A Bookish Week

Warning: Another post about writing activities.

For more than a week, I've been involved in (or with) writing-related stuff. It's been great. That's why I haven't posted for a while. Here's what I've been doing:

On Friday, February 26, Lake Writers met at the Westlake Library. Much of the meeting was involved in discussions about writing related things. A few people read some of their latest work and the rest of us gave them some suggestions, but most of the meeting was just sharing news and discussing various aspects of writing. A good meeting.

On Saturday, February 27, fellow Lake Writers Sally Roseveare and Karen Wrigley and I participated in an "Ask the Authors" session at the Bluebird Bakery and Grill in Downtown Moneta. This was the first author event that the Bluebird had done, so no one quite knew what to expect. The bakery area where we spoke  was packed. (Sally blogged about it here.) I was going to take pictures but my camera batteries were dead, although John had recently recharged them.

We'd hoped that a lot of the audience would be aspiring writers, but most were readers. No problem there—but not too many asked questions. We three read from our recently published books and talked about our experiences in getting published, where we got ideas, etc. Naturally, we had plenty of copies of our books with us:

Sally's latest book is Secrets at Sweetwater Cove, 
a Smith Mountain Lake murder mystery.

Beyond Woofs and Whinnies is a collection of messages 
from animals Karen's communicated with.

 My book (as you've read on this blog many times lately) is Ferradiddledumday, 
an Appalachian version of Rumpelstiltskin.

The interesting thing about our books is that they all result from help from Lake Writers. I was the first reader ("literary mid-wife") for Karen's book several years ago, and I was the one that suggested the title. My forte is diction, syntax, and other English teacher stuff. Karen and I spent a lot of time at coffee shops, my kitchen table, her table, etc. going over the manuscript. Sally—who has an eagle eye when it comes to spotting typos—was the last "literary midwife" for Karen's book.

I was an early reader for Sally's book, too. While I tore apart an early version of her first book (Secrets at Spawning Run) and Arrrgggghhed! at her cliches, I couldn't find anything major wrong with her second. Heck, I found very few minor things, and I was amazed how well her plot was crafted.

Ferradiddledumday began a few years before there was a Lake Writers, but I found my illustrator—Bruce Rae—at Lake Writers. In 2005, I handed him the manuscript and said, "You want to see what you can do with this?"

On Tuesday, March 2, my neighbor Claudia Condiff and I had planned to attend Sharyn McCrumb's presentation at Trinity Church, but the surprise snowfall dumped close to four inches by Tuesday night and roads were slick. Hence, we were snowed in. Here's how my oak tree looked when I went to feed about 4 PM:

Luckily, by Wednesday's Pen Women luncheon, the roads were clear. The grass and trees were covered when I left home, but—by the time I reached Roanoke—the snow was gone. Pen Women had a show & tell session instead of a speaker. Two members had new books: Ethel Born's book about rural postal deliveries was already out and president Peggy Shifflett's book, The Living Room Bed, will be out in mid-March.

On Thursday night, I returned to Roanoke for a Valley Writers meeting. We conducted some necessary business regarding the club's website, but most of the meeting consisted of readings followed by comments.

On Saturday, March 6, Karen and Sally and I had a book-signing at The General Store at Westlake. We were joined by Barbara Roberts, who had a new book, Not in My Wildest Dreams.

We four had a good time at The General Store. And those little quiches that owner Rita fed us were scrumptious.

Here I am at The General Store.

All in all, not a bad eight days. And next week, I'll be even busier!

~