Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 241

Writers' Conferences

I'd actually planned on putting some great photos on this particular blog post—but then realized as I'm here at the Malice Domestic conference in Washington, DC, that apparently I didn't pack the cord that connects my camera to the laptop. But I'll definitely be posting some pictures later from the conference.

Writers' conferences can be great for everyone—aspiring writers looking for industry info, an agent, or a publisher; readers who enjoy hearing favorite authors on panels; and...

Foreshadowing

I'm not the most relaxed traveler in the world. I checked over my lists at least twenty times to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, rolled my clothes up into my carry-on and finally called myself done. I was ready for the Malice Domestic conference.

I've written all kinds of details down for my husband—where I'm going to be, where the kids will be (they were coming and going over the weekend), etc.

My husband suddenly made a face. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just...

Twitterific

I think these recap posts get better stats than all my others! :)

I'm doing this a little early this week because I'm flying to the Malice Domestic conference today and won't likely have time to compile these while I'm gone.

I'll also probably not be good this weekend at answering comments on my blog and visiting others' blogs. I'm looking forward to a return to normalcy next week!

2 years, 3 manuscripts, and 50 rejections--anatomy of an agent search: http://dld.bz/bExN

What...

Agents and Social Media

A week ago I was on a social media panel, talking about the benefits of networking and giving some tips.

Afterward, one of the attending agents asked a fellow panelist and me if we think people choose agents based on whether or not they're active on social media. He was also curious whether we thought social media was important for agents to engage in

I thought these were interesting questions. And my gut reaction, of course, was to say that everyone needs social media and to hop on it r...

What Does a Character Want?

During the recession of the early 90s (which looks like nothing compared to the one we're in now) I was fresh out of college and working for very little money at a magazine. Begrudgingly, I took on a bank job as well as writing for the periodical.

I ended up (oddly, considering my lack of leadership skills) in a supervisory role. Basically, if someone sent the bank written correspondence (no one really had email then), I would get it and reply.

So I was the complaint letter girl....

Changing Roles

So we're replacing the downstairs carpeting.

And we have a few really massive pieces of furniture.

The carpet company said it would move one of the biggest ones, but the rest were up to us.

My husband and I moved a few piddly things out of the room and closets, then we approached the (very large) sofa. My husband said, "Can you take one end?"

I did. And I couldn't budge it. Not with my arms, hip, legs—the thing just refused to move.

My husband called out for our 13 year old son....

Planning Tomorrow's Writing

I like having a writing plan.

This doesn't mean that life goes according to plan.

Kids get sick. New carpet gets installed. Cars need to go to the mechanic. Life happens.

I grab my writing time when I can find it—if my plan has been completely scrapped.

But having that basic plan in place—which includes writing—helps me out from the very start of the day.

5 ways to pave the way for writing (the night before):

Check your calendar. Make sure there aren't any nasty surprises to...

Preparing for a Conference

Friday morning at o' dark-thirty, I'm going to the Malice Domestic conference in Washington, DC.

Cool things about this: I get to meet (in person) some of the great folks I've gotten to know online over the last year or so. And I'm looking forward to the panel I'll be on Saturday afternoon--"Senior Sleuths versus Middle-Aged Meddlers and Crime-Cracking Kids: How Age Impacts the Story."

Uncool things? Well, I'm packing and flying. I should write a book entitled The Paranoid...

Twitterific

As promised, I'm running a post with the past week's interesting writing/reading related links that I found in my Google Reader and tweeted on Twitter.

Well,it's almost a week's worth. :) The page acted like it wanted to crash, so I'm backing off putting any more data up on it for right now.

Again, this isn't meant to overwhelm anybody—I'm hoping that by posting these links in a searchable database (my blog), that maybe we can access these helpful links by topic—when we need them.

If ...

Setting Up a Blog--and a Thanks

First of all, I want to thank Writer's Digest for the honor of choosing Mystery Writing is Murder as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (Genres/Niches). Their list has just been published in the May/June 2010 issue, just hitting the stands now. Thanks so much!

But it's all due to my friends who are so active on my blog—supporting me with their comments and making me think. Y'all are incredibly supportive and I really, really appreciate it.

I spoke Thursday evening at the Women's N...