What Next?


It was only yesterday that I was saying how relieved I was to be done blogging every day for the yearly A-Z April challenge.  Lots of people asked if I'd keep the blog going. 

 My standard response was. "Hmm. I need to think about that. For about a year."

 It was an awful lot of work. And yet, here I am again. I must be a glutton for punishment.

 Right?

 But I had such a great weekend, and it revolved around books and writing, so....

 Hawaii's Book and Music Festival

This weekend was Honolulu's 11th annual Book & Music Festival. You can always count on this festival for great music & books--new and used (bring your own 5 books to the bookswap to get 5 others), inspiring panels, and live author readings.

 Luckily it was only a 10 minute drive away, and always has free admission & parking, because I had to dash to the festival between multiple family activities. Over the course of the weekend, I only made it to two panels, a few of the kiosks, and the bookswap. 

 But what wonderful panels they were!

 The first, Shaping the Story, was made up of New York literary agent Jeff Kleinman, editor/author Don Wallace (Honolulu Magazine) and grammar vixen Connie Hale (Sin & Syntax). The panel was informative and hilarious. Wallace moderated & played the straight man as he sat between Steiner and Hale, who had different takes on just about everything, which made for great entertainment. Hale is a spitfire prone to using spicy language, and listening to her is pure pleasure (though Kleinman might disagree).

 The second panel, Navigating Truth in Fiction and Nonfiction, was more serious in tone, but equally full of wisdom. Moderated by the ever elegant Shawna Yang Ryan, the panel included Cecily Wong, Pam Sakamoto, and Julie Checkoway. I've had a copy of Checkoway's classic Creating Fiction since 2001, when it was first published, but it's been out of print for a while. Good news for Checkoway fans--they will be updating and publishing a second edition in the near future. Sakamoto and Checkoway detailed the impressive amount of research & integrity involved in their most recent historical nonfiction works, Midnight in Broad Daylight and Three Year Swim Club. Wong is someone to keep your eyes on--she's out of the gate fast, and I predict many more success stories in her future. 
Tomorrow the Mokule'ia Writer's Retreat begins. Those lucky enough to be registered can look forward to an idyllic week of writing, inspiration, workshops, yoga & hula--right near the beach. If you can't be there during the day, they apparently have some free events at night if you are willing to brave the pau hana traffic to join them.


Have a great week, everyone!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 2, 2016 at 10:45 AM

    This sounds like fun :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Misha GerrickMay 3, 2016 at 3:58 AM

    I enjoy blogging, but the Challenge is exhausting. Congrats on winning! And thanks for visiting my blog. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pazzta TaliJuly 1, 2016 at 4:15 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N is for Name

Image
NA M ES               “Names have power.”                       -Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief              What's in a name? Plenty. The name you give your character gives the reader an instant impression, even if they don't know what the name really means. For example, w hat do you think of when you hear the following names:  Destiny Colt Barack Ruby Hester Sierra Khan Jesus Barbara Magda Aloha Martha Kofi Prudence Lucifer Bilbo Miranda Filippo Jessie Duncan Anjali Peewee Ishmael Ludwig Ngai Dae won Amber Hercules Scarlett Ashley Midori Gabriel Xerxes Ralph Heathcliff Veruca Hannibal Roshanna Ramona Svengali  Hans Isabella Lolita Jeeves Pip Ebenezer  Rudolph Gump Scout Winnie Grendel Tarzan Scheherazade I bet each of them gave you an immediate impression,...
Read more

H is for Horror

Image
H O RR O R “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”  ―  Stephen King Writing can be a scary business. Whether alone or with others, it requires a lot of risk on our part. We bare our souls, share our secrets with the world. Or we put them in a story and call it fiction. Yeah, that's it. I'm kidding, sort of. But today I want to talk about writing scary stories, not living them.  Writing horror So you love horror. Great--so do lots of people, and there are many potential markets. Paying markets, even. Well, not paying much. But still. Did I say paying?  We'll get to that in a bit.  What's the best way to start writing horror stories?  Ask yourself this: What makes you anxious? What scares you the most?  What is the most terrifying situation you can imagine? Your worst nightmare? What grosses you out? Start there. Avoid  cliché s . But if you have a new take on that  cliché , go for it....
Read more

Yearn

Image
We yearn the most for what we have lost, for what we cannot have, for what can never be. But there can be silver linings to our yearnings. We might discover something we love or want even more than what we originally desired.  And, then, this: out of yearning, great stories are born.  "I love those who yearn for the impossible."  -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe What do you yearn for?  What story can you tell about it? "Art comes from the place where you dream."  -Robert Olen Butler interview with Robert Olen Butler Writing about yearning in fiction Robert Olen Butler & short fiction Longing writing prompt From fear to yearning writer's prompt An ancestral yearning: why writers love the ocean Yearning for transcendence Books about yearning Yearning and writing inspiration Harness the yearning "If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or...
Read more