Introductions
My name is David Bridger. I am a friendly writer. I have lots of writer-and-reader friends, and there will always be room for more. Always! I love my friends, and I love being part of the wider writing community, and I’d love this site to become a place where writing friends can share knowledge and experiences.
This is where I’ll talk about my journey and record what I learn, as I learn it, and where I hope you’ll talk about your journey too.
I’ll start the ball rolling with my introduction.
I live with my wife and our three daughters in the southwest of England, where we settled towards the end of my Royal Navy career after nearly twenty years of nomadism-in-uniform.
I came home injured, and the hangover from that is a lifelong condition: a double whammy of fibromyalgia and severe ME which cripples me with pain and leaves me almost completely housebound. Sounds grim, I know, but apart from the ouch-stuff my life is good. I live with my lovely family, and my condition has given me the time to learn how to write and to develop my new career.
I finished my first novel, fugue, last year. It’s a contemporary fantasy with romantic elements and mysterious echoes from the past. This year I’m writing Quarter Square, which is the first novel in my Wild Times urban fantasy series, and a collection of magical realism short stories.
After last winter’s bad relapse left me with hands that couldn’t type, I installed Dragon voice recognition software in the spring. It hasn’t been the easiest learning experience I’ve ever undertaken. The Dragon and I stepped on each other’s toes a lot while we tried to dance together, but after two months we’re finally moving to the same tune and find ourselves halfway through the first draft.
My aims are to get published and to keep getting published! I want to be a successful novelist, and my next step on this trail is to find my perfect agent. While writing Quarter Square, I’m querying fugue to agents in the UK and the USA.
So, this is where I am: completed my first novel; seeking representation; and writing my second novel.
Where are you, on this road we’re walking? Will you join me? I look forward to meeting new friends and greeting old ones. Say hello in the comments below, introduce yourself, and if you’d like to give me a link to your blog I’ll add you to the blogroll here.
J.Lee Moffatt said,
July 2, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Very nice intro David my dear friend. Once I get my ducks in a row, I’d love to hang out with you here (and just about anyplace else).
Cath said,
July 2, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Hello David!
Happy to be here!
Most of the information about me is readily available over at Writer Tamago,
http://cathschaffstump.com
where I’m charting a fairly similar journey. I’ve actually gotten a couple of small press projects slated for publication, but I’m still trying to land an agent and some bigger gigs.
Also, I should plug
http://www.lashabladoras.blogspot.com
where I post with other creators, and I’m currently serializing a novel on line.
Looking forward on reading your adventures.
Catherine
davidbridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Hi, Jenn and Cath. Thanks for coming over. It’s lovely to see you here!
Sophia said,
July 2, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Hi David,
I love the idea behind your site, and I’m looking forward to seeing it grow!
I’ve written a few ‘practice’ novels, and am currently working on what I consider to be the first ‘real’ one. I love writing, and my aim is the same as yours.
My web page is my LJ:
http://elarasophia.livejournal.com/
Best regards,
Sophia
Liz said,
July 2, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hi Big Dave
I’ve been struck by an idea…I know of an agent…I’m emailing the details through to you later this evening.
Happy to meet you on here – you are an inspiration! I look forward to getting to know you and your writing and watching how the site grows.
Liz
davidbridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Hi Sophia,
I’m happy to have you here!
Hi Liz,
I’ll look out for your email. And thanks for your kind words.
Arlene said,
July 2, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Hello! I’ll be looking forward to the updates on progress!
davidbridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Hi Arlene! Thank you for looking in.
Karen Mahoney said,
July 2, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hi David,
This is a great idea, I’m adding you to my Google Reader (LOVE my Google Reader!) so I can check out all the future posts and comments.
Maybe I’ll be able to contribute from the POV of someone who has just achieved the agent part of the journey, but has still got a loooong way to go before she gets published… *g*
Cheers,
Karen
davidbridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Hi Karen,
Thank you! And congratulations again on signing with Miriam Kriss. I hope you will contribute.
Alex Fayle said,
July 2, 2008 at 10:17 pm
David:
Great idea. Your journey (and the journeys of the rest of us) will provide great support for so many others like us working towards (repeatedly) published status.
Although not always focused on the writerly life, my blog does focus on all the things I do to make sure that I continue living the life I want (which is the writerly one).
http://www.SomedaySyndrome.com
Cheers,
Alex
P.S. Glad to hear you’ve been enjoying quality family tennis time.
David Bridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Hi Alex,
It’s great to see you here, and thanks for your support!
And, yes, I’m loving the tennis.
Karen Wester Newton said,
July 2, 2008 at 11:01 pm
David–
Hello! Fancy running into you here? -)
Good luck with the quest. After years of writing and trying to market directly to editors, I changed course and concentrated on agents. I did land one, but she hasn’t had much luck so far. However, my latest effort is YA urban fantasy with science fiction overtones, and I’m hoping that one will do the trick.
For what it’s worth (my tuppence, you could say), I think the agent route is the way to go these days.
karen
David Bridger said,
July 2, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Hi Karen,
Fancy that, indeed!
Yes, I definitely think the agent route is best. Apart from the career partnership aspect, which I think is very attractive and important, there’s the fact that we can send a manuscript to as many agents as we want without losing anything; but once a publisher rejects it, that option is out for any agent we find later.
Catherine Haines said,
July 3, 2008 at 2:34 am
Hi there, David.
I’m still on the writing stage (about halfway through my YA urban fantasy) but I feel it is always a good idea to keep my eyes and ears open about the later stages of the progress.
I keep a writing blog (http://cms.amynta.org/catherine/) which so far is about chronicling the highs and the lows of actually writing – once book one is completed then I can get with the exciting process of querying agents.
Claire (aka Hoshikaze) said,
July 3, 2008 at 2:45 am
Hiya, nice to see a new blog from you, this looks like it should be a nice addition to your LJ. I added this to Google Reader (which I just started using).
David Bridger said,
July 3, 2008 at 8:26 am
Hi and welcome to you, Catherine.
I’m pretty sure everyone here will agree that we’re all still in the writing stage. And long may it continue!
David Bridger said,
July 3, 2008 at 8:28 am
Hi Claire.
Great to see you here. Think I’ll take a look at this Google Reader.
Karen Duvall said,
July 3, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hi, David. What a fun idea for a blog. I just hooked up with my agent about a month ago and we’re in our second round of revisions before the manuscript gets shopped around to publishers. I blog about my publishing journey, too, and started documenting it in September of last year. I have a couple of books published with a small press, and one novella, but decided I’m done with the small press route. It’s a disappointing career move. I’ve now taken an all or nothing attitude as I target only the bigger publishers. My agent is fabulous and I’m tickled she’s onboard. It will be an interesting journey no matter what happens.
Karen
http://www.karenduvall.blogspot.com
David Bridger said,
July 3, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Hi, Karen, and thanks for dropping in.
Congratulations on finding (and being found by) your agent! Enjoy your revisions and submissions!
Michele said,
July 20, 2008 at 5:34 pm
David,
What a wonderful site! It’s full of motivating advice and inspiring quotes for writers, and so unlike my self-absorbed site. I love it.
David Bridger said,
July 20, 2008 at 5:41 pm
But your site is so refreshing! I love it!
Thank you again for your kind words.
j3black said,
July 21, 2008 at 5:06 am
I just discovered your blog. It’s terrific. I like that the posts are grounded in reality–yours, other writers’, the industry’s.
Where I am: I’m writing my first novel and sending submissions out for publication. But that makes me seem like I have myself together more than I do. My job keeps me busy, and I struggle with making time every day to write.
Daily writing is the topic of my blog (more or less), which I started despite feeling worried it might distract. But I’m finding that writing for my blog energizes the other writing I do. I wonder if you and your readers who blog feel the same. The URL to the blog is http://j3quota.wordpress.com/. I’ll definitely add yours to my blogroll.
Thanks for the blog. I look forward to follow it and the others you maintain.
James Black
David Bridger said,
July 21, 2008 at 8:01 am
Hello, James, and thank you.
I’ve kept up my writing journal for a long time without it distracting from my WIP. In fact, as you say, it energises my creative writing. But when I started this one I did wonder if it would draw too much of my time and energy. I’m only three weeks into this blog at the moment, and life has been a bit bumpy anyway so it isn’t easy to tell, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be okay once things settle down.
Pleased to meet you.
southernofficechairs said,
August 12, 2008 at 2:40 am
Hi, David!
Wow…just wow.
I’m so glad I “found” your blog.
You are very talented. I’ve only read a few posts thus far, but I am HOOKED.
I’m just beginning to blog. I am ashamed to say I originally started blogging as a means to promote our website, but I am so addicted now to this concept of sharing stories/laughs/inspirations across the internet that I am not getting much work done.
I love life and relish the thought of bringing a smile to someone’s face with something I wrote. If I had one-hundreth of your talents, I’d be thrilled!
I wish you the best in all you desire.
Take care.
SOC
David Bridger said,
August 12, 2008 at 7:40 am
Thank you, SOC. I just checked out your blog. Nice chairs. Nice bikes!
It’s a pleasure to meet you.
flavioperalta said,
September 10, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Hey there, David. I just wanted to say your blog is really great. I will definitely check it out often. I invite you to check mine as well… altough its in spanish. Im peruvian, my name is Carlo Eyzaguirre (Flavio Peralta is my pseudonym), im 22 years old and – as you might guess – i like to write, too.
I will add your blog to my blogroll soon, promise. Its just than im collecting other blogs sites to add them all at the same time.
Keep up the great work you are doing with your blog!
Greetings from Lima, Peru.
David Bridger said,
September 10, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Hello!
I’m afraid I can’t read Spanish, but it’s my pleasure to welcome you and I’m glad you can read English.
Kerry said,
September 16, 2008 at 4:52 am
What a wonderful, friendly hang out place for writers. I’m glad I found you, and will definitely add you to my Links. I’ve completed one suspense novel, which surprised me because I didn’t know that was what I was writing, and have two more in various stages of completion. I’ve recently started a Blog at http://www.uppington.wordpress.com Your site is a bright little surprise in my day.
David Bridger said,
September 16, 2008 at 8:51 am
Hi Kerry!
I’ve added you to the blogroll here, too. Good luck submitting your suspense novel!
And thank you for your kind words. It’s a pleasure to meet you.