Back From the Conference

Back from New Orleans, safely, after driving twelve hours through thunderstorms. Tired, but energized and eager, as these conferences always affect me.

Friday Master classes: I first sat in Jess Well's class about writing credible, creative historical fiction. (I am thinking about my next book already, which may return to the civil rights era, or be set in the 1920's-1930's.) First, let me say that Jess Wells is a brilliant writer. If you haven't read The Mandrake Broom, and you are considering historical fiction, you really will enjoy this book. It could be used as a template on how to write historical fiction well. Her class was tremendously helpful regarding research, how to make it come alive in the story, how much is too much, and she provided a gold mine of useful tools.

Next I sat in Ellen Hart's class on the art of revision. Ellen teaches writing, and she is good at it. I took notes. I consider myself the queen of revision, but torturing a good story through endless revision that is not producing a better manuscript also tortures the writer, and Ms. Hart gave detailed instruction on specific goals to be accomplished through revision, so that one is not simply spinning wheels and getting nowhere. (Kelly Smith of Bywater Books asked me to type up my notes on this class, as a means of future torture methods she can perhaps inflict on me and other writers. Let it be known that some editors do have a sadistic streak, which combined with the power they already hold over a writer's lifeblood poured onto paper, is a nasty mix. This is a joke, people!)

Saturday panels: I sat in the audience as Ellen Hart, Anthony Bikula, Jeffrey Round, and Gary Zebrun discussed the mystery novel. Even if you don't write mysteries, there is a lot one can learn from masters of this genre regarding plot and pacing and tension, which all good books need. These writers are also very charming and witty, so it was a delight to hear a group of mystery authors talk about their craft.

Next, I attended a discussion of groundbreaking lesbian literature, which was a look back at the beginning of lesbian fiction, and the panelists were Radclyffe, who has an extensive personal library of many of the early works and is a walking encyclopedia about them, Elana Dykewomon, who wrote a couple of those groundbreaking novels herself, and accepted an award at te conference because of her contribution to the literature, JM Redmann, whose award-winning Mickey Knight series has just added a fifth installment, and the afore-mentioned Ellen Hart, author of 25 books. The panel was moderated by Fay Jacobs who asked some pointed questions, and classics of our body of literature were discussed, and Elana Dykewomon made a poignant and eloquent plea for us not to forget those early writers. We must keep their names and their work in our mouths, she said.

Next I attended a lively debate on art and entertainment in fiction, which was the old, never-resolved argument between popular fiction, genre fiction, and "literary" fiction. Canadian writer Peter Dube spoke most to the point about this, when he said the who proposition is moot, good writing is good writing, whether it is found in erotica, the mysery novel, science fiction, poetry, or in the literary novel. The distinction is, he said, and the other panelists agreed, a false premise. categorizing work is a necessary shorthand for bookstores and readers, so they can find what they want to read easier, but the argument has no place is discussing quality. Jane Austen wrote genre fiction. If she were writing today, you'd find her work in the bookstore next to Danielle Steele. And fifty or a hundred years from now, some of our work may be found in the classic literature section, if we write well enough. It all comes down to the work.

Sunday: I attended a very informative workshop on the art of self promotion, got a ton of helpful information from panelist Michele Karlsberg, a working publicist, on what to do, and what not to do.

Finally, I attended a panel discussion about capturing the past in prose, during which panelists Jess Wells, Justine Saracen, and Jim Duggins totally enthralled me about why they write historical fiction, and why I should too. Lively conversation about combining research with imagination.

I skipped the discussion of the realities of the market in these economic times, by publishers Linda Daniel and Kelly Smith. I didn't want to hear bad news. For that, I have royalty statements.