08 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in Colorado Gold Writing Conference, Uncategorized, Writing
Colorado Gold, that is. It’s time for the annual gathering of writers at the Denver Stapleton Renaissance Hotel, 3801 Quebec Street, Denver. Tomorrow night, 9/9/16, many authors, including moi, will sign their books from 8 pm to 10 pm. The public is welcome to come see us, ask questions, buy books. Hope to see you there.
20 Sunday Sep 2015
Ducks swimming
I’ve been redoubling my efforts on All In Bad Time, having got a huge boost of motivation from last week’s Colorado Gold Writers Conference. The speakers were terrific, the panels were timely and, for the most part, dead-on. But what made me excited about getting back to work (aside from abject terror at not being finished yet) was hanging out with my fellow attendees.
The writers I encountered were hellbent on writing their books. You can’t be around that flavor of determination for three days without revving up your own dammit-I-can-do-this spirit. I churned out a fair number of pages this week, despite a crash of our entire communications system, from phone to internet to TV. It was like living in 1960 again. I found myself looking for an apron to put over the house dress I wear to clean house (not!) and had to restrain myself from leaning out the front door to yell for Beaver to come home. (I have no son named Beaver.)
The important thing was, my Word program still worked and–Holy Distraction, Batman–since I couldn’t play any of the games I use to “get my ducks in a row”, I just wrote. My ducks were all over the place, but I wrote. Could it be that my sacred build-up to writing has been yet another way to put off writing? Surely I wouldn’t do that to myself. Would I?
The simple truth? The ducks have been trying to tell me for years they do better on every project when they’re all over the place. Guess I’d better listen to them.
04 Thursday Sep 2014
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing
…will be gathered starting tomorrow at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers annual Colorado Gold conference. They’ll come from all over the country to meet, greet, and share information about the maddening, wonderful profession of putting words together to express ideas, create characters, connect with the world. And I’ll be one of them.
Those of you scribblers who have never attended a writing conference might well consider doing so. I hid myself in my garret for years, swearing I’d not show any of my writing to anyone until I made a sale. I learned how much I’d missed when I attended a Bouchercon mystery convention and discovered my tribe. I’d always thought I had several screws loose, and then I met other writers. We could hardly hear each other speak for the sound of all those rattling fasteners clanking in the room. I met authors who shared what they’d learned and were more than generous to unknowns like me.
The members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers continue in that tradition. I look forward to each September when I know I’ll be spending time with people who are as passionate as I am about getting those words on the page. We’ll share rueful stories about how hard writing is, and how crazy the publishing business is, and how much we still love what we do.
This year’s conference has sold out, which is a testament to its informative panels and opportunities to talk with editors, agents, and other writers. Start thinking about attending next year’s conference. (http://rmfw.org/) Regardless of where you are in the many stages of becoming a writer, you’ll be investing in a glorious celebration of the joy and the pain of writing.
I can’t wait for tomorrow.
P.S. Edge of the Shadow, Wisdom Court Book One and A Signal Shown, Wisdom Court Book Two are available in paperback form at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1waXExa and http://amzn.to/1rOCuXj
And as paperbacks at B & N: Book One, http://bit.ly/1ouI35u and Book Two, http://bit.ly/1lBUn9v
The links for the ebooks are in the previous post.
10 Monday Sep 2012
Posted in Technology and Writing, Writing
Today feels like the first day of school. I swear I smell chalk in the air, and if I imagine a high-gloss shine on the floors I can almost detect the scent of wax, too. After a weekend at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference, I’m as eager as a gap-toothed third-grader with the whole world before her.
Thanks to thought-provoking panels and excellent speakers, my backpack is once again loaded with sharpened tools and inspiration. Sure, sometimes kids gathered in motley groups on the playground to mutter about recalcitrant agents and authoritarian publishers. Everybody looked nervous at hearing more details unfold about changes in the industry. But it’s hard not to gain optimism from people who struggle with the magnificent fascinations and frustrations of creating worlds and populating them with the characters who live inside us. We writers–of all levels and accomplishments–are generous toward one another, sharing techniques and celebrating each others achievements.
Today I look at my to-do list and mentally roll up my sleeves. I can solve those problems with chapter fourteen, and I will find a way to get my work out there again. I may be alone in my garret but I’m one of many who work to interpret the world through imagination, creativity, and experience.
I have work to do, stories to tell, readers to find. It’s the first day.
Writer in the Garret 