Post-conference recovery

I always think I'm going to do a post about the Muse conference once it's over, and I never get around to it. I was tentatively diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a number of years ago--I say tentatively, because by the time I'd gotten to see a doctor and we'd had the second blood test done, the titer levels for the marker virus had gone down, and she wasn't prepared to make a firm diagnosis based on that. It would be handy to have the label to point at, but subsequent years have shown me that she wouldn't have been wrong to make the diagnosis.

As a result, intense activity can leave me flattened for a while. The Muse conference is a pretty intense experience. The conference runs twenty-four hours a day for seven days, with instructors and students coming together from different parts of the world. Students and instructors come and go as life and available time allow. The message board the conference is held on is always available. The first couple of years, I tried taking some workshops because there were three of us involved in teaching the suspense workshop, and we really didn't need three of us for that. I have a three inch binder filled with information gleaned from the first conference. The second year, I really overreached, and took so many workshops that it took me nearly a month to recover from the stress of trying to do too much. I believe I took one workshop last year, and none this year. Last year and this year, there were only two of us teaching the suspense workshop, so that's where my energy had to go.

JD Webb, my workshop partner, and I give a lot of feedback in our workshop. We both try to reply to all the participants' assignments, but since I don't touch horror or the supernatural, JD is the one who handles those. We encourage everyone to look at everyone else's feedback as well as their own, since we've only got a week to help them see what makes suspense and how to incorporate it in their own work. It can be draining, but it's worth it to see those little virtual light bulbs coming on when they get it and start working it into their assignments.

We'll be doing the workshop again next year, of course. We'll also be doing a workshop for a chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The pace should be a little less hectic, since we'll be spreading it out over a two week period instead of trying to cram it all into one week. That workshop is scheduled for mid-December 2010, so we'll have time to recover from the Muse conference beforehand. More on that at a future date, though.

If you're interested in the Muse Online Writers Conference, hop on over to the conference website and take a look at the workshops that were offered this year. Take a look at the testimonials. Sometimes people will register for the conference, and then back out at the last moment, pointing to the fact that the conference is free while reciting that old standby, "You get what you pay for." And that's true. You get the efforts of a whole lot of industry professionals, who volunteer their time for a week to help those coming along behind them. All it costs you is a little time and effort of your own. At the end of the week, when you've got that binder full of notes, you won't think that's a bad trade-off.

New Book Drawing

Thea Phipps's second book in her Bella Wildeve humorous mystery series, The Doll in the Wall, is due out in November, and she's celebrating with a giveaway. Three signed copies of the new book will be given away, one each to three winners drawn from among those who register on her forum or leave a comment on her blog. The drawing will be held November 7, so if you enjoy mysteries with humor, an interesting heroine, and a cast of quirky supporting characters, get over there and register for a chance to win.

Thea's website

Blood Money Cover Art

Somehow it all feels more real when you've got that cover art. Of course, it will be even more real once I've got a copy of the printed book in my hands.

If you click on the cover, a slightly larger version of it will come up.

And we have a cover!

I just got my first look at the cover art for Blood Money. As soon as I know that it's all right to go ahead and post it, I'll put up a thumbnail of it here.

Muse Conference starts on Monday. I doubt I'll be posting much during that week.

~~Until later...

Picture Imperfect is online

Mysterical-E's Fall 2009 issue is up now, and among the stories on offer is "Picture Imperfect", by yours truly. The story comes in at around 20,000 words, so make sure you have a few minutes before you head over to read it.

Current read: Just started All Shots, by Susan Conant. Haven't gotten far enough into it to know if I like it yet or not.

~~'til later...

Leaves aren't the only things falling in the Autumn

This time of year, when the fall allergies are just kicking off, my energy levels drop significantly. Oh, and there's this whole brain thing going on, too. I always knew the allergies were affecting my ability to think, but I didn't realize how much until I took one of those online IQ tests for fun on a good day, and then repeated it a few days later, under the influence of an allergy attack. There was a twelve-point drop. You'd think having taken the test only a few days before, there wouldn't be that much difference, but the brain-cloud from the allergies affected me that much.

It wouldn't be such a bad thing, except thinking is involved in...oh...pretty much every part of daily life. My vocabulary diminishes. Plus, my common sense seems to go on vacation. I'm more prone to saying things without giving careful thought to the words I choose, which means I mean one thing when I speak, but it comes out in a way that people think I mean something else. There are reasons I try to keep my mouth shut this time of year. I'm never certain what new ways I'm going to find of unintentionally offending everyone around me.

My current WIP is a Patty short story. It seems to be about my speed right now. More on that later, though.

I found this on one of the sites I frequent--a list of Dan Brown's 20 worst sentences. To be honest, I've never read any of Dan Brown's work, other than what's in this article, so I'm not saying anything about his abilities as a storyteller, but this article does give those of us trying to get a share of the readers' attention some pause for thought.

Recently there was an article posted by a well-known script writer, in which he explained with expletive-laced clarity why he doesn't read unsolicited material from unpublished authors. Not long after that, John Scalzi posted a similar article on his own site, minus the expletives. The thoughts included are enlightening. If you're thinking about tracking down a well-known author and asking for him/her to read your work, read this first.

The Muse Online Writers Conference is coming up in about two weeks--immediately before, during, and after, I will probably not be doing much updating of the blog, so be warned that there may not be anything new to read for a bit.

Current read: Malpractice in Maggody, by Joan Hess. This is the first of the Arly Hanks mysteries I've read. I've read all the Claire Malloy ones thus far.

~~Until later...

Book Drawing

Thea Phipps, author of Charades With A Lunatic, is holding a drawing for three signed copies of her novel, to be given away to three individuals who register on her forum by September 25, 2009. This book, a humorous mystery, is a fun read, and I highly recommend that you get yourselves over there and register for a chance to get one.

Thea's website

The link to the forum is in the sidebar on the right side of her blog.

~~~