Whenever events concerning the writing community have been put on, I’ve always found myself on the attendee side, enjoying the panels and booths available. Last week, I got to experience the other side as a volunteer. A few weeks ago, I received an email from the League of Utah Writers asking for people to work at our table during the local FanX (our Comic-Con). This wasn’t the usual request for volunteers. Most of the time, there are leadership positions that need to be filled or presenters to showcase topics for conferences. However, sitting at a table talking about the League sounded like something I could handle. I had no idea what to expect. Luckily, everyone involved was super nice and had done this before. After a short wait outside of the venue, I was brought to the table and given a quick rundown of what to talk about to anyoneRead More
July and most of August has come and gone like a storm where my family and I experienced intense illness and a painful personal loss. Thankfully, the storm has passed, and life is returning to its normal bound path. Except for a few particularly bad weeks, I have kept writing. It has been immensely satisfying to break into a new act in the story. I don’t want to give too much away, but my main characters have made some significant discoveries that will both come into play now and later in the story. The last I was told by the editor working to publish the They Walk Among Us anthology, our short stories were to be published in July. So far, I have not heard anything from him or anyone else involved in the project. I assume that this pandemic is to blame for the delay, but I plan onRead More
June has followed suit with this year’s theme of chaos and uncertainty. Thankfully, life has found a way to continue. I am so grateful that the League of Utah Writers decided to hold its Spring Conference in a virtual format this past May. I wanted to share a few highlights shared by various authors during their presentations, starting with J. T. Moore’s Dos and Don’ts of Writing People of Color. I have always strived to be respectful in my writing in regards to race and representation, but Moore’s presentation made me realize that I needed to be more conscious in my choices and descriptions of people of color. She advised writers to indicate a character’s race early on, even if the character is White. This will help avoid the White default that many readers envision when first introduced to a character. However, when describing people of color, Moore explained thatRead More
Even upside down, the world goes on spinning. I wanted to share an event going on later this month, as well as an update regarding “Night Watch.” Although we can’t meet in person, the League of Utah Writers is still holding its Spring Conference on May 23rd via technology. I’m excited for this year’s conference because I don’t have to pick and choose what classes and discussions I attend. I can go to all of them! The presentations will be prerecorded for everyone to view. There will be some live Q and As, manuscript feedback, and other fun things to attend live next Saturday as well for a more en media res feel. I’ll make sure to share some of the highlights of the conference before June rolls around. Registration for LUW members is $20, while normal registration is $50. Buy a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-spring-conference-league-of-utah-writers-registration-73177121741 *** The They Walk AmongRead More
This past week I finally feel like I’ve gotten a handle on things. Motivation to do more than work and sleep has broken through the fog my brain has been swimming in over the past month. I sincerely hope that I’m not alone in finding this new normal easier to traverse. What I want to share is an experience I had back in December, months before the insanity of 2020 ensued, that reminded of the costs of any level of fame and the impact actions can have on readers or potential readers. I was with a group of neighbors when they began talking about a fairly well-known author’s visit to the local elementary school. My interest quickly turned to dismay as one of my neighbors shared what she had been told about the encounter. Apparently, the visit wasn’t going as smoothly as the writer wanted. They became snippy and yelledRead More
Saying that these past couple of months feels like a whirlwind is a major understatement, but it sums up how I feel. I was finishing up my second week at my new job when the institution I work for announced that everyone would be working remotely effective immediately. A short time later, my area experienced a significant earthquake, and we are still feeling the occasional aftershock. Now, like most of the United States, I am staying at home as much as possible. When the advisory to stay home first began, I found I silver lining by imagining how much writing I could get done instead of commuting to work. I imagined that I would have so much more energy. But not surprisingly, things haven’t gone as planned. During the first part of this week I was chiding myself for not being as creatively productive as I wanted. I couldn’t understandRead More
The first book in The Baronessa Chronicles is just a bit closer to completion thanks to my novel writing class this semester and NaNoWriMo. As much as I hated that daily word count sometimes, I am grateful that I had motivation pushing me to keep working. Especially working through the throes of prepping for finals and graduation next month. And yes, I did win NaNoWriMo this year! I was only able to reach the goal of 50,000 words because I dug deep down and used every spare moment I could to write. For a while I’d not considered the train a place that I could write it, but with some strategic seat choosing, I found ways to make it work. Having time to write has been one of the few good things to come out of my four hour round trip commute. Reaching my goal also came about because ofRead More
Putting things on the internet can sometimes be frightening. Once it’s out there for other people to see, it becomes permanent. For the most part I don’t mind, but what gives me pause is knowing that putting my thoughts and my decisions into the world makes me accountable. That said, I’m still going to share a goal that I have set for my current project, (working title) Chasing Freedom. I’ve never considered myself a math enthusiast (okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve avoided math like the flu my entire school career). I think math is beautiful and necessary, I have just never felt confident in that subject. However, for some reason I have this inane drive to calculate schedules, percentages to completion, things like that. Using that weirdness, I have made a goal to finish the rough draft of Chasing Freedom in 150 work week days. That means I plan toRead More
One of the few reasons I love summer and will brave the summer heat is because of the abundance of writer’s conferences. Last week was the Summer Writers Symposium, this week it’s Fyrecon; three full days of writing presentations, panels, and round tables! There is a small amount of pride I feel knowing that my university has teamed up with local authors and artists to give emerging individuals a chance to learn from those who have ‘made it.’ Go Weber! I won’t be able to post everything I learned over the weekend, but I’ll share some highlights from the conference. As I’ve listened to writing instructors, writing podcasts, and read books on the craft of writing, I’ve been told to use my second and third draft to improve the story I’ve written. While at Fyrecon, I had the chance to see a step by step example of one way toRead More
I’ve always agreed that Logan, Utah is beautiful, an eclectic historic city framed by towering green mountains. The Utah State University campus was no exception. It was nothing short of refreshing to spend a day at this lush location learning with other writers how to improve our craft. The 2019 Summer Writers Symposium was a success! I will definitely be marking my calendar for next year’s installment, and I highly recommend it to any writers in the Utah valley area looking to connect with other writers. There were so many amazing tips given and advice said that I almost couldn’t keep up while taking notes. I am more than happy with what I got though, and I plan on referring to them when the need arises. Star Coulbrooke, the poet laureate of Logan, gave the keynote speech for the symposium. Her poetry was engaging to say the least. Each pieceRead More
Well, I’m still working on posting consistently on a specific day every week. One day I’ll get there, but I keep letting it slip my mind. However, practice makes perfect, and perseverance leads to success. The next couple of weeks will be full of fun stuff as I report on my experiences at the Summer Writer’s Symposium and Fyrcon this month! My goal is to post as soon as each conference is over so that my thoughts and feelings are fresh. Hopefully I remember to take some pictures. I’ll also be working more on my steampunk novel once July arrives. By the time I enter my last semester at Weber State, I want to have a few chapters ready for my novel writing class. A quick update about the short story I’ve been working on: the first draft is finished! Right now, the working title is Strictly Nightlife. Since IRead More
Although graduation from Weber State University is still a little over six months away, I have been thinking about what life will be like once I’m not in class every day with aspiring writers and published instructors. Graduation also means that I need a career to step into. Both of these are more than a little intimidating. After spring semester ended this year, I decided that I wasn’t going to waste my summer sleeping in; I was going to start networking. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have discovered that there is a lot out there for me to do. I kicked my search off by going to a Fan Expo that was hosted by my former high school at the beginning of last month. While there, I had a chance to talk with a few authors and a couple of editors involved with local publishing companies. ItRead More