Ozark Romance Writers Conference
One of my writer friends, Angela Drake, told me about the writers' conference held in Springfield Missouri last month. One of my critique partners suggested we go, so we did, and it was wonderful! I came back inspired and ready to kick my writing into high gear. The speakers were fantastic. Shannon Butcher I had met previously, but it was her husband I heard speak at that time. It was nice to hear Shannon speak - she's easily as talented as Jim is, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her take on writing. Leigh Michaels was one of my favorite speakers. I had the pleasure of sitting at her table during lunch. She reminded me of one of the attorneys I work with, and of an actress . . . whose name escapes me at the moment. Another good speaker was Eliza Lloyd. I've got to get some of her books. They sound positively sinful! Her talk about heroes was memorable - I don't think I'll ever look at Disney movies, particularly Tangled, in the same way after hearing her talk! Shannon Vannatter spoke about editing. I took a lot away from her talk, and have been using her diagramming method to help me go through my work again. I have heard her speak before, and I thought this talk was much better. This entire conference was better than any I've been to for a while, in terms of giving me down and dirty tips that I can actually use to improve my writing immediately.
The editor who attended was Lia Brown with Avalon Books and the agent was Louise Fury, with the L. Perkins Agency. They spoke during a couple of sessions, and took pitches.
The fact that it was all crammed into one day was greatly appreciated. A decent price, good speakers and smart topics - add them all up and you get a really good conference!
What conferences have you been to lately? What made them good or bad?
The editor who attended was Lia Brown with Avalon Books and the agent was Louise Fury, with the L. Perkins Agency. They spoke during a couple of sessions, and took pitches.
The fact that it was all crammed into one day was greatly appreciated. A decent price, good speakers and smart topics - add them all up and you get a really good conference!
What conferences have you been to lately? What made them good or bad?
I'd love to hear more about what Eliza Lloyd said. As I've gotten older, I've become more aware of the humorous, and sometimes troubling, subtexts in Disney movies, but I quite adored Tangled and my curiosity is piqued!
So far most of my own conference experience is book-related, because I've been lucky enough to go through work or through connections from friends. I need to try a pure writing conference sometime, instead of one with a split focus!
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Yours is really interesting!
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Eliza was great - if you ever get a chance to hear her talk, go. She talked about using the hero in Tangled as a character card for your hero. She used lines from the movie as guidelines, like "I don't do back story" and scenes from it, such as having your hero rush to the heroine's rescue, then get bonked (figuratively or physically) on the head, and having your hero love so deeply that he's willing to die for your heroine. She had so many great thoughts, and an entertaining way of sharing them.
I've been to a few conferences - some good, some not so good, but I've always learned from them and I've met some great people at conferences.
Thanks for stopping by!
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