When one writer’s husband accidentally shot himself, the writing community came together to give her emotional and financial support. When another writer returned from a national writing convention to find that her home had burnt to the ground, the writing community was beyond generous in their support. When one author came down with cancer and could not promote her debut book, other writer’s did it for her. I could go on and on.

I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be a writer if it weren’t for other writers— I have always been a writer. But without the help and support of other writers, I doubt I would be a published author, celebrating the release of my debut novel, Read My Lips.

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Also here's the book trailer. If you want to post it just wait until it's finished and copy paste the the share link to your blog!