hrj

Although I do worry a little about being influenced in style by what I read, it's mostly that if I'm reading something really good, it bleeds off the need to write. And if I'm reading something not very good, why am I spending my time on it? But I've taken very much to heart a blog I read somewhere on how to be a well-behaved author in a community of authors, which is that you talk about other people's works more than you talk about your own, because that's how cross-pollination happens. And I feel like I've got a bit of catching up to do if I expect other authors to be willing to invest in my career. That sounds awfully cold-blooded when I lay it out like that, but I'm not really a natural networker. I'm a hide-in-my-cave-working-on-my-project person. So I have to approach the communal/networking side of this like in a programmatic manner.