"I think that we're all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better - and maybe not all that much better after all." -- Stephen King
Author Auction, Jewelle Gomez and Workshops … Oh, My!
Still in recovery mode and today is Wednesday!
This was my third year attending this awesome event. Each year it gets better. This year was amazing … and not just because it was in my home city … the whole conference had a more positive tone and a cohesiveness that I'd not experienced in the prior two years.
Jewelle Gomez, was the Keynote Speaker. Yes! Jewelle Gomez! I read KG MacGregor's blog and she had this to say about Jewelle Gomez, "When I retire from writing, I’m going to follow Jewell Gomez around the country and sit at her feet while she talks about her work. She’s truly an amazing woman and we were lucky to have her at GCLS."
Amen to that.
A variety of workshops were offered. If I had the ability to clone myself, I could've attended them all! Unfortunately, I had to settle for a few.
How to Write Dialogue Like A ProEssential Tools to Bring Your Characters to Vivid Life
Written and Presented by Elizabeth Sims
This two part workshop was one of those few. Hilarity ensued. "Driving me bugf**k" … a line Elizabeth shared a few times throughout the workshop … stuck with me.
But seriously, Elizabeth shared a wealth of advice on dialogue:
Great nuggets of knowledge from an engaging and learned presenter. I've taken a few webinars of hers via Writers Digest and always find them useful. Elizabeth's humor draws me in and she weaves that humor, intricately, through the lessons as she teaches. I highly recommend any of her webinars. She's a truly fun and wonderful person.
Cheyne Curry & Brenda Barton: "Requiem to Survived by... Short Story to Short Film"Cheyne explained to us how she wrote this short story for a contest and the story won an award and then morphed into an amazing and touching short film.
Hard work. Volunteers and sponsorship moved the project forward.
The story depicts the aftermath of a female soldier killed in action in Iraq. An Army chaplain is enlightened when visiting the mother of the soldier and is introduced to the woman's widow and young child – and all this happens BEFORE the repeal of DADT.
The short film was touching and Cheyne and Brenda's session was very interesting. I was impressed with both the story and the film!
Soldiers, Spies & Special Agents: Emerging Trends in Lesbian FictionSalem West did a super job moderating. The panel consisted of: Bev Prescott, Lynette Mae, Cheyne Curry and Barrett. Great input on military and law enforcement – real life and as characters in books.
Unfortunately, those were the only workshops I was able to attend as I had to slot time for my duties --
It was my honor and privilege to serve as the Awards Administrator this year. A daunting task that at times over the past several months had me teetering on the brink of insanity! (Hyperbolic? Perhaps.) The upside was being a part of the ultimate event - the Awards Ceremony. (Upside, EXCEPT for the minor detail of my having to address a roomful of people at the beginning! Shaking in my boots and all.)
My sincerest congratulations go to all the winners this year. (Visit goldencrown.org to see the phenomenal list of finalists and winners.) And we couldn’t have arrived at the memorable moments of giving awards if it weren't for the 33 volunteers who judged all the books. You were all steadfast and dedicated to the cause. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Without volunteers like these folks, the awards wouldn't happen.
I owe a huge THANK YOU to Mary Phillips, Director of Finance and Awards Liaison. Mary assisted me during the ceremony … placing the awards on stage as the finalists were read by the presenter(s). We had a smooth flowing system going on!
And our "Wocket," Director of Education and Interim Director of Technology, did a smashing job with the slideshow presentation. No glitches. No gremlins. Smooth sailing all the way! Whew!
Probably the most meaningful segment for me was the very last award, the Lee Lynch Classics Award. I was tasked with forming a committee to research, review and write a proposal for submission to the Board of Directors based on Lori L. Lake's suggestion for creating this new award. We worked and re-worked the proposal and the Board approved it, including having the "kickoff" this year by awarding it to the incomparable Lee Lynch for her book, "The Swashbuckler."
I so admire and respect
Everyone: Board of Directors, volunteers, authors, readers, editors, publishers, sponsors and hotel staff made this the best conference I've attended! So much talent. So much fun. And I could feel the love. Kudos to all!!
Dallas/Ft Worth, here we come! (2013)
After hanging out with so many talented and supportive folks I feel inspired to get back to my writing.
“Get the F***er Done!”
At GCLS, Elizabeth was talking with us about research. How all writers need to do research in order to find stuff out and make it real for our readers. We owe our readers that much. Elizabeth went on to describe “Call Reluctance” - a malady she said we needed to overcome, as writers conducting research. We’re afraid to pick up the phone and call people. Elizabeth summed up the cure for this malady quite well (IMHO) - “Just pick up the goddamn phone. Get the f***er done!” Yep, that’ll do ‘er, I thought. Laughter aside, Elizabeth provided informative guidance for writers. In order to make our stories real and hold our readers’ attention we need to conduct good research, portray all the senses (not just sight), extrapolate from our own experiences and think about maybe NOT tying things up so neatly at the end.
Witty and real, Elizabeth showed us how all of our experiences form our lives. We need to “BE BOLD!” And if you’re Elizabeth Sims, you also put down a dying llama using a
.357, for a doctor friend who can’t do it herself. Seriously.
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I attended a workshop in which Fay Jacobs (Publisher at A&M Books) was the presenter. Fay talked to us about marketing books using traditional methods of promotion and social networking. Fay provided hints such as, using characters or topics from our books when promoting; craft your image using one or two sentences that will grab people’s attention; use shameless self promotion via Facebook, Twitter, author website, blog, etc. Also, we should use old media: business cards and post cards, as well. Fay also spoke of helping each other succeed by talking about other writers on our own websites and/or blogs. “When one of us succeeds, we all succeed.” She said. Review books on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble - go online and do this for other authors and ask friends and authors to do the same for you when you’re published.
Fay says that writers don’t know how to write about themselves. And this is an important task after a write becomes a published author. Fay recommends we write serious pieces, but make the headline catchy to grab readers’ attention. Maybe begin by writing a blog about GCLS (hmmmm...I’m doing that very thing right here!) Fabulous and funny, Fay Jacobs rocked!
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POV, Narrative Stance and Perspective. Damn, that’s a mouthful of intimidating language. I hid under the table (not really). “Overworked underpaid servant - POV,” said Lori Lake, presenter extraordinaire. Every author’s mission (should she choose to accept it) is to ensure nothing jars the reader from the vivid and continuous dream (i.e. your book).
So much goes into crafting and writing a story. The author needs to think about the narrative - details and order of events; point of view - will it be omniscient, 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person? Maybe a combination? Perspective and viewpoint characters. It’s all so complex. There’s so much to think about. How will I ever remember it all? I couldn’t write fast enough to keep up with the information Lori was throwing at us.
I finally calmed down and got into the zone. I listened, wrote and absorbed as much as I could. I realized that there is no way I could get it all down, after all I don’t have a brain like Lori Lake’s! No way was I going to remember half of what she told us. Instead of wigging out - I’ll just take another of Lori’s classes/workshops/webinars or whatever in the future.
One thing about writing that every writer should know - you’ll never know all there is to know about writing. It’s an ongoing learning experience. Writing is fluid. And the craft is ever-expanding. So, if you don’t get it the first time, never fear, someone will write a book or teach a class and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to garner more knowledge.
A couple of really good take-aways for me during these two sessions were: POV and perspective keeps the reader oriented to the story’s orbit; POV = tool and Perspective = who’s telling the tale (the eyes the reader sees through). As writers, we don’t want to jar the reader out of the story. If we do, we may lose them for good - they may toss the book in the trash instead of just across the room! Avoid perspective slips.
Lori is an encyclopedia on how to write (among many other topics). I swear there’s no need to Google anything ... just ask Lori!
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Elizabeth Sims revisited: “Rough it Up: For a Better First Draft, Get Messy!” This workshop was very similar to the webinar Elizabeth gave through Writer’s Digest magazine several months ago. A writer’s first draft is sh*t ... Hemingway via Elizabeth Sims.
Sims is big on brainstorming. “Yes and ...” and “What if...” are two ways to get ideas flowing. Ask questions. Get the ideas out.
“Heart clutching moments.” These are the bits and pieces of the plot that readers will remember.
And as for that age old nemesis of all writers - writer’s block - Elizabeth says, “writer’s block is a mental construct - it does not exist.” Well said!
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KG MacGregor - a class act! Wow! What a powerful Keynote address given by KG. Last year I thought KG was aloof, stand-offish and not willing to give the time of day to anyone outside her inner circle of friends. I had little or no contact with her at the con last year. This year - I (and about a hundred other women) hugged the lady following her moving speech. KG talked about her journey, personal and professional. How she came to realize people, whether they be fellow published authors, aspiring writers or readers - people were important in her life. She brought the crowd to tears and to their feet for a standing ovation. The line to hug and congratulate her snaked around the room afterwards. I have a whole new lens through which I view this woman. She is amazing. Anyone who can stand before a room of 100-150 people and say “I was wrong” ... well, she earned my respect. Thanks KG!!
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Mentor/Mentee Program: I was lucky to be a participant in the GCLS Mentor/Mentee Program this year. I submitted the first five chapters of my manuscript to GCLS and one of the directors assigned two mentees to read my work. The idea being that at some point during the conference, the mentors/mentees would meet and discuss the submissions.
Laurel Mills and Susan X Meagher were my mentors. I am so appreciative of the time these two women spent reading and commenting on my writing. Everything from grammatical issues to over use of metaphors; making better transitions to varying sentence structure; showing via physical gestures to using italicized font in places.
Susan and I spoke a bit about self-publishing and publishing in general. We also chatted about editing and the importance of providing a squeaky clean manuscript to a publisher (aka - submit to publisher AFTER editing!)
I wrote notes after meeting with each mentor. Both women were extremely insightful and provided excellent feedback. Many suggestions and hints were given. I’m in awe of them both! I hope that some day I’ll be able to pay it forward and mentor someone and that if I do have that opportunity, that I’ll be as gracious as these two ladies. Many thanks, Susan and Laurel!
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The GCLS Awards - the grand finale, so to speak. So many brilliant and charismatic authors - so little time. The Ann Bannon winner: Georgia Beers could barely get through her acceptance speech. She was stunned to tears over her win. And Karin Kallmaker - her high fem-ness! Yes, Karin too suffered from shock and awe when she was presented with the Trailblazer Award this year. Congrats to all the winners and finalists!! What amazing women!!
Empowerment. Love. Exuberance. Fatigue. Fired up. Acceptance. Support. Encouragement. These and many many more words that I can’t even think of right now sum up the GCLS experience. I’m sad that it’s over. I’m excited for next year - 2012 in Minneapolis!! Woo Hoo!! (Visit my photo page to see pictures from the con.)
I encourage anyone interested in lesbian reading or writing: fiction, nonfiction, poetry whatever - make an effort to attend the GCLS Conference. It will be an experience well worth your time.
Most of all, I enjoyed being with other writers, readers and last, but not least - the BABAs (and partners!) I hereby dub Phyllis “BABA momma” as she kept calling us “little BABAs.” Phyllis is so dang cute! And so, I’m now trying to rest, recover, recuperate from the con ... and I’m fired up to revise my revised revision of the revision I revised (aka work on my manuscript).
Write on!