Life is Crazy

My life has been crazy lately so I haven't blogged much. Or at all. I'm going to hit a few highlights in my upcoming posts. I attended the LDStorymakers writing conference a few weeks ago. A-ma-zing. Such a great conference. I loved seeing friends, meeting new people, and learning how to improve my writing skills. There's something so exhilarating about being in a room with hundreds of people who talk to themselves, write story ideas on pieces of paper, research how to kill someone with poison, and can carry on a conversation about their characters as if they are real people who live down the street.

This conference just keeps getting better. If you love to write, you definitely want to come to this conference. The classes are exceptional. The venue is great (Marriott Hotel in Provo, UT). The food is yummy. And you just can't beat the company!

I loved being an instructor at bootcamp. The ladies at my table were all so talented. It was a pleasure to work with them and learn from them. I had so much fun and the time just flew by. What a fun way to spend the afternoon talking about stories and characters and how to improve writing skills. Loved it! Bootcamp was definitely one of the highlights for me.

I attended the cover design class by Crystal Liechty and Sandra Tayler--very knowledgeable ladies who taught me a lot. I also enjoyed listening to the keynote speaker, Kevin J. Anderson. I'm an X-Files junkie and was happy to learn he's written a couple of novels for X-Files fans. He spoke about his productivity, which blew me away. That man writes like crazy--5-6 books per year. Wowza. I'd love to do that, but with a husband, so many kids to raise, a house to care for, and other commitments, it's not realistic for me. But it was great listening to him. I also loved hearing from the agents and editors. Holly Root is so bubbly and energetic. I pitched my current WIP to her and she was so fun and encouraging. I learned a lot from listening to their panels.

Great, great conference. So much fun!

You can check out information about the 2012 conference (as well as past conferences) and the 2013 conference dates at www.ldstorymakers.com.

LDStorymakers Conference

I'm so excited about the LDStorymakers Conference next year. It will be May 6-7, 2011 at the Salt Lake City, UT Sheraton. It's going to be amazing. I'm thrilled to be on the 2011 Conference Committee as a co-chair with Tristi Pinkston for Bootcamp.

Tristi and I are both very excited about Bootcamp. We have made one major change. Here's the official announcement:

In response to the feedback from conference attendees, including our sister group Authors Incognito, the conference committee has decided to offer Bootcamp on Thursday afternoon in 2011. The majority of attendees expressed interest in having more repeat conference classes, more opportunities to meet one-on-one with the visiting agent(s) and editor(s), and more time to network with each other. Many also commented that having the early morning Bootcamp made for a long day. Moving Bootcamp to Thursday afternoon is a big change and may make it difficult for some to attend, but we believe that the benefit of more conference time outweighs the inconvenience and hope that making this announcement early will allow attendees enough time to plan for Bootcamp on Thursday afternoon.

For those interested in an intensive critique experience, we will be offering a master class in critiquing as part of the regular conference schedule. More details on that class as well as Bootcamp will be available soon on our website.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to an amazing conference in 2011.

Sincerely,

The 2011 Conference Committee

More details will follow both about the conference and Bootcamp so be sure to check back here or the official website http://www.ldstorymakers.com/.

Plan on attending because you won't want to miss it, I promise! And, please, tell all your friends!

Fantastic Conference

I attended the LDStorymakers 2010 Conference on Friday and Saturday. It was spectacular. I love this time of year when I can hang out with other writers who "get it" and don't think I should be committed to an insane asylum because I have voices in my head :). What a fabulous weekend.

If you write, you should make plans to attend the conference in 2011 because it's well worth the time, effort, and money. The classes were amazing, the keynote speaker, Dave Farland (Wolverston) was so inspiring, and the atmosphere couldn't be beat. The energy was palpable. The excitement and enthusiasm was incredible and it was wonderful being around such supportive people.

I helped with registration and with the pitches with Kirk Shaw from Covenant. I also taught a class on writing short stories. I hope it was helpful. I'll be uploading the template I use to write short stories on my website http://www.rebeccatalley.com/ so if you're interested, check it out. I didn't have a large class but I'm hoping that those who attended came  away with something useful. I love to teach so it was a fun experience for me.

I also had a meeting with Krista Marino, an acquisitions editor for Delacorte Press. She gave me some valuable feedback on my chapter book, Gabby's Secret. I enjoyed meeting her and learning from her.

I'll be blogging about the classes I attended so check back.

I loved. loved. loved the conference.

LDStorymakers Conference

I was fortunate enough to attend the LDStorymakers conference over the weekend. We took some of our kids and my wonderful husband played with the kids while I attended the conference.

What a fantastic experience. The conference was so professional. The classes were helpful and well-prepared. The atmosphere was fun and invigorating. People were willing to help one another. It was well worth the drive and effort for me to attend. I loved seeing friends and making new ones. I enjoyed the presentations and meeting my publisher, Lyle Mortimer.

You could feel the excitement in the air even though most of us were completely exhausted. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about writing for two days instead of Barbies, Legos, what to cook for dinner, and who didn't load the dishwasher. It was refreshing to be around people who don't think you're crazy because characters have conversations in your head (and sometimes you get involved in the conversation).

It was so much fun. If you are at all interested in writing and are able to attend the next conference, I highly recommend it. It's growing every year and each year it gets even better with more opportunities available.

Now it's time to come back to reality and wash 10,000 loads of laundry, taxi my kids from one activity to another, and figure out that age old question, "What's for dinner?"

I Wanna Be a Bestseller by LDStorymakers

I'm still trying to recover from being out of town attending the LDStorymakers conference, but thought you might enjoy this video. Are they funny or what?