writing – Page 2 – Sherida Stewart

TUESDAY TEA-The Emerald City Writers’ Conference & Cherry Adair’s tea

In October, I attended my first romance writers’ conference, the EMERALD CITY WRITERS’ CONFERENCE, sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America chapter. It was FABULOUS! The experience far exceeded my expectations. I was blessed by my daughter-in-law, author Kira Brady, who accompanied me and was the helpful voice of conference experience.

We picked up our registration packets and tote bags FILLED with goodies–books, pens, notebooks, promotional items and motivational buttons, plus some candy. 🙂

Now, where to begin? Since this is TUESDAY TEA, I’ll start with the Cherry Adair Tea and First Timers Welcome Reception. Cherry Adair, an author from the sponsoring chapter, gives generous support to this conference and offers encouragement to writers. Her tea is a “meet and greet” time at the conference where tea sandwiches and scones were served amid lively conversation and charming autumn decorations–and there was chocolate. 🙂

Major take-away thoughts from the conference:

Self-Publishing is a way to go
Develop a series
Keep writing, never give up
Write a great book, then keep writing
Chocolate is a writer’s friend 🙂

It was such fun to be with a welcoming group of writers who understand the language of HEA, WIP and GMC. The keynote speakers were inspiring. The food served was delicious. The workshops presentations were informative, with chocolate available to snack on. 🙂

Here are highlights from some of the presentations:

Learn to Rewrite: Finishing the manuscript is just the beginning with Anna DeStefano–Print out your completed manuscript. Use Post-it notes to flag each character’s POV passages in a different color. Then read that character’s story from beginning to end. You should see the character evolve in each scene.

Craft of the Short Story with Anthea Lawson–The market for short stories is on the rise, ranging from flash fiction of 300 to 1000 words to anthologies ranging from 5K to 7K. Short fiction needs to give an emotional payoff to the reader.

Secondary characters with Pam Binder–Secondary characters should only be in the story if they have a purpose. This purpose can be to help the main character recognize and overcome flaws by mirroring these flaws or being the complete opposite. Look at the motivation of secondary characters–why are they in the hero or heroine’s life?

Writing Active Setting with Mary Buckham–Details of setting must matter to the story to be included in your writing. Setting can be used for characterization, to reveal emotion, foreshadow conflict, tell backstory, anchor the reader or act as a character. The primary goal for setting is to capture the reader’s attention.

Navigating the Wild West of Publishing with Marie Force and Shelli Stevens–The publishing world is changing and now may be a good time to enter into self-publishing. Timing is extremely important–along with some luck. It is suggested to have many projects ready to publish in quick succession to stay engaged with the reader.

Building a Successful Series with Robin Carr–Series are in the spotlight at this time. A series needs a running theme, then begin with a place which challenges the characters, giving plenty of sensory details. Be sure there is a reader payoff in each book and a hook to entice the reader into the next book. It is best to be authentic to your own personality when writing.

Christopher Keeslar of Boroughs Publishing Group offered wise advice: Spend time outside of your writing cave, living a life full of everyday activities because your writing will be enriched by all your experiences.

Next time, I’ll write about the Book Fair featuring many authors signing books (and giving away chocolate) and the amazing raffle baskets (many of which contained chocolate). (I won one, and, yes, it had chocolate!) 😀

THANK YOU to all the volunteers! Their hard work made the Emerald City Writers’ Conference simply AWESOME!

Thank you, Emerald City Writers' Conference! — Thank you, Emerald City Writers’ Conference!

TUESDAY TEA – My Writing Travel Bag

For tea today, we’re on the road! I’m serving Bigelow’s Constant Comment tea in a leak-proof travel mug along with a Kind almond walnut macadamia bar.

What's inside my writing travel bag..... — What’s inside my writing travel bag…..

Writing time is difficult to find. I’m learning I need to use little bits of time whenever I can grab them. For long stints, I pack my laptop, but for camping or quick trips around town, I’m going low-tech. My Writing Travel Bag has become very important to take with me so I can be productive. What do I keep in my bag?

notebook with lined pages for writing and an interior pocket for a print-out of my WIP for editing
craft book I’m currently reading ( Rivet Your Readers With Deep Point Of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson)
portable plotting board with lots of sticky notes (I got mine from Pikes Peak Romance Writers a few years ago.)
extra pens
turquoise notebook which goes with me always to keep ideas about current and future writing projects
packet of jelly beans for a writing reward

The bag from Little Miss Matched (www.littlemissmatched.com) is just the right size with handles which fit nicely over my shoulder for carrying.

Pam Hillman posted about how to organize conference tote bags in Seekerville yesterday. www.seekerville.net My Writing Travel Bag seemed appropriate for today.

I’m ready to grab my bag as I head out the door to another writing adventure–any time, any place.

What do you carry in your writing travel bag? Please leave a comment with your ideas! Thanks for having tea with me on the road!

TUESDAY TEA at Green Mountain Dude Ranch

This week, I’m attending a writing retreat at Green Mountain Dude Ranch with about sixty other writers from Seekerville. Beautiful scenery here at the Idaho ranch, where Jake has made us all feel welcome. We are free to saddle up a horse for a trail ride, pull on our hiking boot for a bit of adventure, or find a place on the porch to sit and write. We gather around the campfire to share goals or experiences at the end of the day. Sunday we attended cowboy church, listening to great old hymns. This morning, I took a hike down by the creek and gathered some leaves of wild mint, so today I’m serving fresh mint tea. (I just might have seen grizzly tracks in the mud by the stream. I’ll have to ask the cowboys if there are grizzly bears around these parts.) The cooks here rustle up some delicious grub, so I’ll let you help yourself to anything on the spread. (The strawberry rhubarb pie is a good choice, as is anything with peaches.) The Grammar Queen is here, so I’m hoping for an invitation to her suite for an afternoon tea. Take a moment to enjoy the mountain scenery and stay awhile!

And let me tell you, a virtual retreat with this group of writers is awesome! The more the merrier! Let me know in the comments where you would go on a virtual writing retreat! Thanks for stopping by for mint tea!

For information about the retreat, visit Seekerville at www.Seekerville.net.

Seekerville-Speedbo …….. March 1 – 31, 2013

For the month of March, I will be participating in Speedbo. This is a writing challenge offered by the writers at Seekerville. You select your goal, then WRITE. As published writers, they help unpublished writers sail off UNPUBLISHED ISLAND with valuable advice and fantastic encouragement. A FUN community! www.seekerville.net

LIGHT is “My One Word” for 2013…….

LIGHT is “My One Word” for 2013

I subscribe to Seekerville (www.seekerville.net), a blog that helps aspiring writers sail from “Unpublished Island” to the mainland of successful publication. Their blog is always timely and of great encouragement. They had a virtual party on New Year’s Eve, featuring the book My One Word, by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. (www.myoneword.com) They challenge Christians to “Choose just one word that represents what you most hope God will do in you, and focus on it for an entire year.”

Their message called to me. After some consideration, I have chosen LIGHT as my word for 2013. The main reason, or the first one that came to mind as I decided on this word, is that I want to glow in the LIGHT of God’s love for He is the LIGHT of the world. This is a good choice for many reasons which I will discuss in future blogs.

May you walk in the LIGHT of our Lord!

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

National Novel Writing Month

Since my November calendar is filled this year, I didn’t think I would sign up this year for National Novel Writing Month. It seems I don’t have as much on my “To Do” list in the summers, so I have enjoyed Camp Nano the last two years. S’mores, hiking and campfires, what’s not to like? My Camp Nano project from 2011 became a short story which won a contest and was published, so I do believe good things can happen from concentrated writing time. But, November? Thanksgiving, travel, Christmas shopping, putting the garden to sleep…..However, the call of “word count” and the thoughts of other writers with cramped fingers hovering over their keyboards…well, I just have to be a part of this. We are writers, and by November 30, my novel and many others will be closer to the finish line. Blessings to all those writing this month! Together we succeed!

A writer’s moment…..

I had a writer’s moment today…..

Directed to the doctor’s waiting room, I glance at a stack of magazines. The one on top shows a cover that looks familiar……

It is the February issue of New Mexico Magazine, the issue with my first published story. I pick it up, quickly flip through the pages to find “Turquoise Remembrance” which I haven’t read for six months.

My story—-sitting in a waiting room. Amazing. Where people I don’t know would be reading it.

After chatting with the doctor, I explain why it was fun to see the magazine in his office. He said his wife is a potter and often finds little faults with her art pieces that he doesn’t even notice.

I smile and reply, “Yes, I just reread my story while waiting and cringed at some awkward wording.”

Yes, I am a writer. I will always critique my work and want to make it better.

I love being a writer!

Romance Writers of America 2012 Convention Literacy Autographing event

RWA Literacy event-Anaheim, CA-July 25, 2012 — Kira Brady autographing HEARTS OF DARKNESS at the RWA Literacy event in Anaheim, California July 25, 2012

Five things to remember for attending RWA Literacy Signing event….

Anaheim, California–July 25, 2012

Having heard about the yearly Romance Writers of America’s Literacy Autographing event, I’m anticipating the fund raiser for promoting literacy during the RWA 2012 convention. I walk into the convention center, filled with famous romance writers, and feel overwhelmed–all these amazing authors gathered in one place with an atmosphere filled with cheerful enthusiam. There are over 400 romance writers signing their books (which raises nearly $53,000 for promoting literacy). I learn a few things for next time:

#1. Allow plenty of time. I arrive about an hour after the event starts so I won’t wait in line. Basically, this works, but the number of authors to visit and navigating the room does take time. And authors run out of available books—too soon–so standing in line might be better.

#2. Take a “must-get-autograph” list with a map showing where the authors will be sitting–available on the RWA conference site before the conference. I have my map in hand, ready to seek out autographs.

#3. Plan on spending more than expected on buying books. This always happens to me, but I justify my overspending because the dollars go to a great cause–promoting reading.

#4. Enjoy chatting. I enjoy talking with the authors themselves and the other buyers in the payment line. One buyer is a friend of someone at the conference doing a Kickstarter movie about romance writing www.lovebetweenthecovers.com. Another gal is impressed we are buying books for other people—she says the night is all about her and her love of reading. You go, girl!

#5. Eat before you attend. I am so busy that I foget to eat and get a little fuzzy. I head out to meet others for dinner—forgetting to stop by the tables of a few authors I want to meet. Well, I hope they will participate next year at the literacy event! I’ll see you then!

Meanwhile, I’ll be reading all the new books in my TBR pile–so sweetly signed by amazing writers. Love romance!

I’m titling this “THE UPHILL TRAIL WITH THANKFUL HEARTS!”-a guest post by Collin Stewart

My husband offered to write a guest post for my blog. We enjoyed the travel writing workshop and will continue to travel and write together. And at the end of his post, you will see why I admire him. So glad he is my husband!

Sherida and I just returned from our WORDHARVEST workshop, Travel Writing and Blogging for Fun and Profit, presented by Lesley S. King.

Sherida and I enjoy traveling and writing. We have always wanted to explore the options related to “writing up” our travels and to see if we could get them published. We have enjoyed Lesley’s work in New Mexico Magazine and have attended and enjoyed various WORDHARVEST activities in the past so this workshop seemed a natural fit. It was a fun class and very informative.

The class was well organized and covered the material very well. Lesley started us with a bit of writing. Then she described the need for and processes involved with using social media as an aspiring or active author. Being a non-participant in the wild world of social media, I none-the-less found those parts of the class interesting. I now can appreciate how valuable these tools are to an active author looking to sell into the market place. Now I’m trying to figure out how to “monetize” my various hobbies via the Internet.

The venue at the La Tienda in Eldorado was comfortable and convenient. Our class had a total of five students. All seemed to have a fun time and to enjoy the class. Lesley kept things moving along but provided adequate breaks.

I am a mining engineer and my writing tends to be of the technical variety. So I was looking to experience a bit of creative writing in the class. There was a lot of good writing stuff developed by the participants and some really interesting insights provide by my class mates.

I kind of went off on my own tangent, writing-wise, but the class was great and humored my somewhat different sense of direction.

Now, because you are a bit of a captive audience, here are a couple of things I worked on in the class. No, not travel writing, just creative contemplations on nature themes.

lying under a juniper tree

round blue-gray berries snuggled against gray twigs between green needles

brilliant blue sky

warm sun

cool breeze, drying sweat

rough rocks massage my achy back

tired muscles relaxing

eyelids closing

pink, glowing color fills my vision as my mind drifts, unencumbered

crackle of the radio telling me it was time to move to the next survey point

A haiku grew out of a few comments about Ponderosa pines……

Tall Ponderosa

red, brown, grey, black bark, rough feel

smells of vanilla

One writing exercise asked us to set up a sense of tension–two of my examples…..

The radio hissed quietly, “Okay, I’ve got the target sighted. Just hold there back in the shadows for a few while I make the shot.”

I moved quietly into the junipers, hidden from the direct sunshine, merging with the shadows. I sat, rough sandstone against my butt, my back slumped against the bark of a juniper. Beads of sweat dried quickly in the light breeze. I shivered, waiting for my partner to make the shot. Then I could move on.

Or……

I remember the doctor’s words, “We may not be able to save the leg. I want you to know that before you go into surgery.”

I felt it was in God’s hands. I would trust in the Lord.

I woke in the ICU. They had saved the leg. But nerves were dead, muscles damaged and starting to atrophy . But she had saved the leg. Now into the recovery phase. Adapting. Mitigating impact on family. Going back to work. Trusting in the Lord. Dealing / battling with Workers Comp.

I love his haiku!

The first of Collin’s examples is from the perspective of a survey helper…not a hunter as I first was thinking…and I know he doesn’t hunt.

The second example is from an incident that changed our lives. Six years ago, Collin was trapped in an underground coal mine for 22 hours–alone, with his right ankle broken and his left leg pinned by a heavy steel door. It took a few hours to get him out of the mine and to the emergency room where he was in intensive care for two days and in the hospital for six weeks after several surgeries. Various setbacks during that time tested his strength. He returned to work in a wheel chair a week after being released from the hospital. His disability is not obvious, but he has faced many challenges adapting to the leg orthotic, to the pain and to his physical limitations. He has met these uphill trials and trails with great courage—always trusting in God.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber;…The Lord will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121

Lost in the mountains….finding my trail to writing….

trail 1 — WILD ROSES AND WATERFALLS ALONG THE CREEK TRAIL

Winding through juniper-covered mountains as we drive to Santa Fe to attend a WORDHARVEST travel writing workshop, I am looking forward to meeting New Mexico travel writer, Lesley S. King, who will be our guide on this adventure. A year ago, after reading her article in New Mexico Magazine about the historic “Turquoise Trail” of mining lore, we drove along New Mexico Highway 14 through the Ortiz Mountains east of Albuquerque. A souvenir necklace I purchased along the way was the inspiration for “Turquoise Remembrance” which won the 2011 Tony Hillerman Mystery Short Story Contest and became my first publication.

Gathering at La Tienda in Eldorado on this azure-sky morning, it is good to meet Lesley and the other participants who will share this experience. While Lesley goes over our itinerary, a cool breeze floats through the open door. Sipping a cup of English Breakfast tea helps me to focus on this trek through the mountains of my writing desires. We will be finding our authentic paths, discovering our journey companions and deciding what gear to carry along. To begin, Lesley is telling us to write something….. a moment of panic! Which way to go? What am I doing here? I don’t know anything about writing! I don’t even know what to begin to write! But Lesley is a good leader and steps with me as I begin down this trail.

Where am I going? She helps me learn how to discover my goals. Writing is fun! And writing a blog is a way to be my own publisher, giving me freedom to write as I wish.

Who will be going with me? We explore the various social media–Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest–learning how to connect with others.

What do I need to bring along? Joy, appreciation, curiosity, enthusiasm.

The day has gone by quickly. It is time to say good-bye, so I leave with a map in hand, but it is still hard to decide which path to take. One blog or two? How much social media? Who is my audience? What is the purpose of my writing? Is my goal too lofty? Is this too hard and too much work? Do I have the time?

Driving home as the glowing sun sets in front of us, my husband and I are reviewing the day and what we have learned. We are surrounded by New Mexico’s lavender sky and purple hills, and I now realize which mountain trail I want to take. Not the one along the rocky summit and not the one through the swift creek. I want to take the meandering trail by the bubbling brook. I want to sit and chat with the others along the path as I snack on dried cherries. I want to draw in the fragrant wild roses and the vanilla-scented Ponderosa pines. I want to hear the melodies of finches and the chirping of a robin. Yes, I want the peaceful trail with the companionship of others who enjoy discovering the journey.

As Lesley says in her book, King Of the Road, “Within a single lifetime, most people live many incarnations. Career changes, family shifts and travel, all add to the journey’s richness.” So maybe another time, I will take the trail to the mountain crest or the path along the cascading stream. At this moment, I am adding to my journey through the mountains by joyfully writing what I love (my family, travel, romance, hiking, afternoon tea, food, cooking, history, historic hotels, faith, inspiration, trains, camping, reading) and with whom I love (my hero, best friend and husband of 41 years–Collin Stewart). And the sun is shining!

“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you.” Isaiah 55:12