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 WongPam 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. This sounds like fun :-)

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

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