Tuesday, April 1, 2008

March Mish-Mash


March has been a rather full and interesting month. I had the opportunity to attend the LDStorymakers writing conference on march 21st and 22nd. My brain felt like it had been stuffed with packing peanuts after two days of writing euphoria and I have to admit I was flying high by the time I left late Saturday night. It was wonderful to see all my writing friends again and finally put faces to so many online names.

There were two highlights for me:
first, during the announcement of the short story contest winners, I was surprised to hear my name. For the second year I took first in the fantasy category. It blew me away. The validation has been invaluable, I must admit. After all the struggles of the past year, I guess I kind of forgot that I could write. Winning two years in a row has made me realize that this is something I can do. I'm not a faker. I can write-or so the judges say. My friend Jewel also took first place in the mystery/suspense category and last year she took first in historical fiction. It was pretty neat to see her up there.

The second highlight was having the privilege to attend the Whitney Awards and see so many of the authors I admire (and some of whom I know) attend and even win. There are too many to name, but every one of those authors in attendance deserved to be recognized.

I'm feeling some pressure in regards to writing right now, and it's a bit scary, I must admit. Last year when "The Sapphire Flute" took first, I had a finished manuscript, even if it did need some serious editing (Thanks Tristi!!!). This year I wrote "Gnomebody Gnows" specifically for the contest, never expecting to win. I'm embarrassed to admit it was submitted as a first draft with only punctuation and errors checked, and even then I missed some goofs. I have nothing else. One chapter and how can I submit that? I've never been in this position before, so I decided to do something about it.

I signed up for two BIAM's (Book In A Month) starting today. I'll duplicate the word count for both locations, but I needed as much support as I could get, so I signed up at Latter Day Authors and with Tristi's Challenges. My goal is for 2,000 to 3,000 words per day, six days a week. It's a lofty goal for me. I know I can do it if I can make myself actually type when I sit at the computer. I've got the ideas, now I just need some inspiration and courage to get it down. So, please, anyone, if you've got a kick in the pants, or some words of encouragement, or even a carrot to throw my way, please do! I need to do this-for me, more than anything-to remind myself that I can write when I want to bad enough. I'll put a thing up on the sidebar tracking my progress and hopefully it will rise some every day.

One last thing-a big thank you to all the LDStorymakers who made the conference such an amazing experience. It gets better every single year and is the one conference I can say without hesitation, I will NEVER miss. You guys are awesome!


Quote of the Day:

Let me walk through the fields of paper
touching with my wand
dry stems and stunted
butterflies....


~Denise Levertov, "A Walk through the Notebooks"

5 comments:

Tristi Pinkston said...

Kick! Kick! Kick!!

You can do it, Karen!

C. Michelle Jefferies said...

If this is the story you and I talked about from Tooele to Provo it is an awesome story. You have the ideas go fo it!!!!!

Michelle

Marta O. Smith said...

I read your first chapter as I was lurking on the Authors Incog site. It pulled me in and I'm hooked! Now please finish the rest of story so I can see what happens.

Karen E. Hoover said...

LOL!!! You guys are awesome. Thanks for the kick, Tristi.

Michelle, my brain is too foggy to remember which story we talked about. I'll e-mail you the first chapter and you can tell me! lol

Marta, you made my day. I'm working on it as fast as I can. I'm hoping for a first draft by the end of april. Keep your fingers crossed for me?

Melinda said...

Karen,

The more you do it the easier it gets. And you can do it!

Or you'll answer to me! (How's that for a threat?)

You can't not do it. We need your gift of writing in our lives. The world needs your stories. Only you can write them. (I could try, but it wouldn't be nearly as good.)

:-) Hugs and Kicks,
Mel