After spending most of our lives in the Dallas area, my husband and I moved to Colorado Springs last year and bought a house in a wonderful 55+ community. In the past, I’ve lived in some pleasant neighborhoods with friendly people, but I’ve never been in a place where the people welcomed me so completely. I feel so at home here, so accepted for who I am, so included and involved.
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| Witches Night Out at the community clubhouse. |
The same is true in my life as an author. When I embarked on this journey seven years ago, I was a complete novice. Oh, I’d read lots (and lots and lots) of books. But in the same way that taking showers all my life didn’t make me a plumber, it turns out devouring fiction doesn’t automatically create a novelist.
A year later, after much trial and so much error, I was making a few small strides. Slowly. Painfully.
Then I stumbled across Sisters in Crime. With 4,500+ members, and with chapters around the globe, Sisters in Crime offers an abundance of sub-groups that offer writers at every stage a place to fit in. I started by joining the Guppies, which stands for “The Great Unpublished.” These days, the Guppies comprise of a mixture of published and yet-to-be published authors, with the former group providing advice and support to the latter. I can’t tell you what the Guppies’ encouragement meant to me. They showed me a path I hadn’t known existed.
My strides accelerated.
Then I branched out, exploring the resources available from SinC—so many that after six years of membership, I’ve only just skimmed the surface. Next, I connected with a local chapter in Dallas and found an in-person community to match the online one. Now that I’ve moved, I’ve joined the Sisters in Crime Colorado chapter, a robust group that has brought even more friendship, laughter, and opportunity to my life.
SinC Colorado tea and book exchange.
And speaking of opportunity, several of my fellow bloggers here at Writers Who Kill are members of SinC. It was through their referrals that I got this blogging gig.
In fact, I gained so much as a member of Sisters in Crime that I felt called to give back. For the past few years, I have served as national board secretary, and it’s been such a positive experience. Sisters in Crime is only as successful as the volunteers who help keep it running, and I’m honored, in my small way, to help that happen.
Writers mostly work alone, and for the most part, we like it that way. Alone is where the stories bloom and the words flow—for me, at least. But my neighborhood and SinC friends taught me that stories, like joy, can also grow in community. This November, as we turn toward thoughts of gratitude, I’m so thankful to include these wonderful people in my life.
Where do you find your community?
The Callie Cassidy Mystery series is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.
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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado, and the soon-to-be-released Seahorse Bay Mysteries, set in a Texas cruise port town. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com
Like you, I find community through others. In my personal life ( having recently moved, it is through the activities in my complex, via introductions made through friends, and religious ( temple) activities. In writing, it began with Guppies and was expanded by other SinC chapters, especially those that during Covid, offered Zoom programs, my MWA chapter, and meeting people in person at conferences. Some of the best friends I have made, who were there to celebrate contracts and support me when orphaned were made serving on chapter and national boards.
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