Will You Throw Your Hat In?
Writer’s conferences. What do you think about them? When I began writing, I had never known another writer and didn’t see any particular reason I needed to. Writing was something I did all by myself in a quiet room, not a communal effort that needed a meeting of any sort.
Well, yeah, I was wrong! The first time I entered a room filled with writers I was certain that I was wasting my time, and certain I had nothing in common with them. We all wrote about different topics, after all. Within minutes I knew that I was among my people. That eclectic (and eccentric) group of geeks was exactly like me in too many ways to count. They didn’t mind discussing “where to hide the body” over lunch, and they knew some incredible details about poison, the moon, cowboys, edible insects, and a billion other topics. Seriously, delicious fun!
This past weekend I drove over to Oklahoma City to attend the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. (OWFI) conference. It was a top-notch conference with talented speakers, reputable agents and publishers, and piles of really awesome writers. In addition to making new friends and suffering from sleep deprivation, I am more motivated than ever to write and write well.
Steven James, who has published over thirty books, was one of the keynote speakers who inspired me. He reinforced one of my life mottos. “Do everything all the way.” Which I usually express by saying, “Go all in” or “Wear the tee-shirt”. He didn’t use gambling or clothing references though, because he is way cooler than me. He told a story about Irishmen running up against a wall too tall for them to climb over. Then they would throw their hat over the wall and climb over to get it. They had to have something at stake to give it their true best. So today I’m throwing my hat over the wall and then scurrying over to get it.
Of course I’m talking about my thriller manuscript. I signed up to go to ThrillerFest in New York this summer. I also signed up to pitch a completed novel to the agents at AgentFest while I’m there. The commitment of time and money for the conference is my hat. The wall? Obviously, I still have to write the novel. At 60 pages in, I need to average 10 pages a day.
It will be a killer pace, but I’m up for the challenge. If you see me out in public, all pasty white and finger-cramped, tell me to crawl back to my library and write. I have no intention of losing my hat on this adventure.
Cara
