Goodbye, Hello! The journey continues

2015 was a good year. Some highlights:

• The rewrite of my novel, Queen of Heka is within 50 pages of being done.  Many thanks to my editor, Jason Sitzes, who is the cold, clear voice in my ear when I get silly. A few agents and one publisher have requested a full manuscript.
• Started seriously researching and thinking about the second novel, Reeds of Time.
• "Pulled the trigger" and became a part time employee so I can devote more time to writing. I'm not used to the new schedule. Yet. It still rather feels like I'm on vacation. 
• This blog grew from 400 visits in 2014 to 15,000+ this year as well as becoming a featured item in Tour Egypt and getting a "like" from Zawi Hawass. 
• As always, the support of my fantastic children and friends continue to lift me up.

So, what's up for 2016?

• Finish those final 50 pages. Duh!
• Establish a better writing schedule, particularly for those extra two days a week I now have.
• Simplify, simplify, simplify. I spent  New Year's day with an old friend who told me a bit about moving her parents into a nursing home and the even more stressful task of dealing with a lifetime of family possessions. We agreed this is not a tradition we want to pass on. Even before the holidays and this chat, I felt the weight of my possessions. I have boxes of things I haven't opened for two moves. Seriously. I need to lighten the load.
• Move up to 20,000 visits to my blog in 2016. Aim low; achieve high is my motto.
• Get back to my garden. When I left Texas for Illinois, one of the things I looked forward to was easier gardening. While I planted a few herbs and other things, gardening definitely took a back seat to settling in. One of the first things on the 2016 list is to plant blueberry bushes beneath the Eye of Horus. As this photo shows, that area is a bit bland.
  
  
• Prepare for and enjoy the two writing conferences I've signed up for this year with my fellow writer and conference attendee, Ellan.
• I am beyond excited about the Iceland Writers Retreat in April. I've wanted to go to Iceland since I helped my son with a sixth grade research project. This seemed to good an opportunity to pass up. My classes look amazing.
  
  Neel Mukherjee: Changing the point of view  How does a writer denote this? When we read something in a novel, through whose eyes are we seeing that world, the writer’s, the narrator’s, or a character’s? What marks the distinction between these three? Should a scene stick to a single point of view or can you have a roving point of view, moving from character to character within one scene or even within one paragraph?
  
  Gerður Kristný: Mythologies Classical mythology and the great body of works founded on myths from the Mediterranean formed the motive reservoir of Western literature for centuries. With better knowledge of other cultures and traditions, modern writers began to use non-occidental mythologies as a source of inspiration and the narrative power of the myth often enables them to shape their stories and transform the mundane to the metaphysical. Using the pre-Christian Nordic myths preserved in the Prose Edda or Snorri’s Edda from the 13th Century, the participants will rewrite an ancient story of their choice in a modern context.
  
  Kate Williams: Finding your voice in the historical novel The historical novel is currently enjoying a renaissance. We are fascinated by the past. But how can we best capture the voices of the past? What are our responsibilities to historical fact and veracity? What about the sources - if we can't find any, can we invent them? Unless we have someone's private diary, we can't say exactly what they are thinking - but a novel requires us to go deep into our protagonist's consciousness. And can we explore the consciousness of someone who lived in a completely different time? This workshop explores how to write a historical novel, considering questions of research and sources, style, construction, voice - and most of all, how to get into that historical person's head.
  
  Neel Mukherjee. Addition and Subtraction One of the great strengths of fiction, unsurpassed by any other form, is its capacity for building a world. How does one describe a world in all its details and density? What did Henry James mean when he talked of the ‘solidity of specification’ in his essay, ‘The Art of the Novel’? How much detail is enough and when is it too much, or too scant? How much should a writer put in and how much should she take out? This workshop will address the subject of physical details and world-building.
  
  Miriam Toews: First-Person Fiction When your narrator is also the protagonist in your novel, there is greater pressure on the author to write with distinctive style, to possess a strong character voice. The first-person narrator is always an insufficient witness to the story he or she sets out to tell, but how to acknowledge this in a way that helps the reader interpret the meaning of what is related? In this workshop we will discuss what makes a first-person narration work.
• Also excited to participate in the Historical Novel Society conference in Oxford, England, where we can expect to see a reenactment of the Norman Invasion. The list of workshops is not yet available, but IT'S OXFORD. We're taking a side trip to Highclere Castle, which most people know as Downton Abbey. While I'm a big Downton fan, I have another reason for going. Highclere is the family home of the  Earl of Carnarvon. The Fifth Early of Carnovan financed the Tut excavation. I'm hoping to see the Egyptian Room. Afterwards, we're going to Scotland or Italy.

Writers Retreat Workshop 2015: the "writing vacation that can change your life"

So to be honest, my initial reason for going to the Writers Retreat Workshop 2015 in San Antonio: my rather brilliant editor, Jason Sitzes, is the workshop director, and he suggested I attend. While he might disagree that I do everything he tells me to do, I always give his advice serious consideration.  There I am in the second row.

Some more honesty. This year, I've become a somewhat jaded conference/workshop attendee. I've been to a lot of them. I'm a little burned out. I've heard a lot of this stuff before, and (while I'm still not perfect -- just ask Jason) much of it just doesn't apply to me anymore. Still, my friend Ellan says any workshop/retreat/conference that offers one nugget of insight is worth its weight in gold. If so, the Writer's Retreat made me a wealthy woman.

Meeting and working with Richard Thomas author and editor of Dark House Press was an undiluted pleasure. I was skeptical when I  read his bio. After all, he's a neo-noir guy, and I write historical fantasy. How could he possibly help me? Right? OK. Wrong. Richard was one of  the most enthusiastic and helpful writers I met at this workshop and maybe anywhere. I was in his critique group and had a private critique on the new novel I've been mulling over. As with all new projects, I'm in a bit of a dither about where to start. After talking with Richard a couple of times, I think I'm straightened out or at least heading in the direction of straightened out. He was also amazingly encouraging about my new project. I liked working with him so much, we discussed him traveling downstate to do a workshop for the Quincy Writers' Guild. I'm working on finding the money to fund that. Richard was a very big nugget.

My second nugget was Carol Doughterty. Carol began in the Writer’s Retreat Workshop in the early 90’s and then changed her focus from writing fiction to writing as a Zen practice. She lived at and worked for the San Francisco Zen Center, was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest, and earned a Master of Divinity at Naropa University. Every morning, Carol led us in a meditation and then a writing exercise somewhat akin to the morning pages in the Artist's Way. I've done morning pages before with varying degrees of success; but with Carol's direction and exercises, I came to a major realization about a character who was well on his way to becoming a stereotype. I also got the germ of a couple of scenes from those sessions. Well, worth the price of admission. She's also a marvelous editor, as I found out in my 1:1 session with her. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I became so involved in talking with her, I left my beloved jeans jacket behind. It's a work of art I've been embellishing for about 10 years now, and I rarely let it out of my sight. She was that impressive.

There were many other nugget-worthy moments. Too many to mention them all, but here's a sampling. Les Edgerton's scene by scene analysis of Thelma and Louise. The night-owl sessions where things sometimes got a little weird. (How to write a damn good sex scene comes to mind; I'll never think of asparagus in the same way.) Indulging in our workshop tradition of raiding Walgreens for mini-bottles of wine with Ellan. Watching Letterman's retirement. Stumbling to my room and agreeing with a young acolyte that yes, this is somewhat like all those conversations in college in which we discovered the meaning of life. Meeting some interesting writers and reconnecting with old writer-friends. Feeling very well taken care by Gail Provost Stockwell who worried over my "workshop rash." Soaking up the atmosphere of the Oblate Retreat Center and finding its gift shop where I discovered the Virgin of Guadalupe that I've been searching for. May she inspire many afternoons of writing on my front porch.

And last but not least, Larry Brill, a writer and videographer, documented the day and a half Donald Maass spent at the retreat.



Registration is open for 2016. So if  you want to bump your writing to the next level, now is the time.

Where, when, and why I'll be there: Writers' Conferences 2015

After all these years, I finally figured out that writers' conferences and retreats tend to be held in the first half of the year... with some notable exceptions. Usually, I start thinking about them in March when many are already full. In 2015, I had a plan and a partner in crime. . .er writing. . . to go with me.

Pause for shout-out to my good friend Ellan whom I met at the week-long  Writing the Breakout Novel in 2013. Since then, Ellan and I have attended a few writing conferences together. As a result, we became adept at the all-important wine in the bar, on the veranda, and in the dining room writing experience. This year, we're thinking of personalized name badges to sum up our "special" attributes. (Yep, I'm Ms. Short and Stocky Red Wine.)

BTW: If you haven't experienced a week of Writing the Breakout Novel with the phenomenal Don Maass, Lorin Oberweger, Brenda Windberg, and Jason Sitzes, you should. (There are other staff members, but they weren't at the retreat I attended.) Your writing will thank you.

Windy City Retreat 2015!
Where: Chicago, IL

When: March 13 -14
Why: Writing 21st Century Fiction, an 8-hour Master Class with Donald Maass. OK, three reasons. It's close. It's cheap. It's the Donald. I've had two sessions with him, the previously mentioned Writing the Breakout Novel and a three-day seminar in Austin, Tension on Every Page. I decided I needed a refresher, and this seemed just about perfect. 

Choose your writing adventure Pikes Peak Writes Conference
Where: Colorado Springs, CO
When: April 24-26
Why: I'll just come right out and say it. Pikes Peak is my favorite writing conference. This will be the fifth or sixth time I've attended. The people are great. The presenters are always fascinating and provide timely information. Plus, it's one of the best organized conferences I've ever attended, and I've gone to a few. I've always appreciated how the presenters are put at various tables during meals, and the table has a placard telling which presenter is at that table. I soaked up words of wisdom from and chatted with Ann Bishop, Kevin Anderson, Margaret Coel, and Carol Berg. It's enough to make any fan girl's heart go pitty-pat.

This year, the standard pitch sessions have been upgraded to A Query 1-on-1 appointment, which is an 8-minute one-on-one meeting between you and an editor or agent, who will review your query letter and answer questions.

Writers Retreat Workshop

Where: Bandera, TX

When:  May 15-22
Why: So, if you look at the link, you'll think I'm shooting for an All Don/All the time experience in 2015.  Actually, I decided to sign up in 2014 before the Donald was announced. My amazing and mostly brilliant editor/coach Jason Sitzes is the workshop director. Although Jason might not agree, he kept me on track through 2014, and my writing has greatly improved. So if he thinks it's a good retreat for me, I'm all in. Plus, he thinks I'll learn a lot from Les Edgerton, who is an intriguing character to say the least. He might have been my dad, if my dad had been a writer instead of on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.

I plan to finish the final-ish edits for Queen of Heka by then and take a short break from the Isis story before I start on the second novel, Lord of the Horizon. So, keeping my fingers crossed I have enough done on Reeds of Time for a good first critique. 

An added benefit, the workshop is near Austin. I'm going down a week early and will work from my son's office as well as visit kids, old friends, and professional colleagues.

Historical Novel Society Conference
This conference alternates between the US and England. (They just added an Australian component, too.) I've attended the US conference before, and I loved it. Next year, I REALLY want to go to the one in England. Or Australia.

Now, I say this with all possible respect and affection: this conference can be nerd central. Where else would I find a session like this? (Color me excited!)

Elizabeth Peters, Egyptology, and Historical Fiction Today
For the first half of our discussion, we will share information about the author Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters), the field of Egyptology (and Mertz’s role in the field), and how the work of Barbara Mertz/Elizabeth Peters continues to influence contemporary writers of historical fiction.
Bill Cherf explains who Barbara Mertz was, sharing her education and dissertation subject, and her two popular histories. Bill explains how Mertz’s approach to Egyptology was unique and refreshing. Janis Susan Patterson discusses how Barbara Mertz “became” Elizabeth Peters, the pen name beloved by historical fiction and mystery readers around the world. How did this author leverage her considerable experience in Egyptology to become one of the best-known names in her secondary field, that of the novelist? Libbie Hawker shares how the influence of Mertz/Peters still impacts ancient Egyptian and archaeological fiction today—how this author paved the way for two flourishing subgenres that have consistently enthralled readers from the publication of Elizabeth Peters’s first novel through 2015 (and beyond!)

Along with the usual manuscript prep, social media, and getting an agent workshops, there are also sessions on using a broadsword, midwifery, and regency dancing for those who aspire to be historically accurate. (And really, you SHOULD strive to be somewhere in the vicinity of the historical accuracy ballpark. I won't go into my rant about Exodus: Gods and Kings again.)

Looking forward to 2016, I hope to go the Historical Novel Society Conference in England, the Iceland Writers Retreat in Reykjaik, and to a Break Out Novel Intensive. Money being what it is, I'll probably only make two of them at best. Decisions. Decisions.