I am so excited! This weekend is the Moonlight and Magnolias writing conference for the Georgia Romance Writers. I look forward to it every year for many different reasons. The first and most important is that I am surrounded for two full days by other writers. This is one of the few places where I don’t cringe as I describe my stories to others. Remember I write romantic fantasy. If I say to the average person out on the street that my hero, Nick, sweeps my protagonist, Meg, away on a white horse, most people get THAT look in their eyes. That ‘yeah, right’ look. But these writers will go with it. From them you get a ‘Sounds great! What happens?’ I love that!
Next, the whole weekend is about writing. I am particularly fond of the seminars and workshops that deal with the craft of writing. The topics are as varied as world building, creating a style guide for your work and how to be a good critique partner. This year I am paying more attention to the workshops on marketing as I will be playing the primary role in marketing Nick. Since I do have another project in the works also, The People of the Green Hills, I am looking forward to the workshop on pacing to clean up that particular aspect of that story.
Because of these reasons, I can say, finally, that M&M is where I feel most like a professional writer. It is a place where everyone assumes you are in it for the long haul, and they consider you a member of the club no matter where you fall in your career. It does not matter that I am 56 and just have my first contract. It does not matter that my first book was self-published. It does not matter that my heroes time travel or see ghosts. All that matters is that I am trying.
See you on the flip side!
bethwarstadt.com 