A Perfect Parent?

The last two days, Moose and I attended a conference put on by the Utah Foster Care. The main reason we went was it was a quick way to get hours for our re-certification. Now we are already planning on going to next year's if they have it again.

There were two speakers. The first was Dr. Laura Bennett-Murphy. She works here in Utah with children who are from refugee families and endured severe trauma. Let's just say that I needed the tissues I brought. There were several points that really stood out to me. The first is that as a parent there are times that when my child loses hope, I can still hold on to it and reassure them that behind the storm clouds, the sun is still there and it will be back. I also loved the idea that children will get frustrated and mad with me as a parent. Even when they are yelling at me and telling me that I am stupid or they wish I was dead that they still love me. (And now for the cute picture she showed.)

Thursday's speaker was Daniel J Siegel, MD. Moose and I had to slip our an hour early and we were so disappointed not to hear it all. What he talked about was the Adolescent brain. 12-24 is the age of adolescence. They are neither child nor adult and knowing what is actually going on in their brain can help adults teach them. It was amazing. We sat in rapture from 9 until we had to duck out at 3. We spent the entire drive home talking about how things are now starting to make sense.

Tech is 12 but we can already see how the things Siegel talked about apply to our situation. He has a book out called Brainstorm that is written for both an adult audience and for an adolescent audience because adolescents don't always know why they do why they do but if they know how their brain works it gives them power over themselves.

Moose and I have ordered the book and I will do a review when I read it, but I can already tell you that I am going to love it.

What really stuck with me that both speakers emphasized was the fact that parents will occasionally flip their lids. Both speakers admitted to the fact that despite all of their education, training, experience, they still get frustrated. The fact of the matter is that it will happen, but as adults we need to repair the situation after it happens. That is what makes a good parent.

Maybe Moose and I have a chance at doing okay after all.

LTUE 2014

I know it has been some time since I have written. My family life is changing, in a very good way, and it has taken up the free time I've had. I am hoping things will be more stable, though not calmer, in the next week or two.

This weekend I attended the LTUE Symposium in Provo. This is my favorite conference. Once again my awesome dad and I presented a research paper and lo and behold people other than our family and friends came to it. I even had people stopping me in the hall later that day telling me that we did a good job.

What I really want to get to, while I have a minute to sit in front of the computer, is a particular experience I had. I was able to sit on several panels and offer advice. The people on the panels have an opportunity to promote themselves. I don't have a book out yet but my friend, who is with the same publisher, does. I would tell people I have a book coming out but while they wait for mine they should read this other awesome book and then I would hold up my friend's book and put it in front of me. On one panel, the person sitting next to me told that I shouldn't do that. I asked why. She said because it wasn't my book and people might think it was mine. I just thought it was kind of odd that she didn't think I was doing the right thing.

I really don't know if I helped out my friend. I really don't know if I helped myself in the long run. But truthfully, I don't think I did anything to hurt me. I just found it interesting that another author didn't think I should be promoting someone else's book.

By the way . . . While you wait for my AWESOME Urban Science Fiction "Future of Lies" you should read my AWESOME Friend's Book "The Plague Legacy: Acquisitions." It is available on Amazon or from Fox Hollow Publications.

My Amazon Review:
I know Christine and had the chance to be a Beta reader for this particular novel. The first time I read it I thought, "This is a good story." When I read the final draft I sat back on my heels and said "Wow. Crap. Now I have to wait for the next one."

Acquisitions takes place in our future. A virus has decimated the world and the the survivors are put into two categories, Mutants and Immunes. The story follows a teen-age boy who learns that he doesn't fit into either category. As a No-Code he has to fight for his survival more than the others. No-codes aren't suppose to exist and therefore they are killed ASAP.

This book is an apocalyptic sci-fi. There is potential for dystopic, but at this point it is really more about the survivors trying to clean up the mess. I think it would be great for any teenager who is into Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent or any of those type of books. Christine brings the characters to life and makes you care about them. We aren't just cheering for Cam we are cheering for all the characters. We don't want them just to survive but we want to see them actually get a chance at a life without violence or fear. There isn't anything in the books that I would consider inappropriate language, physical, or violence wise. All-in-all it is a well written book and I am ready to pound the door to get the next one as soon as I can.

Banzai!

Last week I said I might post pictures of our costumes for anime banzai. I am actually feeling positive about them so I decided I would. For those who don't know, Moose and I are going as characters from the anime series, GUNDAM WING. I am pleased to say that I don't have as much work to do. I still have to make our trousers, but the trousers don't have trimmings so they shouldn't take too long. I have roughly 2 1/2 weeks left to finish them.

And now for a side note. Lately, when my friends learn I am making costumes for an anime convention they say "Have you seen HEROES OF COSPLAY?" This is a show on SyFy that follows dedicated cosplay artists as they tour around conventions. (If you are interested there are three episodes available on the SyFy website.) These people are crazy. They build insane costumes in less than a week. And Moose and I are hooked. Granted as we sit in our living room sewing and trying to build things out of cardboard with hot glue, we feel rather inadequate. Yet, every year my costumes get a little better. In ten years I may be comparable to what they do.

So back to the costumes. I have posted the actual characters and then what I have accomplished so far. My coat looks better on me than it does on the hanger, surprise surprise. Moose's costume is missing the buttons. I still have to do the fancy shoulder details as well. All-in-all, I am quite pleased. The other nice thing is that my costume is actually quite comfortable. I think this is the best costume I've done for myself.

As a side note we also watch PROJECT RUNWAY and FACEOFF. Between all of the shows we've gotten really good ideas for different aspects of costuming.

League of Utah Writers – Spring Workshop

This year I was in charge of the Spring Workshop. I started planning early because I like to worry. I asked my amazing speakers back in January if they would be able to present on April 20th. I lined up the building in February. I called about the food in March. Since January I have been in a panic about the whole thing. Oh, let me count the ways:

• I had a nightmare about tons of people showing up and I had forgotten to order the food.
• I worried that I wouldn’t have enough people to make back the money I invested.
• I had to order the main course of the lunch a few days before the conference and I worried a lot of people would show up and I wouldn’t have enough food.
• I had a nightmare that we ran out of chairs.
• We only had half an hour to set up and I worried that we would start late.
• We only had half an hour to take down and I worried we would go long.
• I was worried one (or more) of the presenters would have an emergency and not be able to make it.
• I worried that everyone would hate the fact that we were having pasta salad.
• I was worried I would be attending a funeral on the date of the workshop.
• And finally, as Moose and I were driving to the venue I honestly thought I had given EVERYBODY the wrong address. I left Moose at the wrong address and hurried back only to find out I was on top of things and had distributed the correct address. Luckily the wrong address was only two miles away so I was able to pick him up and bring him back before he stood out in the cold rain for too long.

I slept poorly for days because I was so stressed about it. Pant . . . pant . . . pant. And this was why I didn’t get a blog post done on Friday. I was so stressed about the workshop it didn’t even cross my mind.

And now I need to get into gear for planning the fall conference next year. Poor Moose. He is already preparing himself for my next panic attack.

This experience has brought to mind one of Patrick McManus’ short stories about the worry box. Moose’s worry box is much smaller than my worry box. In fact his worry box is filled with worrying about me worrying over the worries in my worry box.

P.S. After it was over I continually asked Moose if he thought is was okay. He kept reassuring me that it went fine. He said someone told him that this was the best Spring Workshop he had ever been to, and he's been to about half a dozen. The only reason that this turned out as well as it did was because Moose helped. He may not have read any of my stories, but he is the most supportive husband I could ask for.

League of Utah Writers

I have been working on getting a list of potential speakers together for the League of Utah Writers – Fall Conference. The conference isn’t until next year, but I like to panic, early and often. I was trying to decide if it was a good thing that I am doing this early. I wanted to make sure that the people that I asked wouldn’t have anything else planned, but now I am worried that people are reading the date wrong. I had someone tell me that they were already booked for September. Either I needed to ask earlier or there was a failure to communicate.

As I have been thinking through the possible speakers I always have a nagging voice in the back of my head that I am going to let some people down. I am primarily a science fiction and fantasy reader and writer. The majority of the authors that come to mind write these genres. I keep going through my list of authors and changing it back and forth while trying to get a good balance of writers and poets.

I have learned that the hardest part is coming up with some keynote speakers. I need at least two, if not a few more. My mentor told me that the best place to decide who is good is to look up them up on YouTube. Only truthfully, I don’t like YouTube. I guess that I should just bite the bullet and do it. I mean there have been previous keynote speakers that have been less than desirable, only it wasn’t that their speaking topic wasn’t interesting. They just went three times longer than they were supposed to. I need to come up with a way to make sure that the speakers don’t go over. My idea includes tennis balls, or perhaps a foghorn.

I guess I should put panicking about the Fall Conference on hold. I mean I still have to get through the Spring Workshop in April. I had a nightmare about it a week or so ago. Everything was perfect, except I had forgotten to order the food. I was running around trying to find enough food for everyone. Ever since that nightmare I have been wanting to order the food, but I keep reminding myself that I can’t until I have a better idea of how many people will actually be there.

Let the panicking begin.

LTUE 2013 Recap

The good, the bad, the ugly. Okay, there wasn’t anything that was actually ugly but as with anything I attend, there are things that aren’t good.

Thursday. It went well. I enjoyed the panels I attended and got to reconnect with some friends. Some of my favorite panels include on one Lloyd Alexander as well as the differences between large publishing houses, small publishing houses, and self-publishing. In fact it was this panel that gave me the idea to post a story on Wattpad.com. I made it home in time to have a wonderful Valentine’s dinner with Moose. He was really sweet and had made reservations. Since there is only one nice restaurant in town it was really busy, but we were seated right away, much to the chagrin of someone who hadn’t made reservations.

Friday. What a busy day. I was on a panel at 10. It was the first panel I had ever been on. I had two goals. 1. To not talk too much. 2. And to make sure to answer the question. (On Saturday I actually had someone tell me they thought I did really well.) I didn’t agree with everything that was said, and I thought we got a little off topic once or twice, but overall, I was pleased with how I presented myself.

After the panel I hurried to the room where I was presenting the research paper with my Dad. We had an entourage. My brothers set up all of the equipment so I had a few minutes to breath. The presentation went well. We had about 20 people there and judging from their reactions, we did it well. (I had someone later that night say that he had enjoyed it.) Now we are trying to come up with what we should do for next year. I really want to keep this going. Every year will get better because hopefully I will be less nervous.

At noon I had an interview with a new group called Utah Book Scene. I was pretty nervous. The lady who interviewed me was really nice and I think the longer it went on, the more I relaxed. Though I can’t say “anonymity” (or spell it for that matter). I was able to talk about the Crimson Pact stories as well as the novel I have coming out with TM Publishing. I will let you all know when it is available.

The rest of the day I went to a variety of panels, one of which was on reviewing books. I am going to implement the information in my own reviews that I do on Friday. Hopefully it will make them more useful. That night there was the mass book signing. I almost stayed within my budget this year. This was the closest I’ve come yet.

Saturday. This day had one of the all-time best panels, and some of my least favorite. Next Monday, the 25th, the Wheel of Time fan film, FLIGHT FROM SHADOW, will premier. I will post the link to the Youtube video when I get it. I got to see the documentary of the making of it, and it looks amazing. They also had some of the costumes there. I wish I could sew like that. Someday maybe I will.

All-in-all, it was successful, but I am glad to have a little break until April when the League of Utah Writers has its annual Spring Workshop. (If any of you are interested in that, let me know.)

Brief Hiatus

I am busy with LTUE this weekend. The posts will resume next week when I have a little more breathing room.

Preparing for LTUE

Yesterday I spent the evening at the Orem Public Library. I had some extra time so was running over the presentation for LTUE. I made lots of corrections. A whole lot. I kept thinking that it was a miracle that I was chosen to present. (My Dad's section is awesome, but mine is questionable.) The more edits I made, the more I wondered if I was going the right thing. But the fact I reminded myself that writing a research paper and preparing a presentation are different. Our paper is written in two sections. My Dad writes the first half and I do the second half. In the presentation we are doing a tag team. I cut apart the paper and tried to rearrange them so that we could play off of each other. By doing this the continuity of my section in particular was chopped. This is the order of my paragraphs

A, B, C, D, M, N, P, G, J, F, K, Q, U, O, H, R, S, E, K, T, V

That may seem really random, but I got it together. I am really happy with how it turned out. Now the trick will be not tripping over my words as I present. We practiced on Sunday, without my edits, and I did okay, staring at the computer screen that had my slides. I just have to remember to breathe.

If any of you are interested. Friday I am presenting on a panel at 10:00 and then I am presenting with my Dad at 11:00.

When I checked my blog this morning to write the place holder text I found spam comments. I've never had spam comments before. Apparently when you have a blog post entitled "House Cleaning" people like to spam you with comments about vacuums. I also got spam comments on my Bento Cookbook. I guess there are keywords that trigger them. Funny that this is the first time it has happened in the couple of years I've been doing this.

Sequel and LTUE 2013

This week has been really good. I finished writing my sequel for Eidolon, though there is still a lot of work to be done. I got hung up for a few weeks because I wasn’t sure I liked where the story was going. Eidolon has turned out so cool I was worried that the sequel wouldn’t be nearly as good. I’ve never written a sequel before. As I said, there is still a lot of work to do, but at least I have the basic story down so I only have to fill in the details. I think that this story is going to turn out really neat as well, I just have a lot of work to do with it. But I am once again excited at how the story is developing. I just hope my beta readers like it as well, though it will still be a month or two before most of them see even the draft.

The other happy thing that happened this week is that I get to present a research paper at LTUE in February. The best part is the fact that I get to present with my Dad. We wrote the paper together over the summer. We had a lot of fun together trying to come up with the topic and then going back and forth as we wrote. I have a little experience when it comes to waiting for the results. (I am still waiting to hear on one of my submissions and in January it will be 2 years.) When we submitted the paper in October I was kind of hoping to hear back quickly, but I wasn’t surprised it took almost two months. So now Dad and I get to prepare our presentation. This will be the hard part for me, but the easier part for my father. I am so excited.

League of Utah Writers

Two weeks ago I went to the League of Utah Writers annual fall conference. I was contest chair, which meant a lot of work leading up to the conference. I worked at the registration table most of the time. The best part of sitting at the registration table is everyone has to register. I actually met a lot of people who had entered the contest. I am glad that the conference is over. It is very stressful and a lot of people have great expectations for what I am suppose to do. I would like to think I can live up to every expectation, but some of them are just so unrealistic there is nothing I can do to please them. I didn’t actually get to see any of the classes, because I was always off working somewhere else.

I am no longer contest chair, but I have a new position. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had some news. The news is that I am the President Elect for the League of Utah Writers. I am in charge of planning the spring workshop this year and in charge of the Roundup in 2014. I have already started planning for both. I am already panicking about both. Once I am done being president I will be taking a break from doing large projects for the board of LUW. Moose also says I will be taking a break. He gets stressed out when I am stressed out. I think I am going to have a blast, stressed or not.

League of Utah Writers

My life has been taken over by the League of Utah Writers. I am trying to get all of the print material done for the conference this weekend. I actually don't mind doing it. I mean I went to school to be a technical writer and I learned I actually like more of the document design aspect than the editing aspect. I don't think I could have made it as a graphic designer, but I like these little opportunities to actually try my hand at making certificates and things like that.

LTUE 2012

Sorry, I don't have a story today. I spent the weekend at Utah Valley University listening to some of my favorite authors at LTUE.(LTUE is a symposium for fantasy and science fiction authors and illustrators.) I was a little hesitant about going. This was my fourth time and while I enjoy it there have been things in pasts years that make it a little trying. I figured I would go and just be glad I wasn't at work and if anything else happened that would be just extra icing on the cake. By the end of the symposium I had more icing then cake.

Thursday
I left bright and early to get there in time to register. I had a few classes I really wanted to attend and I figured I would be home fairly early, eight or nine. I met up with my parents and we had a great time going around to the different classes. I attended a class on "The History of Chocolate" as well as "Rewriting the Classics" and "Map Making." These three classes in particular stuck out to me because of how well the presenters did. I went to them because they sounded and I learned more than I expected. I got story ideas from all of them. I enjoyed the other classes I attended.

The best part was meeting with my editor for the Crimson Pact anthology, Paul Genesse. He made a comment earlier in the day about going somewhere for dinner. When I finished the last class for the day I wondered how I could approach him and see if he was serious about getting a group together to go to dinner. When I was in Ohio at the World Fantasy Con I learned that tagging along with groups is a lot of fun, so long as they don't ask me to speak. Then I just feel out of place. I looked around for Paul for a few minutes and then decided that maybe I would just head home and see Moose. I wandered into one more place and Paul came up. He was still planning on getting a group together and he said I should come. It took about an hour to get the group together but we ended up with 10. One of those ten included the guest of honor James A. Owen. It was one of the best evenings I had. I got home at 10:30 just bubbling with stories that James had told us and feeling really good about life.

Friday
I was on a high from Thursday night and it just got better. The keynote address was by James A. Owen and though I had heard some of his stories before it was just as amazing the second time. I highly recommend everyone reading his book DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS. I have heard quite a few motivational speeches due to my religion as well as all of the conferences I attend. This far outshone anything I had heard. What really stuck with me was his saying "Never, ever, sacrifice what you want most for what you want most now."

The rest of the day I was still on a high from his speech but I had a lot of fun. There was a mass book signing scheduled for that evening and I was worried because I had a book for James Dashner as well as Brandon Sanderson. I knew both of their lines would be long and didn't want to spend all night standing in line. I happened to see Brandon in the hall and inched my way up. I asked if it would be alright if he signed my book now, if he wasn't busy. He was so nice about it and signed my book.

That evening I got into James Dashner's line early with my dad. As we were waiting Brandon walked in. My dad, being my dad, called out that Sanderson should sign for Dashner. Brandon walked over, I held out my copy of THE DEATH CURE and he signed it. James was a little startled when he opened to the title page. I now have a one of a kind copy. I met with several other authors to get books signed.

Saturday
This day wasn't nearly as exciting but I still had a great time. I went to several readings and got my books signed by Brandon Mull. My dad had watched Brandon Mull register that morning. LTUE is free for students, any students. There was a line of students waiting to pick up name tags when Mull walked up. The people at the desk waved him forward but he politely declined and waited until his turn. My dad made the comment that a lot of the authors at the conference are the superstars in the writing world and yet they don't act entitled. They are some of the nicest people you would ever meet. I think people have probably heard me call these authors my heroes and they laugh, but I am serious. It is men and women like these authors that make me want to be a better person, not just in my writing but in my actions.

Choosing Between Two Good Things

This last weekend my husband and I attended an anime convention. It is the only one we go to, since it is the only local one. This is the third year we've been and we decided that we wanted to help volunteer. The experience was great and it turned out to be the best year yet. The panels we made it to were great (I got some great sewing tips and saw some cool videos), our costumes worked out (people actually knew who we were supposed to be), and we met some neat people. We have plans for making next year even better.

While we were helping out, I made mention of the fact that I was a technical writer. One of the fellows was thrilled and explained that I could probably be even more involved, on staff and not just a registration volunteer. As he told me about it, I got really excited. I took his business card with every intention of emailing samples of my technical writing as soon as I could. I mean, what an awesome opportunity.

As we drove home Saturday night I was talking about it with my husband and reality set in. This con happens in October every year. I currently hold another volunteer position which has its big shindig in September, every year. I nearly lost my mind this year trying to get everything done for my current volunteer position if I were to add another one, even bigger, a month later, I really would go crazy. Even though I really want to do both, I realized that I had to make a choice. Since I have already pledged my time, I sent an email explaining the situation as politely as I could. I know I may never get this opportunity again, but I would rather enjoy both experiences than drive myself and my husband insane.

Authors All Around

This last week was amazing. It was the fall writing conference for the League of Utah Writers. Not only did I have the chance to rub shoulders with some of the people I admire, but I was able to have conversations with them as well. At lunch there were two authors sitting next to me and that evening was another author, who I don't think I will ever have the opportunity to meet again although I hope I do. He was such a nice fellow. All of them were very polite despite the fact that I felt like I was making a fool of myself. I mean I never know what to say when I am meeting an author.

The night before the conference I actually went to another writing event where I had the chance to listen to one of my all time favorite authors. Though I didn't actually talk to him for an extended period of time, every time I see him at an event I am struck by how down-to-earth and congenial he is. I only hope that if I can be as good of a person whether I am an author or not.

Horror

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a writer's conference. Since the theme of the conference was "Writing on the edge" there were several panels on horror writing. I attending a couple of the panels and though I don't normally write horror, I like the idea of putting more horror into my stories because it is a powerful emotion. The comments I make here are what I learned from the presenters: Alexander Gordon Smith, author of the ESCAPE FROM FURNACE series, and Rick Chiantaretto.

While most people think of the slasher horrors, (Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre), there are other types of horror: psychological, paranormal, monster, and smart.

Horror is the only genre that is named after an emotion. It is also one of the only genres that can be incorporated into other genres seamlessly, especially when you think of the non-slasher types. Adding a bit of horror to any story will draw the reader in and truly make them fear for the characters.

This genre plays off of the reader's emotions and not only makes them fear for the characters but also themselves in a way. Sometimes the best was to come up with a horror element is to use your own fear for the starting point. Gordon really emphasized this and had us do an exercise where we took an experience in our own life (good or bad) and asked "What if it hadn't been alright?" Rick had us write down our most terrifying experience and told us to start from there.

The other comment I liked was that in horror you don't have to have answers for everything. It is the unanswered questions that really get people thinking. Rick talked about how at the end of the Thriller music video you think that it is a dream until Michael Jackson turns around and you see his eyes are yellow, but make sure not too leave too many unanswered questions.

While I don't think that I will be writing horror novels, but I will be adding elements or horror to my story just to get the emotions of the reader and add depth to what I write.

LTUE 2011

This weekend I had the opportunity of attending Life, the Universe & Everything at BYU. This is the third time I’ve attended and once again all of the advice and hope blew me away. Not only do you get general advice when listening to the panels on topics ranging from Fractured Fairytales to Publicity and Marketing to How to Write Action, but you get to rub elbows with some really neat authors. I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Paul Genesse, the editor who accepted my Flash fiction story. I’ve heard him talk in past panels about various topics and knew he was a genial person but he was actually excited to see me, which kind of surprised me. It made my whole weekend. Not only was that experience a blast but I also had the opportunity to talk to several other authors I really admire, James Dashner, Mette Ivie Harrision, Jessica Day George, and Sheila Nielson. I can’t wait until next year.

Service

This last week I had the opportunity to go to a writing conference geared especially for Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction. I’ve never been to a writing conference like this before. It was really amazing. I learned a lot about writing, not only as art but as commerce, but I also learned a lot about myself.

The conference started in late mornings and I was always up fairly early. I get up at five during the week to go to work so even with a two hour time difference, I was still up early enough to have a couple of hours of nothing to do after breakfast before things started. With so much time on my hands I was able to volunteer for various projects, mainly manual labor since I can do that without causing problems. I also helped out at the registration desk as a person of information. I could direct people where they needed to go or answer their questions. I also had the opportunity to offer my services to others who needed help with other situations. Overall I talked to a lot of people.

I was raised on the firm belief that I need to help out when I can. It doesn’t matter where I am or who I’m with. If I see someone in need, I had better offer my services. While I’m sure there are opportunities I missed, I’m glad I helped when I did. I met some really neat people I wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. Though I didn’t get any editor, agent, or publisher asking about my current writing project or wanting a sample, I will treasure the memories of the people I did spend time with.

Music

Growing up I listened to a lot of classical music. My mom controlled the radio at home (still does) and in the car it wasn’t until we learned how to drive until she relinquished the stereo to our begging. My dad, on the other hand, has always favored classic rock. My brothers and I have always enjoyed the music from movies, granted we prefer the orchestral music and not the rock “inspired by.” We could get away with playing it around the house because it could be considered classical. (I love classical music. My favorite is Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and no I can’t spell it without the help of a dictionary.)

When I was in college my friend introduced me to a site that has remixed video game music. I was hooked, even though I hadn’t even heard of 80% of the games and had only played maybe 5%. I have hours of the songs downloaded to my computer and listen to it while I’m working since it can really get my emotions going.

At the convention my husband and I went to a couple of weeks ago, we went to a discussion on the history of Japanese RPGs. The presenter did an amazing job of present the facts, making it fascinating, and pronouncing all of the foreign names. What made me laugh was the fact throughout his discussion I knew many of the games he was talking about. While I haven’t played many (my parents believed in Game Boys and computers not the big consoles), I have watched other people play them, or listened to the music.

Writing for Charity

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a writing conference. The convention wasn’t large and mainly focused on the purpose; all proceeds went to purchase books for underprivileged children. A good cause in my mind but what really drew me was the opportunity to talk to authors. Those who know me know I like to talk, to those I know. Talking to strangers, let alone people I admire, is very difficult. This is difficult for most people. I didn’t want to go alone and ended up convincing one of my friends to come with me. It was a two hour drive both ways. We left early and got home rather late. Do we regret it? Not in the least.

I am pleased to report I learned some new things, won (by sheer pestering it seems) a reviewer copy of an unreleased book (which I finished in three days. It would have been less but I was needed at church and work), and talked (without too much stammering) to a half dozen authors for an extended period of time.

I’m headed to a (much) larger conference later this year and this whole conference was in preparation to go to that one. I’m raring to go, even more than before, which I didn’t think was possible. The only problem now is to finish editing in time and I’ll be required to talk to editors and agents as well as authors. There’s always something.

LTUE

I had a great time this weekend. I was able to attend all of the LTUE symposium. I went last year and it is what truly motivated me to pick up my writing again. This year I was re-motivated once again. That and I got a lot of books to read.

I was really impressed with all of the guest speakers. I will say that I liked Brandon Sanderson before this weekend but my impression of him has increased exponentially. I am also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I have often wondered what it would be like to be in the limelight. There was a panel on being Mormon and writing science fiction and fantasy. His view on it was so neat and I hope that if I ever have to step into the limelight I am able to present myself with such self-confidence and stay fast to my standards. He is a hero of mine.

The rest of the symposium was great as well. I learned a lot about what I was doing right in regards to my writing and what I need to improve. I recommend LTUE for anyone interested in writing or even interested in reading. I had a whole entourage with me this year, not all of them are writers but everyone enjoyed it. LTUE is simply awesome.