From NanoWriMo to A Guest of Honor
In the literary world, there are big fish, medium fish, small fish... I'm algae, but in two days, I travel to Roanoake, VA to serve as the literary Guest of Honor to an SFF Comic Con.
This journey started on a November day about three years ago. A friend challenged me to take on Nanowrimo. I had to ask what that was. She explained that it stood for Write a Novel in a Month and asked if I had a book in me. I stared at her and then glanced at my computer. My radio show had just been canceled, I was floundering, and I think she thought it would be a good distraction.
She was right.
It starteed with a fever, a frenzied state where every spare moment funneled itself into my fingers. I could hardly keep up with my thoughts. Nano's goal is 40,000 words in four weeks. I pumped out 60,000 in three.
I channeled newsroom experiences from NPR, VOR, and life, tapped philosophy, wrestled with the questions that laid siege to my conscious and unconscious mind and rode the river. I had no idea where the rocks lay or how many times I would flip over. I charted a course with no map, no life preserver, and no hesitation, but, I wasn't alone.
Writing is not a solitary experience. It requires friends, alpha readers, beta readers, editors, people who know how to pat your shoulder and those who know how to give your rump the kick it needs too.
Books also need strangers who become friends. When I put A Halo of Mushrooms out there I found some at Cons. Mars Con, Shore Leave, Awesome Con, and others provided a welcome to my books and readers who gave me a chance.
They also provided some of my favorite author moments!
Like the time someone stalked my table on a Saturday morning and cursed--
"Damn you!" before adding, "I bought your book last night and I'm already halfway through it!"
or the chance to sit shoulder to shoulder with A list authors and publishers on a panel to talk
trade
or even better the quiet moments where you talk craft with someone aspiring to create their own works.
That my work caught the eye of Charles De Lint or Dr. Who's Mark Wheatley is mind blowing, but the fact that it resonated with readers means more. I was that kid who read twenty books a Summer. I was the boy who demanded his friend read a newly discovered author and traded books freely. I'm the kid who liked to tell stories and never grew out of it. So, me being the GOH is about you being recognized. I'm you.
Well, I'm some of you and as I pack my trunk full of ideas, moments, iron wrought scaffolding to head into the world of adult Halloween. I wanted to write to say thank you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for reviewing. Thank you for giving a piece of algae a chance. Thank you for spreading the word and letting me know what made you laugh or resonated with you emotionally.
I may wear the title of Guest of Honor this weekend, but this is our fantasy.
This journey started on a November day about three years ago. A friend challenged me to take on Nanowrimo. I had to ask what that was. She explained that it stood for Write a Novel in a Month and asked if I had a book in me. I stared at her and then glanced at my computer. My radio show had just been canceled, I was floundering, and I think she thought it would be a good distraction.
She was right.
It starteed with a fever, a frenzied state where every spare moment funneled itself into my fingers. I could hardly keep up with my thoughts. Nano's goal is 40,000 words in four weeks. I pumped out 60,000 in three.
I channeled newsroom experiences from NPR, VOR, and life, tapped philosophy, wrestled with the questions that laid siege to my conscious and unconscious mind and rode the river. I had no idea where the rocks lay or how many times I would flip over. I charted a course with no map, no life preserver, and no hesitation, but, I wasn't alone.
Writing is not a solitary experience. It requires friends, alpha readers, beta readers, editors, people who know how to pat your shoulder and those who know how to give your rump the kick it needs too.
Books also need strangers who become friends. When I put A Halo of Mushrooms out there I found some at Cons. Mars Con, Shore Leave, Awesome Con, and others provided a welcome to my books and readers who gave me a chance.
They also provided some of my favorite author moments!
Like the time someone stalked my table on a Saturday morning and cursed--
"Damn you!" before adding, "I bought your book last night and I'm already halfway through it!"
or the chance to sit shoulder to shoulder with A list authors and publishers on a panel to talk
trade
or even better the quiet moments where you talk craft with someone aspiring to create their own works.
That my work caught the eye of Charles De Lint or Dr. Who's Mark Wheatley is mind blowing, but the fact that it resonated with readers means more. I was that kid who read twenty books a Summer. I was the boy who demanded his friend read a newly discovered author and traded books freely. I'm the kid who liked to tell stories and never grew out of it. So, me being the GOH is about you being recognized. I'm you.
Well, I'm some of you and as I pack my trunk full of ideas, moments, iron wrought scaffolding to head into the world of adult Halloween. I wanted to write to say thank you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for reviewing. Thank you for giving a piece of algae a chance. Thank you for spreading the word and letting me know what made you laugh or resonated with you emotionally.
I may wear the title of Guest of Honor this weekend, but this is our fantasy.
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