June Update: ConQuest Recap

I'm a little late in talking about my ConQuest experience. Most of my cohorts posted blogs a week ago. You can visit Jack Campbell, Jr., Kevin Wohler, and R.L. Naquin to see what they had to say about the convention.

Overall it was a ton of fun. It was crazy-busy. I missed out on doing a lot of the things I wanted to do, but I got to do a lot of things I hadn't prepared for, so it all it all worked out in the end.

I missed out on Story in a Bag, I did not drink with my fellow writers, and I was on panels for a majority of the Brandon Sanderson events. That being said, my fellow LFK Writers defended the Story in a Bag title: Dianne Williams won amateur sci-fi and Christie O. Hall won amateur fantasy. I'm so proud of my ladies! I also went to the Masquerade for the first time, where Dianne also won an Honorable Mention for her cosplay costume. We cheered super loud for her. Also? I went to the late-night panels instead of drinking. We wore pajamas (mine are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Rachel and I wore tiaras. I'm not even kidding.

I got to spend time with old friends - Sean Demory, Holly Messinger, and James and Anita Young - and made some new friends, too, like Gareth-Michael Skarka and his wife Laura, as well as the brilliant and enthusiastic Sarah Bredeman, who spoke on the NaNo panel with me. My network is ever-expanding, but more importantly, these conventions are becoming like big reunions.

As for Brandon Sanderson? Well, after closing ceremonies, we were standing around chatting, and he ended up right behind us. Bolstered by the buddy system, fellow LFK Writer Eliza Jaquays and I made our way up to him to say hello and get his autograph. The man was well-spoken and kind, and even had book plates in his jacket pocket since our books were already packed. I'm a bigger fan of him now than I was before.

My panels went well, I think. The panel on Working through the Bad Days wasn't entirely what I was expecting, but it turns out I have a lot of knowledge and experience, so I felt like I was able to speak authoritatively and supportively. I'll probably suggest a panel on mental health and art for next year, since it was a well-attended panel and I strongly believe the more we talk about mental illness, the less stigma there is associated with it.

The NaNoWriMo panel was kind of a mess, but it was fun. It was basically the panels on the panel and the panelists' writing groups in the audience. It became more of a "what does NaNo look like in your region" rather than an informative session. I had fun, though. I gave the KC municipal liaison my card, so hopefully we can talk joint write-in sometime this year.

Jack did an amazing job on all of his panels, sold several books, and promoted the heck out of Bottle Cap Publishing and the Confabulator Cafe. The Cafe has had many hits and a potential guest blogger since the convention. It's all very exciting.

Best of all, as always, my convention weekend has lit a creative fire in me. I'm moving ahead with projects and making plans. I'll give an update about those in another week or two. I've innundated you with enough information for now.

Thanks for stopping in! Hope you'll join me and my friends at ConQuesT 47 next year!

May Update: Beta Readers and ConQuest

ConQuest is in less than a week. The fated convention Jack and I look forward to every year with gusto. The convention that happens the weekend of Jack's birthday. The convention where our creative batteries get charged, make new friends in the business, and learn a ton of stuff about writing and publishing.

This year, we're actually speaking on panels. This is super exciting news! Jack is moderating four panels, participating on four, and doing a reading. He makes me feel like a slacker with my measly two panels, but I'm happy to be invited to speak at all, really. Our good friend R.L. Naquin will be on a few panels, as well. She and I are kind of dipping our toes in the water this year to see how things go. Maybe we'll be more involved next year. Jack basically did a cannonball into the deep end without even testing the waters. I'm excited for him, but I have a feeling I'm not going to see too much of him for three days!

I'll put together some sort of wrap-up after the weekend to let you know how it goes. There may even be pictures of us gals in our pajamas attending the brand new adults-only panels. Panels that start at 9pm and 10pm? That's past our bedtimes, so we're going appropriately dressed. Which may also include tiaras, depending on how much we've had to drink by that point. It should be fun. We've encouraged several of the LFK Writers to join us this year, so it'll be an awesome party.

If you are interested in the panel schedule, you can find it here.

Here's my speaking schedule:

Saturday, May 23
11:00 AM - Working Through the Bad Days
1:00 PM - NaNoWriMo: 30 days, 1 novel

I'll have swag for the NaNo panel, sent specially from NaNo HQ just for you. The rest of the weekend, I'll be following Jack and Rachel around to all of their panels and maybe stalking Brandon Sanderson a bit.

In other news, I have all but one of my critiques over Monsters of Lawrence back from my beta readers. I am equal parts excited about and dreading the amount of work this novel still needs. I'm overwhelmed, mostly. I'm not sure when I'll dive into edits for it. It might not be soon. It's going to take a lot of energy and creative inspiration.

Right now I need to work on something else for awhile. I don't know what yet. I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out.

In the meantime, I'm still over at the Confabulator Cafe every month writing short stories to their monthly prompt. So I'm not being completely idle!

April Update: Camp NaNoWriMo and stuff

Hi friends. Checking up on me, are you?

As you should.

I've committed to posting on my writing blog at least once a month, and the month of April got away from me. I spent a full week sick with two different viruses, but I'm finally feeling more like myself.

That's a thinly veiled excuse for the lack of writing I've gotten done. It's the April session of Camp NaNoWriMo right now, and I set my goal at an easy 20,000 words. I've written 3,000.

But I still have a week. I know I can write the words if I just sit and write. But I'm trying to make it a point to not do it that way anymore. I've done NaNo enough years to know I can write 60k+ words in a month. But I want to focus more on the quality of words, not the number. And so, if I don't get all 20k words written this month, it's ok. What's more important is getting my ideas for this story down.

I'm working on the third story in a series that I started writing as my very first unofficial NaNo back in 2004. The story wound down at about 15k words, but left a lot of other stories to tell. Over the years, I've rewritten that first version a few times, and I've settled into the idea that someday I'd like to have five "season" of five stories, kind of like a television show. I've sketched out the whole series, and while the early "seasons" aren't all that strong, I think it has potential to be awesome.

I've thought about maybe self-publishing these under a pseudonym someday. I like the characters and the silly adventures, but the writing isn't as strong as I'm capable of and they aren't all that factually solid. They're supposed to be fun, both to read and to write, but I don't want that to come back and reflect poorly on me, in case I ever get serious.

So, maybe in another few years, once I've gotten the first five episodes written, I will start releasing them into the world. Maybe I'll build up a whole life for my alter ego. I'm already playing with different names I could use.

That's what's going on in my life this month. Attempting to write a novella, struggling with my health, and still awaiting critiques from my beta readers on Monsters of Lawrence. My friends have affectionately given my novel the hashtag #LFKMonsters. It'd be cool if that caught on.

Things have been quiet on the editing front. I finished up work on my most recent special project from Luna Station Quarterly, my author friend asked for a month-long extension to beef up her next book, and a horror writer who is friends with the future husband approached me about proofreading an anthology he's putting together sometime in June. So I'm between projects. Which means I need to stop binge watching Netflix and get some writing done!

Up next, I've got more Towers of Kansas transcribing, another month of Confabulator Cafe flash fiction stories, and I'll probably have to start incorporating beta reader feedback on Monsters of Lawrence as my friends finish up. Lots of work to do.

And ConQuesT is next month. Still no schedule yet, but Jack and I were both approached to participate on panels, so I'll let you know where I'll be as soon as I hear.

The next couple of months should be exciting! Stay tuned for more updates.