Sunday, June 24, 2018

2018 Berries, Bridges and Books Writers Conference

Hello! I attended the 2018 Berries, Bridges and Books Writers Conference put on by the Creative Minds Writer's Group of Ponchatoula. Ponchatoula is in Louisiana and southeast of Hammond, LA - the home of Southeastern Louisiana University. This was the 9th annual writer's conference they have put on and the first one I've attended.

CMWG had two categories: one in poetry and the other was a page-turner. I don't do poetry, so I entered the page-turner. I won 2nd place. You can read my entry below, and I hope you enjoy it. 







                     Dahlia’s Challenge
  
Dahlia used her key to call the elevator in D. Vickers Hall. The young English professor’s summer vacation had been ruined by Professor Jones when he broke both legs skiing. Her time should be spent in Aruba with her cousin Geoffrey or in the deserts of Colorado digging for dinosaur bones. Instead, her summer was on hold. Nothing exciting is going to happen this summer, and if it does, it will be somewhere far away from me.
The elevator ride was short but long. Her ride jerked to a stop, the door opened as quickly as frozen molasses running uphill, and Dahlia stepped out into the glare of florescent lighting. It was the week before summer classes started and the hallway was empty. There was an uneasy quietness about the place, it felt like a long forgotten tomb.
As she made her way to the tiny office she had occupied for the last four years, it took her less than ten steps. A rush of cold air escaped the small space when she opened the creaky door, (why is it cold) along with a foul odor. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, she noticed someone had placed a piece of thick, black fabric over her window. She shielded her eyes before she flipped on the light. When she stepped further into her office, she released a loud, ear piercing scream.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Richard Paul Evans and The Calliope Writers' conference

Angie Fenimore's (she can be reached on Facebook), The Calliope Writers' Conference is today, tomorrow, and Sunday. I am participating by internet, because I couldn't make it to Utah.

Today's special guest was Richard Paul Evans (RPE). He talked about his writing process, writing in general, and about several of his books. Then he took questions. And even though I was watching the conference via internet, I was still able to ask him a question about my Historical Romance. His response was he loved the genre of Historical Romance. yeah...

During his talk he said something that I found very interesting. He said, "Imagination is more important than circumstances." I find this to be very true. If you don't have an imagination, how do you expect to write fiction?

There was a 13 year old in attendance of the conference, and RPE told him it was good to get started early. He was very good at encouraging the young budding writer.

#CalliopeWritersConference