Do You Have Imposter Syndrome?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: True story. I was in a car with the definition of perfection, Lee Child. He was...mulling over the whether James Patterson (who I also adore) sold more books than he did.

Friends, I burst out laughing.  Come ON, I said. You sell a book every second.  You are incredibly talented. You are adored and beloved. And come on. Either way. You have got to be happy.

I am happy, he said. Of course. But I could tell--he was still calculating.

This is all to say--writing is a non-stop march through unpredictability. With smart successful people who are striving to be the best they can be.

And with that--I give you the gloriously talented and amazingly successful friend of the Reds: Annette Dashofy.  Who, if I were sitting in a car with, I would say the same thing.

Any yet, and yet. She's talking about:

Imposter Syndrome, Author-Style

By Annette Dashofy

My next book has just come out. Under the Radar is my ninth, but the release of a novel out into the world never gets old or routine. Early reviews have been excellent. My launch party was amazing. My blog tour is winding down.

So why am I so nervous?

Because I’m always afraid the newest book will be the one to unveil me as a fraud.

I’ve been fooling them all along, making readers think I know what I’m doing when, in fact, it’s nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Yes, I confess. I suffer from Imposter Syndrome. [https://hbr.org/2008/05/overcoming-imposter-syndrome]

I’ve heard the term “Imposter Syndrome” before and knew I was a victim, but until I read this article, I had no idea just how bad a case I had. I didn’t tick off one box. I ticked them all off!

I must not fail. Check. I have such an incredible support team, starting with my family, both blood and ink. My local Sisters in Crime, Pennwriters members, and critique group have all been incredibly supportive. I don’t want to let them down.  

I feel like a fake. Check. Me? A writer? Hitting the bestseller list? Being nominated for awards? Someone definitely made a mistake. I think that’s why I make screen captures every time my books are on a list. I know it’s why I keep going back to the Agatha Awards webpage to make sure my name’s still there. Phew. They haven’t realized they counted the ballots wrong yet!

 

It’s all down to luck. Check. Timing is everything. I’d rather be lucky than good. I’ve heard these phrases coming from my lips. And I truly believe I’ve been incredibly fortunate.

Success is no big deal. Check. Well, it is a big deal, but in my version, I haven’t attained it yet because someone is going to realize I’m a lucky fake and my success is an illusion, a house of cards that will collapse the next time I breathe on it.

The rest of the article goes on to give suggestions to overcome Imposter Syndrome. Recognizing the negative mental conversations we have with ourselves and talking about them being two key components. So here we are at the newly formed ISA (Imposter Syndrome Anonymous) chapter.

Have you ever felt like a fraud? Wondered what were they thinking when someone puts you in charge of an important project? Believed your success was nothing more than luck? Please tell me I’m not alone in these feelings.

Hank: Puh-leeze. 
Reds and readers? Weigh in! 
(And Annette, just saying: congratulations on your Agatha nomination and your crazy wild success!)



UNDER THE RADAR

Paramedic and deputy coroner Zoe Chambers responds to a shooting and discovers her longtime friend, Horace Pavelka, has gunned down a man who’d bullied him mercilessly for decades. Ruled self-defense, no charges are filed. When another of his tormentors turns up dead in Horace’s kitchen, Police Chief Pete Adams questions the man’s innocence in both cases…especially after Horace and his girlfriend go into hiding.

While fighting to clear her friend, Zoe is handed the opportunity to finally learn what really happened to her long-lost sibling. What starts out as a quick road trip on a quest for answers leads her to an unfamiliar city in the middle of a November blizzard, where she finds way more trouble than she bargained for.

Pete’s own search for his missing fiancée and a missing murderer ultimately traps him in a web of deception. Face-to-face with one of the most cunning and deadly killers of his law enforcement career, Pete realizes too late that this confrontation may well be his last.

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. Annette has garnered five Agatha nominations including her current nomination for Best Contemporary Novel for FAIR GAME. She is the vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime Chapter and is on the board of directors of Pennwriters. UNDER THE RADAR is the ninth in her series.

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