Friday, January 30, 2015

Friday Free-For-All: Conference Season

Conference season is in full swing throughout the U.S. While I'll be refocusing my own efforts towards completing projects and revising others, there are some noteworthy conferences and workshops coming up that I'd like to share with you.

April 17-19 - SCBWI Western Washington Spring Conference 
It's the 24th Annual event and as always well worth the time. Held at the Marriott in Redmond Town Center and boasting roundtable critiques and in-depth sessions, it's a great place to meet some of the best people in the world - children's writers!

May 15-16 - NCWA Writers Renewal
This year's keynote speaker is Angela Hunt. If you're a writer interested in the Christian market this is a great place to network and meet other writers on a similar path. Always quality breakout sessions.

May 3-10 - Highlights Foundation: Writing the Unreal
This one's been on my bucket list for a few years and some day I'll get there!
Anne Ursu and Laura Ruby lead this popular Whole Novel workshop for Speculative fiction writers. I've heard nothing but great things about it.

July 13-17 - Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop
Labeled an "intensive workshop" by the facilitator/host David Greenburg, this workshop is set along the beautiful Oregon coast. Five full days of writing, onsite critique and feedback and in-depth workshop sessions. Two editors and one agent on hand to guide you through the publishing jungle.

July 16-19 - PNWA Conference
This popular conference hosted by the Pacific Northwest Writers' Association celebrates its 60th year. This year's speakers include Andre Dubus III, J.A. Jance and Nancy Kress.

Hope to see you at one of these events! What's on your list for events this year?


Monday, January 26, 2015

A Long Time Coming, or Shaking Off the Blog Cobwebs

A belated welcome to 2015. I don't know about you but I'm ready for big things this year. I've made some lofty goals (mixed in with the attainable ones) and believe this can be a breakthrough writing year.

For regular readers of the blog, thanks for your faithfulness over the past 18+ months where it's lied dormant. It was never my intention to abandon the blog completely but as many of you know life does invade on our writing lives. I made a conscious effort to focus my efforts elsewhere all the time seeking to return here one day.

I'll share some of my 2015 writing goals in a future post. For the time being, let's take a look at what I'll be tackling this year with the blog:

- Dreaming big
I'm ready to dream ENORMOUS dreams this year, how about you? It takes more than dreaming to make for a successful reality. Let's delve into what hard work it involves and challenge each other to be better...and to reach those dreams.

- Commitment to your craft, your characters and yourself
Like most writers, I'm looking to get better with each word I write and every story I complete. As I look to 2015 as a banner year, I also realize how challenging it will be to up my game. At the same time, commitment occurs on many levels within our lives. I'll be focusing on several of those I believe are essential to success.

- Where the Money is in writing (and why I'm looking in that direction myself). Becoming a published writer can mean more than selling a book. Writing is a broad field with many options, some of which I'm exploring this year to supplement my day job income.

- Fostering community. Not only do I look to do that through local groups and other social media, but I really hope to engage readers on this very blog in 2015. It's something I've desired for a long time and am going to do my best to facilitate worthwhile discussions by writing engaging content.

- WIP Wednesdays return. This is simply a brief blog where I detail how well I'm hitting my personal goals and ask you to share as well. It's one way to keep myself accountable.

- Interviews. This will run the gambit from writers of all genres and backgrounds, to editors, agents and other experts in the writing business.

Looking forward to this journey and sharing it with you. So hop back on board. I'm ready to roll.