Writing Wednesdays: Ode to a CP

This week's Writing Wednesday also happens to be a Thing I Love (or Person I Love, more accurately). I've been meaning to write about my awesome critique partner, who shall remain anonymous because she likes it that way, for a while now. She has seriously changed my writing life over the past year, and she deserves a shout-out for not only reading every novel, query, pitch, and false start I throw at her, but for always being there with a damn good pep talk when I really need one (which is often).

A lot of people out there have a whole group of CPs, and for the record, I do have six or seven CPs/betas who have always been amazingly generous with their time. But I don't have the relationship with them I have with my one true CP. For one thing, we met online, so when she first read Forever Friday, she didn't know me from Eve. She's the one CP I have who is truly objective (although now she knows I'm sensitive so it's possible she tempers her comments a little more, but I don't think so). We have very different writing styles, but she's an AMAZING writer who doesn't put herself out there nearly enough in my humble opinion, because if she did, she'd have an agent by now. But she's not competitive, which I love, and she's incredibly knowledgeable about YA, so she can always tell me if an idea is fresh or overdone.

My CP's comments are always fair and balanced - she doesn't hold back with criticism or compliments. She reads quickly, never leaving me waiting for very long. And even though there's a 13 hour time difference between us, she always emails me back right away. Unlike my non-writing friends and family members, she GETS IT, which is probably the most important thing about having CPs who are writers. She's the cheerleader who's always ready with another cheer, who always has a word of inspiration handy, who reminds me of my successes when all I see are failures. She's someone I consider a best friend, even though we've never even spoken on the phone. I've already decided that if I ever get an agent, I'm flying out to where she lives so we can celebrate together, in person, because it will be her accomplishment as much as mine (and because I hear she's an amazing cook.)

So, thank you to my lovely, patient, wonderful CP. I don't know where I'd be on this journey if it wasn't for you, but I know it would be way more lonely, and a heck of a lot less fun.