Kansas City Writers Workshop

It's been a whirlwind weekend for me.

On Thursday, my wife discovered an all-day workshop being held on Saturday. She told me I needed to check it out and go. I'm not one for last-minute changes, and, to be honest, I wasn't all that excited. I trust her recommendations, so I checked it out online. A quick email to the coordinator confirmed that they still had an open spot, and my wife and I changed our weekend plans. That's how I found myself driving up to KC on Saturday morning for the Kansas City Writers Workshop.

The format was really interesting. They had one large room where Marissa Corvisiero taught most of the time. She talked about publishing options, querying, pitching, building a platform, and general author advice. The topics were basic, but she was willing to field any and all questions. After teaching 150 people for over 4 hours she was spent, but did a great job.

The main attraction for me were the seven agents taking pitches in the other room. I couldn't believe that so many of them were accepting Middle Grade. Normally, conferences have just one or maybe two people who represent MG, but this time there were four. They ran pitches every 10 minutes, and people constantly flowed in and out of the main session.

Because I signed up so late, I was only able to get an official pitch session with one agent at the very end of the day, but I was able to approach and talk to the other three. They were all interested in my work, so now I get to prepare a bunch of packages to send out this week.

There is no rest for the weary.

Many of you know that, up to now, I've been primarily a hobby writer. I have demanding, full-time job, and I wanted to be there for my kids. As they've gotten older they still need my support, but they need less of my time. I wasn't planning on making the transition from hobby to career until my youngest was in middle school, but this conference was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, I'm starting my transition now. Wish me luck!

Master of Bear-emonies

The Midwest Storymakers Conference is always a highlight of my year. I get to see old friends and meet wonderful new people. And this year was no exception.

If I had one suggestion for beginning writers it would be to write, write a lot, write some more, then keep writing. If I had two suggestions, the second one would be to go to a writers conference to meet other writers like you and learn from them.

Thanks to our conference partners this year, the Johnson County Public Library and their Read Local committee, we held the conference at the education center of the Antioch branch of the library. I never knew that the library did so many different things in the community. Three cheers for libraries!!!

This year, I wasn't in charge of the Audio/Visual equipment. It felt a little strange, at times, being able to attend classes and not worry about making the rounds to check if projectors were behaving, clickers working, or giving 5-minute warnings to the instructors. It was both refreshing and a bit awkward. I've been doing the A/V for several years, so I always had that aren't-you-forgetting-something-important feeling.

They didn't let me completely off the hook. I was the Master of Ceremonies, and it was a blast! I had so much fun finding humorous ways to make announcements or introduce the schedule. If you've seen me at a conference you know how much I like to interact with people, so MC was the perfect job. I got to meet everyone.

To be honest, it was also stressful to get everything together and figure out how to make a bunch of different things fit together. And there are always last-minute changes that got whispered to me right before I went on. That's just the job of MC. But it was so much less stressful than A/V.

This year, we had a power-packed lineup of instructors: 

Cathy Maxwell, Danyelle Ferguson, Don Carey, Gregg Luke, Heather Justesen, Janette Rallison, Jennifer Moore, Julie Ford, Laurie LC Lewis, Lisa Mangum, Lisa Swinton, Rebecca Bellison, Sarah Eden, Tamara Hart Heiner, Traci Hunter Abramson, Samantha Millburn, and Scott Slocum.

I know that's a lot of people in a dense list, but they are all awesome and I didn't want to forget anyone.

Now, another wonderful Midwest conference is done, and I'm already looking forward to next year. I don't know what my job will be, or if I will be given one--won't that be weird, to not have anything to do?

And I'll leave you with a bit of an inside joke. If you don't get it, don't worry. Enjoy.

LDStorymakers Midwest Wrap Up

This is my favorite poster for the conference. I was going for a comic book cover look. I think it turned out quite nice. I'm sad to see it go into the history books, so I'm going to use it one more time for this post.

The conference was awesome. It ran smooth thanks to the planning of the committee, the expertise of the presenters, and the work of the hotel staff. Thanks everyone.

I met a lot of new people and of course got to hang out with old friends. After going to these conferences for so many years, they begin to fell like a family reunion . . . where you get to learn new skills.

This year, I was in charge of the A/V again. As with most things, the second time you do it is easier than the first. This is also why second drafts are better than first drafts. It's nice that I can put my technical skills to good use in the writing community instead of my usual job--which is ending conversations by using too much technical jargon or really bad puns.

Now that the conference is over I feel a sense of sadness knowing that I won't get to see everyone for many months, but that sadness isn't a sharp as it used to be. Not because I don't feel it, I do. It's mostly because there is so much work that goes into the conference that the sadness is tempered by a whew-it's-done-I need-a-break feeling.

We'll take a bit of time off and then start on next year's conference because meeting everyone, learning more about this craft of writing, and building a community of writers is well worth the effort. I hope to see you all there next year.

The First Storymakers Midwest Conference

It's done.

It feel so good and so sad to say that.

The LDStorymakers Midwest conference is over. I had a wonderful time. It's always a pleasure to get together with fellow writers to learn from each other and strengthen our friendships.

The conference wasn't too big which was nice. We had about 40 people and an awesome group of presenters, so everyone got to rub shoulders with some very talented authors. Just take a look at this list of awesomeness: Traci Abramson, Don Carey, Karen Hoover, Heather Justesen, Josi Kilpack, Laurie Lewis, Lisa Mangum and Steve Westover. The whole thing was organized by Danyelle Ferguson and Lynn Parsons, and it was . . . well . . . awesome!

I'm still gathering my thoughts, but here are a few things I learned:

My view of dialog was too narrow. I need to open my mind to a new way of thinking to take my writing to the next level. Thanks Traci.

Authors can be great role models for children. Even when they do teach your daughter how to disrupt an entire class from the back of the room and supply the laser pointer to do it. Thanks Karen.

It's awesome to have friends who inspire you to be better, celebrate with you when you succeed, support you through the hard times, and are willing to tell you how it is when you need them.

Being a Tech Guy isn't so bad when you get great advice and work with good equipment. Thanks BJ.

Music brings people together and can be used to teach writing techniques. Thanks Don & Karen.

Average results require average effort. Good results require double-average effort. Great results require double-good efforts. This conference was great. Thanks, Danyelle, Heather, Don, and Lynn.

When you get writers around a dinner table, you'd be suprised at the mind-boggling variety of conversation topics that come up. From science to history to teenager's habits to the best place to hide a body.

I'm not quite ready to buy a Lamborghini. There are still a few things I need to do to keep my house in order. But there are things I can do today to get ready for that adventure someday. Thanks Lisa.

Great friends are worth their weight in gold. Great writer friends are worth their weight plus three-or-four-boxes-of-books weight in gold.

For everyone who went to the conference. It was so much fun to meet you. For those who weren't there, I hope to see you next year.

The Best Writing Investment I Ever Made

In 2005 I attended my first writers conference.

It was a small LDStorymakers conference, held in a little, brown theater in Springville, Utah. In fact, it was held in the Little Brown Theater. Less than a hundred people attended, which was good because if there were any more, I don't think we'd all fit.

At that time, I didn't have aspirations of becoming a writer or an author, but that changed.

I learned about the craft of writing, the business of writing, and the joys (and pains) of writing. That was interesting and all, but mostly I met people--kindred spirits. I formed relationships at that conference that changed my life for the better.

Now's the part where I drop a bunch of names. Just remember, back then many of these people were just starting their careers. And even today, there are still a few undiscovered gems. BJ Rowley (who is releasing an awesome ebook later this week), Darvell Hunt, Heather Justesen, Josi S. Kilpack, Julie Wright, James Dashner (he wasn't a NYT Bestseller back then), J. Scott Savage, the award-winning Marta Smith, Anita Stansfield, Rachel Ann Nunes, Candace Salima, Rebecca Shelley, and Tristi Pinkston. (I'm sure I forgot someone. I'm sorry.)

I'm not just name dropping. Each of these people have personally impacted my life. They aren't just names or acquaintances, they're friends and cohorts in storytelling.

The people I met and the things I learned at that small, one day conference nudged the course of my life ever so slightly. Because of that shift back in 2005, I'm a writer today, and I have some of the best, quirkiest, awesomest friends in the world.

I tell you this because on September 15th, LDStorymakers Midwest conference is happening in Kansas City. There will be less than 100 people, so it will be more intimate than the main conference in Utah. It's just one Saturday, so no huge time commitment. It's not as expensive as the multi-day, main conference. And some of my friends are teaching and speaking.

There are still slots open, so tell all your friends and family. Especially pass the word to people who aren't writers. You never know what might happen. I'm excited to read someone else's story in 7 years.

Here's the link to the registration page.

* Isn't this a great picture of two friends? And I really want to see what they're looking at off camera. RAM shared this photo on Flickr. He has more beautiful shots from Lebanon you should check out.