We recently had someone send us an email that asked us just why we had started this blog and why now. These were very good questions and June knew we absolutely had to answer these for everyone to hear. So, for this next part it will be in first person from the person's point of view of just why this all came to be. No names will be mentioned at any time to protect everyone's anonymity and events mildly altered to give no information away that could cause trouble for anyone.
"It was a great day, a Wednesday if we want to be specific and I was meeting with a couple of my author friends for drinks to discuss life and just generally be social. The sun was out and the day was warm, there was a slight breeze bringing the scent of freshly cut grass right to us as we sat on the patio sipping our various and seriously alcoholic beverages. We were waiting on food to arrive when I get a call.
Excusing myself from the table I step away to take the call. It was not a good call, not in the least. My skin broke out in a cold sweat, my heart and pulse were thundering and I swear there were black spots dancing around my eyes. It was another friend and associate, one that was at a publishing house with me calling, she was in tears. We'd been screwed six ways of Sunday. The absolute worst mistake an author could make had just happened to me and in the blink of an eye I felt like I'd been hit by a speeding train that hadn't quite done the job.
The publisher we were with was in a legal tangle with no end in sight and, therefore, so too were it's authors. Myself and my associate on the phone with me included. Getting all the information from her that I could I thanked her, hung up and stumbled back to the table. Falling into my seat I grabbed my rum and Coke and downed that sucker like I'd just come from the Sahara desert after a month without water. My friends with me were all wearing various looks of concern as I waved down the waiter and asked for another double, hold the Coke.
Once I had the fortifying beverage in hand and half of it down I told them everything. They were all there for me, sympathy and offers to help in any way they could. But how could they? Really, how could these wonderful people help me dig myself out of this pit I find myself in without a rope or even a glimmer of light to guide me? Downing the rest of my drink I sat there staring blankly into space for who knows how long before I snap out of it.
Refocusing on them I look them each in the eye and say, quite clearly this I remember, don't make my mistake. Take this as a lesson for each of you and don't do what I did."
We all took those words to heart and got our friend through the mess that followed that phone call. While there is still a bit of turmoil over it we knew that we had to do something to help other authors out there. Yes there are groups out there already but so many of them are very clinical and slightly off putting in the way they are put together - absolutely NO offence meant to any of these groups, they just aren't the way we felt we had to do this endeavor. We wanted to do something that came from us, from the heart and from real life experiences that we all have had or heard about. So this is why June and the three moderators all got together to do this blog.
While we are all in varying stages of our careers we all felt we had something to offer to new and even established authors who are thinking about moving on or expanding. We can all learn something from one another and that is what this blog and the posts on it are all about. While a lot of our posts are from our own personal experiences, there are other posts that have been inspired by things we've read on various sites or have been triggered by the way someone has said something to us during our day.
So, there you have it, the main (but not only) reason The Unvarnished Author came to be. We hope that you enjoy our blog and please, if you ever have a question, email it to us and we will answer you either directly or if we feel it merits being a post, we'll do one up just like we did here.
The Unvarnished Team, via The Moderator
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