Welcome to Game of Books, a website where you can get valuable writing information and follow along on the journey of two newbie writers in their quest to conquer the World of Publishing. Cathi in the North and Christie in the South start begin with novel ideas in the Land of Writing. They each become Queen of their Domain (just ask their kids) and have moved into the Land of Querying. Each time they think they are going to become the all elusive Author in the World of Publishing, a new land pops up … Land of Editing, Land of Contracts, Land of Promoting, Land of Readers, etc. Luckily they are recording their adventures and pitfalls for future generations in the Land of Writing.
Hi there! I’m Cathi, newbie writer and now blogger! Last February, I left my cozy, snowy South Dakota home to attend Sleuthfest, a writing conference in the south Florida sun. It was there I met Christie, and we immediately clicked, both being in similar stages of our writing careers, namely first novels completed, or in the revision phase, and determined to make a go of not just writing but pushing beyond into the publication world. We bonded over easy, engaging, and humorous conversation about writing and life, and this blog was born.
I’ll readily admit that I know little about Game of Thrones, but it’s fitting since what I don’t know about the Game of Books is far greater than what I do. What I do know is that I love learning more about writing — the craft of it, the business of it, and the people involved in it. Between Christie’s home in Florida, mine in South Dakota, and the occasional trips we share, we’ll cover a lot of ground in our endeavors. We’re excited to share some of those conversations here.
Hi, I’m Christie and I’m so excited you decided to join me on the Game of Books journey. Cathi, from South Dakota, and I met at Sleuthfest, a mystery writer conference in south Florida, the place I call home. I’m used to flip flops and she’s used to snow boots, but we immediately bonded over our parallel lives as newbie writers. During chatter about all the workshops, authors, and our families, Cathi let it slip that she had always wanted to do a blog. Her enthusiasm was contagious and when we went back to our perspective lives, we kept in touch and … Game of Books was born!
I love the idea that we are setting out to conquer different Lands in the World of Publishing. The challenges are real but hopefully not as deadly as Game of Thrones. And it seemed so fitting since in grade school my daughter listed my jobs as 1) cooking 2) cleaning 3) running a monarchy (guess my chemistry and biology degrees were lost on her). Regardless, I was clearly Queen of my Domain and now I plan to be Queen of my Writing Career with the support of my son and daughter (my former subjects). And hopefully, at some point I will be able to hire a cleaning service for number 2 on the list. Along the way, Cathi and I will share our experiences, many of which have us laughing till we cry (which is healthier than crying till we laugh). We hope our personal voyage imparts the wisdom we learn along the way but also shows other writers that they are not alone.
Watch out World of Publishing, here we come!