Friday, September 10, 2010

In Real Life

So many of the connections we make as writers are online.  Virtual.  Sometimes at conferences, or workshops, we have a chance to connect with other writers in person.  But most of those bloggers, tweeters, and chat room relationships will forever be virtual. No less Real, but not In Real Life.

The fabulous Heather Kelly--of Edited to Within an Inch of My Life--and I realized that we live about half an hour away from each other some time last spring.  We connected through one of our blogs, I can't remember which, but one of us commented on the other and ::Shazam:: (anyone else remember that show?  But I digress...)

Heather and I met at a Borders about half way between our hometowns.  If you know Heather from online, you won't be surprised to know she's just as sweet, supportive, and enthusiastic in person as she is on her blog.  We'd met at our SCBWI conference back in the spring, but we didn't get a chance to talk together about our writing, our process, and querying.  It was so nice to be able to sit with someone who knows what its like.  If you haven't been to Heather's blog, I highly recommend it!  Go now!

Thanks Heather!  If only we'd taken a picture...

4 comments:

Eric W. Trant said...

I remember Shazam. Gad, how bad is that!

I have a ton of online friends not just from writing, but from divorce support groups and straight-up social sites.

Funny that the relationships are no less real because you've never met. Sometimes I've never even seen a picture of them.

Some of them never even mentioned their real name, nor did I mention mine.

Still. There's something intimate about connecting online that you just can't get in person.

- Eric

Laura Pauling said...

That's great! Nothing beats talking to other writers about the process. I don't know if we'd ever run out of things to say. It's like when new moms get together and start talking about parenting!

Kristine Asselin said...

Thanks Eric and Laura. It's always nice to be able to connect a face to a name.

Heather Kelly said...

Kris--How much fun was that?! And I was planning on taking a picture, and then we just got to talking, and it slipped my mind! Thank you so much for the wonderfully thought-provoking and supportive talk--I can't wait to do it again!