Crap! Back to work.

    Crap! I gotta get to work on my stuff. Sure, I’ve done a little but not enough. The summer has gotten away without getting much done on my manuscripts let alone any of the other projects lurking about. I catch glimpses of them daily. The boxes of flooring hunch in the corner of the front-room. The new trim waits patiently in the garage. The wall around the plot next to the patio begs to be filled with dirt. Errk! I need to win Mega-Millions and hire a handyman.

    Okay, enough whining. Too much really. I went to conference, got a request for fifty pages of two manuscripts and it’s time to buckle down.

    What does buckle down mean exactly? Where’d that phrase come from? Hitch up your pants and tighten your belt before getting busy?
   
    There goes my ADHD again. In my case it ought to be HDAD; High Definition Attention Deficit. So, where was I? Oh yeah, getting down to it. Getting down to it? A mining term possibly? Never mind.

    So, what’s my plan? A reasonable, logical person would come up with a plan. But I’m not much of a planner. I live in the moment and I don’t say that with pride. I know plans are good things and I ought to embrace them but I don’t like them. I don’t like them the way I don’t like rodents. I’m not afraid of them, I have no phobias I’m aware of. I loathe them. If there is no reason not to, I kill rodents. In my world, because my wife is in it, there are reasons not to kill rodents. I don’t understand them but they exist, just trust me on that. Uh,oh, HDAD again.

    My plan is to work on my manuscripts every day, even if only for an hour. Seven hours a week minimum, that’s my goal. I’m not sure if set-up time is included. Not all the details of my plan are worked out. Do I include the time driving to the coffee shop and getting out my laptop? Or, do I start the timer once my fingers hit the keyboard? I don’t have a lot of experience with plans after all. My sense of it is, that it should be actual writing so that’s the way I’m leaning.

    The trouble is I’m at the point where it’s not actual writing. I have to go through and fix things, define things, clean things up. I know that’s part of writing but I like the first draft part better. Hence the need for a plan. (Whew, almost started whining again but I pulled it back.)

    Anyway, that’s my plan. I’ll write seven hours a week minimum and some every day. I hope that by writing every day I’ll get in more than seven. That way the things get done and out so I can start a new project. I also hope that, by posting my plan, I’ll stick to it.

    So, what’s your plan? Got one? Like’em? Hate’em?

A Few Reasons It's Called Colorado Gold

Last weekend, Mike, Vicki, and Marne Ann were at the Colorado Gold Writers' Conference in Denver. If you're a writer, agent or editor, and you've never been to this conference, you need to put it on your list of to-do's for 2012. It is an amazing experience. The workshops are phenomenal, the people are inspiring, and the hospitality suite has some fantastic after-hours partying.

This year, I (Marne Ann) met some new people and I learned from them. I'd like to share my experiences with you...

From Julie Kazimer (aka: J.A. Kazimer), I learned perseverance and a happy spirit are essential to life. She is such a sweet soul and I'm so excited for her recent sales! Congratulations, Julie!!! (fyi, she would be bubblegum goth girl #3...just so you know. I'll explain soon...).

From Angie Hodapp, I learned all about something amazing and beautiful and creative. She called it "bubblegum goth music" and from that I founded the bubblegum goth gang (of which Angie would be bubblegum goth girl #2...I get to be #1, because I stole the term from her fair and square). Think the dead poets' society or the chipettes all grown up and writing instead of singing. It's an attitude of sweet and sophisticated, yet fun and naughty at the same time, and the knowledge that this is okay, lol.
Thanks, Angie! (Are you ladies sick of being involuntarily connected to me yet, lol?)
BTW, Miss Vicki is BGG #4. Anyone else who would like to join our little writerly group only has to ask, lol...

From Aaron Ritchey, I learned joy is everywhere and sometimes getting what we want is a bit scary...and that's okay. And I learned I have a ways to go before I can do stand up comedy as well as him...and I learned boys can write YA romance, too.

So, Aaron Ritchey, Julie Kazimer, and I were on a First Sales Panel with some other great authors, Kevin Diviness, Betsy Dornbusch, and Courtney Schafer. (Here's the pic, but sadly, Kevin and Aaron are a bit missing...)

Still, it was a fantastic panel and these authors are people to watch for. Each one of them has amazing talent. Keep an eye out for their books. (Angie's not contracted yet, but trust me, she will be. Soon.) Buy their books. Spread the word on their awesomeness.
Did I mention Aaron is a fellow Crescent Moon Press author? I thought it was pretty cool getting to meet another Crescent Moon Press Author.

There were so many old friends we met up with and enjoyed, but if I posted their pics, this post would be ages long. Just know it was fantastic seeing all of our writer friends.
The great thing about conferences is you learn new things about the writing craft, and the business of writing and publishing books, and you connect with people who are just as crazy as you about writing and reading books.
And I get to hang with some of my faves...

Writing News...

What Writerly News do we have?...
Let's see...

Our friend and fellow RMFWer, Mark Stevens, was at the Barnes and Noble in Grand Junction, CO on the 20th.

Mark Stevens at the Grand Junction, CO
Barnes and Noble

He was doing a book signing for his new release, "Buried by the Roan," and we just had to stop by and show him some love (and buy books, of course).

Mike, Vicki, and Marne stopped by to show him some love. (And Mike put up the rabbits)
Huge Congratulations, Mark! We wish you well!

Our Gail had a book-signing at Barnes and Nobles in Grand Junction, too (but we don't have any pics of the event, and Marne is so sad). So, at the next time Gail has a book signing for "Images of America: Ouray," we will be there with bells on!

And on September 1, Marne went to Denver for RMFW's 2011 Writer of the Year Event. It was a blast! Here's a great pic of Robin D. Owens, the 2011 Writer of the Year, Laura Reeve, and Maggie Sefton, the other nominees. These ladies are all wonderful authors and they really made the night special! Pam Nowak, the 2010 Writer of the Year, moderated the event, and she did an amazing job, too!

Then, last weekend, Mike, Vicki, and Marne went to the Colorado Gold Writers' Conference. It was fantastic (and a blog for another day...)