GCLS Author Guest Blog: MJ WILLIAMZ

I’ve been online friends with MJ Williamz for a number of years.  We finally met in Provincetown during the 2009 Women’s Week.  While we didn’t get to hang out together a lot – she was awfully busy – I do remember it fondly.  As I do the chili that we all shared.  Who made that?  Cheri?  Jo? Trish? Jacqui?  I can’t remember.  Oh well.

What I’ve learned about MJ is that she is just a lot of damned fun!  There always seems to be a smile on her face.  And even when it’s just a Facebook update or a response on an email group, you can tell that she’s having a good time. 

I’m looking forward to seeing MJ again in Dallas.  

I was fortunate enough to attend the very first GCLS con in New Orleans. The synergy was amazing. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by so many zealous readers and generous authors and publishers. At the time, I only had a few short stories published, and I truly believe if it wasn’t for attending the cons, I still wouldn’t have a book published today. The opportunity to actually interact with “real” authors and the women who publish them was life-changing, to say the least.

Due to circumstances generally referred to as life, I was only able to attend the first two cons, so I’m really looking forward to Dallas. I am excited to reconnect with everyone who was so friendly and gracious during those first cons, as well as meeting new readers and authors. This will be the first con I attend since publishing my novels, which adds a new layer of excitement to the mix.

In the years I was able to attend, the panels were informative and enlightening. I think the one that stuck with me the most was a panel in Atlanta about POV. The moderator and helpers did a fantastic job demonstrating “head-hopping” and that’s stuck with me to this day. It was comical and factual and left no room to wonder what head hopping is and why it’s a no-no.

I was also fortunate enough to be on a panel that second con. It was about writing erotica. Radclyffe was the moderator and between her and the other panelists, I learned so much about the genre in which I write today.

While the con has evolved and there are new traditions that weren’t there in its infancy, there were still so many fun times to be had in the beginning. The dances were always a blast. They’re a great venue to cut loose and have some fun, dancing with different people and just enjoying the sisterhood that is the GCLS.

This is the first time I’ve had a book nominated for a Goldie and it’s an honor, to be sure. Each year so many quality books are nominated and the winners are always on the must read list. The Goldies have set a standard to which many of us aspire. I’m looking forward to meeting other authors from the erotica category, hoping they’ll be willing to share helpful hints, as I’m always striving to better my craft.

And bettering my craft is just one of the reasons I look forward to Dallas. I know I’ll learn a lot, meet many new people and renew old friendships. June can’t get here soon enough.

MJ Williamz makes her home in Portland, OR. She is the author of over thirty published short stories and three published novels. Her fourth novel, “Escapades” has just been accepted for publication with Bold Strokes Books.