The Writings and Musings of B.A. Matthews

Only a seat at Table #7

My first conference ever and it turned out to be incredible.  I arrived a few days early and got to visit my Mom for a day and then I ran out to visit with a writerly friend of mine.  We sat in and chatted all night and even watched the craft.  She gave me a brilliant little rock light (I’ll see about including a picture in my next blog) and then the next day we headed out and went shopping.   Now, me and her are probably the only girls in the world who can go out shopping, and come home with the oddest things.  I came back with flavoured honeys, a mini cast-iron cauldron (I’ve always wanted some), a gorgeous card and an oracle deck.  Wonderful stuff, but definitely not your usual run of the mill shopping.

After I got to the conference the first thing I did was get my info for the weekend and then register for my hotel.  While waiting to register, I struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me.  She was attending the conference as well.  Nervous, I asked her if it was her first year.  I should have known better… she was a publisher of children’s books and a presenter.  It was all right though.  I made up for it by remembering to ask her what she was working on that excited her.  Really the weekend only went up from there.

The class on Thursday was next to useless though.  It was touted as a revision course, but it was actually just rewriting scenes.  Had I not paid extra for it, I would have left the class and taken a different one.  On the other hand, I met Samantha Herne, a great writer who also podcasts.  She was a really great gal and I loved talking with her.  Friday was great.  The courses were always good and Patrick Taylors course on “How not to write a successful series” was incredible.  Saturday was awesome as well, and I started getting my name out there.  The big incredible thing for me on Saturday was my “Blue Pencil” meeting… a chance to meet with CC Humpreys.  He took a look at my work, we chatted and he complimented my writing.  He said, “No, your work is quite good.  You’ve managed to make it all really creepy without actually saying anything creepy.  That’s how to do it if you’re going to.”  Let me tell you, I was so excited, I was practically bouncing.

At least until Saturday Dinner.  I found Samantha Herne at dinner that night and sat down at her table… only to realize that she also had two authors, an editor and an agent sharing the table.  The other girls at the table were more like me, in various stages of unpublishment (I think I’ve created a new word).  Regardless, they were all awesome, and great to talk to.  Table 7 rocks, does it not ladies?  I was going to go and see the forensics stuff after dinner, but I was invited up for cocktails by the girls… and when an agent and author ask you if you want to join them for cocktails, the universal answer is “Yes”.

Great evening, absolutely incredible.  The keynote speakers for Saturday were amazing (especially since I was sitting with both of them that evening as well)!  Sunday was great as well.  Ivan Coyote asked about “ways to motivate yourself to write” in her class and I suggested my favourite motivator, Nanowrimo.  The last 20 minutes of the class were taken up with talk about Nanowrimo (she takes part) and sharing awesome Nano-related stories.

At the final lunch, it was fun, but sorta sad.  We knew the fun was coming to an end soon.  Robert Dugoni sent us away on the right note though “Today, we WRITE!”  Should I ever get a copy of his speech, I will ask him if I can repost it here.  The best speech ever!  I wish I’d gotten a copy of it.  Also, I even won a prize!  A set of four books from Mira publishing and a reusable book bag followed me home in addition to the books I got there (Eeeek! I got Vlad the Impaler signed by CC Humpreys, who wished me luck on my book and the Skystone signed by Jack Whyte).  Definitely an incredible weekend.  I even got a potted plant from my Mom.  Gorgeous Red and Yellow flowers… I only hope I can keep it alive.

The trip was more than worth it and I really hope that I can make it out for next year.

Also, very quickly, I bought Geist today (a picture will go up next time), The High King of Montival,  and a copy of Warbreaker.  My husband bought me a Nano gift as well… an awesome 15 minute hourglass timer with black sand!  I got myself an awesome Moleskin journal as well… Dark blue with map lines on it.  Just the thing to get my mind thinking and ready to write!

Posted in Blogs on October 27th, 2010 by B.A. Matthews | | 6 Comments »

Sorry for the delay… We’ll now return you to your regularily scheduled program…

Today’s blog is running a bit behind so expect it to be a bit brief.  I’ll make certain that I have a new blog post up Saturday for you guys.  I got a bit sick a few weeks ago.  The sucky weather Calgary has been having got into my hand, and my Tendonitis was so bad that I couldn’t close my hand into a fist or re-open it when I managed to.  While this did curtail my writing, rest assured, I have gotten some done… Although, instead of using my computer, I have the scene written up in paper copy right now and working on it while taking the bus to and from work.  The scene is turning out really well and I’ll be using a certain program of mine to add it to the computer.

That’s right, it’s time to talk a bit more about my Dragon!  I’ve been using it more frequently of late, and now I can give a better opinion on it.  My over all opinion is pretty good of it, though it’s near useless for using online.  The commands activate whether you want them to or not, which means that trying to write text into a forum chat box or updated any social media site is out of the question (it works much better in actual messenger programs, like MSN Messenger).

This experience really reminded me why I got that program, even if sometimes I do worry that it’s more trouble than it’s worth (if I have a stuffed up nose it can’t understand me at all).

Using it has been teaching me to think more about what I write before I say/type it.  I still have to delete things every once in a while, but it happens much less often now that I’ve been training myself not to screw it up.  I do suggest that everyone give it a try though, since I am actually coming to enjoy using it.  While I’m not using it to write this blog post (more for brevity reasons than anything else), it is on the computer and I have been training it to understand me.  I am going to be training it to understand me, by using it at least 2 days out of every week to do all my writing… Something I hope to continue during Nanowrimo as well. (Remember to add me as a Buddy if you want to follow my counts during Nano!)

I’ll keep you all updated on that front.

Other than using Dragon and resting my hand, I have been keeping myself mostly out of trouble.  I am still reading Brandon Sanderson’s “The Way of Kings”.  I am 66% finished it and I’d like to say that it’s pretty damn awesome.  It’s definitely an epic fantasy, told from a few different viewpoints.  The only question I currently have is about the character Kaladin.  While he is a wonderful character, Brandon Sanderson has been writing his chapters in a Present/Past sort of set up where we get one chapter of where he is now, and then we’ll get a chapter that led him to this point.  While its really interesting, I am wondering why he choose to write it that way.  I assume I will have discovered the answer in the next three-hundred and fifty pages.

I have also finally gotten notice that my long awaited copy of “The High King of Montival” is finally shipping.  I should have that next week, or the first week of October at the latest.  It will be next on my reading list after “The Way of Kings”.  I also picked up Aprilynne Pike’s debut YA novel, “Wings”.  While I don’t often read YA paranormal romance books anymore (Damn you Twilight), I heard about this one on Writing Excuses and decided to give it a try.  I am also listening to “www: Watch”, a book by Robert J. Sawyer.  If you haven’t heard of this series yet (beginning with “www: Wake”) pick them up.  This set of novels is definitely worth your time and interest, although I give fair warning… Mr. Sawyer has a thing for ‘soft’ endings… They answer all the questions but do seem to leave you wondering why you’re vaguely unsatisfied.  Perhaps it’s a problem with a super long dénouement feeling, instead of the hopeful awed feeling he was going for.  I’ll keep you updated on all of the books I’m reading, as usual.

Oh, I’m going to try to write a review of Dan Wells “I am Not a Serial Killer” and post it up here prior to Nanowrimo as well… Expect new site changes in the next few weeks as well!

What are you reading?  And will you be participating in Nanowrimo this year?  Are there any great podcasts dealing with Nanowrimo that you’ve been listening to?  Let me know, and keep those comments coming!

Oh, one final comment for all of you out there… Less than a month until my conference!  I am soooo excited.

Posted in Blogs on September 23rd, 2010 by B.A. Matthews | | 5 Comments »

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