Chasing the Sunset: a Writer's Reflections

(Chasing the Sunset, LCS 2007)

When Steve and I drove home last night, I learned how to use the camera feature on my cell phone. The sun was an orange round ball that hid behind trees and I was trying to capture a photograph of the sunset. Steve said, "Why don't we wait until we drive a little more to see if there's a space to take a photograph?" Well, I tried and tried, and it kept hiding until it set.
But I learned something from this experience. In the process of taking photographs, I noticed the sky with the gorgeous cloud shapes and the purple and orange colors. I noticed the deer in the cornfields. I noticed the beautiful green fields. It reminded me of the writer's conference I just attended. I was chasing the sunset, the sun, which was the book proposal I was plugging this weekend, but in fact, in the process, I picked up more beauty, more information, more ideas, which made the sunset and the conference more meaningful. If you are interested, here are the highlights of my weekend!

Wednesday, July 23-Saturday, July 26

Steve and I enjoyed a wonderful mini-vacation/writer's conference in Muncie, Indiana. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn at Marriott. The place was cozy, and the main room had access to free coffee and free internet service! Steve sequestered himself at the hotel and read the entire time. He was a happy camper! The only honey-do project he had to do was to pick me up from the conference for lunch and at the end of the day!

For our anniversary on July 26, we dined at Cheeseburger in Paradise (one of Jimmy Buffet's chain restaurants) for lunch. I felt like a true parrothead. Our server was a promising young writer and journalism student. She had a lot of energy and was a lot of fun!

In the evening, we met up with two dear friends we met at an earlier conference in 2003. We had a casual dinner at Mancini's. (We'll go to a fancy place in the near future.)

Approximately 200 people attended this event at Ball State University.
I learned so much this week, everything from what to do at a writer's conference (not shy away in a corner) to pitching a book proposal to an agent.

I had the privilege to pitch my book proposal Blogging by Candlelight (Or, Switching to Decaf) to an agent. She was great! She was young, energetic, had really cool clothes, and put me at ease right away. I felt like I made a new friend. Amy Tipton, you totally rock! I met a couple other wonderful agents from New York: Anne Hawkins and Josh Getzler.

There were authors and Ball State faculty who gave sessions. One of my favorite authors was J. Brent Bill. He is a Quaker and writes inspirational non-fiction books. His presentations are great and I attended four of his sessions. I thoroughly enjoyed Tasha Alexander (a Notre Dame grad), and Shirley Jump. Tasha writes historical fiction and I attended her session on writing dialogue. Shirley writes romance novels (a LOT of them) and she gave great information on how to freelance write and on time management. If she can do it with two kids, three dogs,and a husband, I can find the time, too to freelance.

I was impressed with the openness and the helpfulness of these authors. I also enjoyed attending Bill Fitzhugh's session on "Writing Shorter: Sketch Comedy."

I met Jane Friedman, Editor of Writer's Market (A must-have resource for writers!) I also met Sally Wright at a talk table about mystery writing.

Most importantly, I made new friends. Everyone was so kind and supportive! I had one person who took her time to coach me on my pitch. And we had just met.

Sadly, there was only so much time and I didn't connect with other talented authors/faculty there. I want to go to the next year's Midwest Writer's Workshop!