eXamine Your Zipper and other embarrassing moments

It was in middle school. PE. Gym class.  Uh....let's just end it there shall we?

The point is, we're all human. *pinches arm, takes blood test...yup, definitely human* We all make mistakes. And of course some of them aren't really our fault. The ones that are? Own them and move on.

Life's a learning curve.

As writers we face an ever bigger curve than most. Why? Because we're living so many lives simultaneously. There's this character, and this one, and then oh! this poor misunderstood villain over here!!  With all those lives to figure out, it's bound to happen that we forget who we are. And embarrass ourselves.

Like maybe by sending a query letter addressed to the wrong person. Or attaching the wrong manuscript to a requested full.  Not that I've had these things happen to me. I'm still gearing myself up for querying, remember?  But I've known other writers who have faced these...trials. :)

And because of their honesty I might avoid them myself. A quick check on a name. A double check on the MS.  Writers are so good to each other. We're not in competition with each other for the number of sit ups we can do in PE class. I mean...uh...writers care about helping one another out. We give each other tips, reviews, and blurbs on books. We WANT readers to explore other authors' books.

It's not middle school. We can handle a little competition.

So what is the most embarrassing thing a writer can do? Has anything embarrassing ever happened to you? Any words of wisdom to impart to us?