This weekend there was a BLOCK of great writers, at the Wayne County Writer's Conference, a block that included the Wayne County Arts Council House of the Arts and the neighboring Jesup Presbyterian Church.
Some forty plus attended the opening banquet and keynote speech given by Jack McDevitt, national best-selling author and Nebula Award Winner for Science Fiction. He had many important and profound things to say, and in speaking with him and his wonderful wife, Maureen, I was able to bring my writing goals into sharper focus.
What a great conference! Yes, it's just starting out, and the attendance was good but not spectacular. But that gave you plenty of opportunity to interact with the different seminar leaders, and learn thinks in a more direct, personal way.
It has helped me refocus my writing goals. This is what I hope to concentrate on - 1) make a more concentrated push, both with newer stories and some that have been floating around for the last few decades (re-editing where necessary), into breaking into one of the top science fiction magazines. This may mean a lot of rejection, but if I can break through, besides being a lifelong dream in and of itself, it would help pave the way to other goals. 2) As far as novel-length fiction goes, I'm going to, at least for now dismiss the idea of self-publishing. If I'm going to have novels in print, I'd prefer to concentrate on someone who can get it in bookstores around the country. 3) I will look at self-publishing my autobiographical works, and the works connected to my father, particularly on an e-book basis. 4) I will look at the smaller literary markets for my poetry - I would love to have enough confidence in it to drop the pseudo label.
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The international scene is troubling. Situations in the Ukraine and in Gaza seem to be quite dire, not to mention other problem areas in the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. I am internationalist enough to know that the United States can't bury its head in the sand and do nothing, and I am isolationist enough to not want to do anything that involves US troops. They are not easy situations to handle, and although I don't want to give the President a blank check in handling it, I certainly don't feel like standing on the side, ready to take the opposite side of the administration, just because my hatred of them is more intense than my caring for this country or the globe.
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Another weekend without going to a movie. Can't help that the love of going to the movies has been ingrained in me since I could crawl, and I have gotten better over the years, going longer periods without going. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this weekend, and then Guardians of the Galaxy next weekend.
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I have to decide on an obligation that is partly what I love to do, but also something that might distract me from my writing goals. I'm not sure which way to go yet.
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
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