Today, rather than talk about the Old West, I’d like to share with you my inspiring weekend with fellow members of Yellow Rose Romance Writers. Based in Grapevine, Texas, northeast of Fort Worth, we are a small, intimate chapter of RWA.
Once a year in October, we invite our members to a weekend retreat to talk writing and enjoy each other’s company. We just spent two days in a gorgeous residence on Eagle Mountain Lake, a few miles west of my home. Awesome surroundings, good food, fellowship and a few glasses of wine made for great fun! Best of all, our special guest, isten Lamb, presented a fantastic workshop on the use of Social Media, blogs in particular.
Kristen is a smart, funny lady who entertains while she teaches. She had us all laughing at stories about her “spawn” – her adorable four-year-old son and life in general. At the same time, she explained how to build an audience on our blogs and develop loyal fans for our books. One point she stressed is the need to connect with readers on a personal level. That’s something I plan to work on starting here and now.
Right, but how? Thinking, thinking . . . aha! Let me get the ball rolling by telling you about a time in my childhood when I was bullied. It’s a topic we hear about on the news all the time, but that’s not the same as experiencing it yourself. I did more than once while growing up.
The first time occurred when I was in fourth grade. There was this boy who thought he was top dog on the school playground. Every day at recess, he threw his weight around. The other boys followed his lead, intimidating us girls, especially me because I was the bully’s rival in class. He resented me for one-upping him when the teacher asked questions. I admit I was kind of a showoff. Blame it on my dad. He was handicapped the same as I am, but that man was nobody’s pushover. He was proud and competitive and expected the same of me, which led to my confrontation with the bullyboy.
One day he and his pals had been pushing the girls around, including me, showing us who was boss. Well, I got mad, picked up a rock – not a real big one, but big enough to sting – and threw it at him. OMG! You’d think I’d shot him. He starting balling like a baby and went running inside to tattle on me. Moments later I stood in front of our teacher, getting chewed out for throwing the rock. It wasn’t pleasant for a girl who loved being teacher’s pet, believe me. But I had the last laugh. After that day the bully steered clear of me.
Have you ever been bullied? I’d love to hear your story. Or, if you have experience with social media you’d like to share, bring it on.
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/lyn.horner.award-winning.books