Missed Opportuniies

 We are slowly emerging from the Great Ordeal. Human groundhogs are finally poking their heads above ground and beginning to peer around. Restaurants are loosening restrictions. Masks are "suggested" rather than required in my favorite branch of the Fort Collins library. 

I have four Zoom presentations scheduled for June. Additionally, the Western Writers of America conference will be held in Loveland which is just sixteen miles from Fort Collins. For me, the highlight of the event will be when Kathleen O' Neal Gear and Michael Gear receive the Wister Award.

The Gears have been my friends for years and have inspired countless other writers. Their spectacular rise to the ranks of best-selling authors has come from innate talent and incredible persistence. They are both dedicated archeologists. Kathleen has produced over two academic articles and has been awarded medals from the Department of the Interior for her work in conservation.

A number of friends will attend this conference. Some I have known many years. Others are relatively new. 

There are a number of conferences I will skip. In fact, since I write both historical novels and mysteries, I could attend a conference every single week. 

Yet, I'm struck by the missed opportunities by organizers of in-person conferences. Women Writing the West had a spectacular Zoom conference last fall. It was dazzling. I'm still amazed at the organizational work done by Pamela Nowak, the conference chair. 

Every single event, panel, and presentation that would have been included in a live conference was scheduled for the Zoom event. Keynotes speeches, breakout rooms, everything. The formatting depended  on logistical training, clear instructions to participants, dedicated moderators, and most of all Nowak's inspirational flexibility. 

The registration fee was lowered. There were no expensive hotel fees. The end result was a surge of  registrations by people who normally could not attend. Membership increased. Best of all, this convention resulted in a profit rather than the usual projected loss. 

Sadly, too many organizations are rejoicing over "returning to normal" without integrating the new approaches that worked during the shutdown. Conferences are very expensive. Hotel and travel fees alone are prohibitive to the bulk of the membership. 

We should not ignore the opportunity to integrate the lessons learned during the Great Ordeal. Try combining a Zoom approach to events with in-person participation. 

Improve!

Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear were keynote speakers at the recent Women Writing the West conference. The Gears have over 17 millions copies of their books in print worldwide and translations into 29 languages.

 If that weren't enough to turn you green with envy, Kathleen has a super academic record. She has published over 200 articles in the fields of archaeology, history, and bison conservation. The United States Department of the Interior has twice awarded her a "Special Achievement Award" and she received a "Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition" from the United States Congress in 2015. 

I met the Gears when they first attended a Western Writers Conference in Fort Worth. At that time they were living in a cabin in Colorado. I recall Michael saying they just had a mattress thrown on the floor. It was all they could afford. 

In the late Richard Wheeler's autobiography, An Accidental Novelist,  he reported on meeting the Gears (yet unpublished) at that same convention. He was interviewing wannabes for Walker Publishing and agree to read their stories. After the convention, a UPS truck delivered an enormous box. "I discovered a cache of manuscripts, five hundred pagers, one thousand pagers, one after the other." Wheeler was looking for books of about 60,000 words and could not publish these monsters. 

When they did finally begin selling, Michael told Richard they were down to their last 75 bucks and about to return to contract archeology. Richard points out that they were both willing to integrate editorial suggestions and made swift progress toward becoming best-selling novelists. 

In Michael's talk at WWW he stressed the important of improving one's writing. He emphasized that writing has changed over the years and we must read today's best-selling authors to understand how styles have evolved. 

I read a lot and some of my favorite novels were written during the 60s. It was the era of great social novels which were mini history lessons that captured the spirit of America. I learned more about the Civil Rights movement in a novel, Five Smooth Stones, that I have in any of my African American textbooks. And I own a bunch!

Yet, in re-reading these books, I find that language is stilted, and exposition and explanations are too drawn out. A lot of books that were best sellers during the years they were published would be rejected today. 

People are in a hurry. They don't put up with much. They like short chapters with whiffs of a backstory. I heard someone say that Americans like a lot of white space. Michael encouraged the listeners to read broadly. Read all the genres on the best-sellers list. Think about techniques that might improve our own writing. 

This is not a license for degrading our writing. Think of how much is conveyed in poetic images. It can be a new art form. 

Now don't yell! Once I asked writing students to notice how James Patterson changed a whole plot with a chapter ending with a one word paragraph. I know how disheartening it is to walk into a library and see seventeen copies of Patterson's latest book on the shelf. But there's a reason why he sells. 

It's a challenge to cultivate our own style and voice while keeping all the new rules in mind. When you feel frustrated, remember the Gears and their astonishing determination. They wrote a lot before they discovered the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  

Our Poor State

This picture was taken in the front of my house. The actual fire is miles away. Nevertheless this is what the sky looked like in Fort Collins on Wednesday. 

So many homes have been destroyed, so much acreage and trees. It's heartbreaking. The biggest fire in Colorado history is now competing with the second largest fire in Colorado history. 

I'm sorry to be so late posting this. I'm a little under the weather today. It's difficult to tell at this point what is causing a health problem. Covid, allergies, the flu, and an ordinary cold all have the same systems. Now smoke irritation has been added to the mix. I tend to error on the side of caution and self-isolate rather than risk infecting my friends or my family. 

I intended to report on a terrific talk given by Michael Gear and Kathleen Gear. They were the keynote speakers at the Women Writing the West conference. I'll save it for next time. 

Thanks!

Surprise!

 

Actually this meet the author poster from Poisoned Pen Press is the way I looked and felt by the time I finished my Kansas Tour this week. I gave five presentations and although the people are wonderful and easily some of the most attentive audiences anywhere--I always forget about the wind. The drive back to Colorado was just beastly.
It's been a whirlwind of a month. I went to Bouchercon in Canada and had lunch with all the Type M'ers who could make it to the conference. This trip was way too short. We were in Toronto and I didn't have time to do any sight-seeing.

And I'm still running around! I'll be on a plane tonight headed for Tucson for the Women Writing the West conference. My short story, "The Bucket" is a finalist for the Laura award. They will announce our places tomorrow at a special luncheon. I'm honored to be included with these amazing authors.

Monday night I learned that my book, Nicodemus: Post-Reconstruction Politics and Racial Justice in Western Kansas placed second in the Westerners International contest. I'm thrilled and frankly, quite amazed.

Now to get my head out of the clouds and settle down. I need to work on plot problems with Silent Sacrifices.

Writer's Conferences I Have Known And Loved

I (Donis) am not actually here today, Dear Reader. I am attending the Left Coast Crime conference in Phoenix. I thought it would be interesting to post photos from the conference, but I am new to my phone/camera and don't yet know how to post pictures without being in physical contact with my computer. Perhaps if someone will lend me their ten-year-old to teach me, I'll learn how before my next picture-taking event.

So, in the interim, I am posting for your enjoyment photos from some of the many writer's/fan conferences I have attended over the past ten years. There are too many to cover every one, so I just picked out some highlights, especially if they are photos in which I look pretty good. Join me on my virtual trip down conference memory lane.

With Larry Karp, Bouchercon, Anchorage, AK

Women Writing the West, Colorado Springs, CO

Hmm. I'm wearing the same wrap, though these photos were taken some years apart. I like that durn wrap. I still wear it a lot.

Tucson, AZ

I like the red sunglasses. I do the Tucson Festival of Books every year. It is huge. Hundreds of authors and tens of thousands of readers attend.

Tucson, AZ

Of course the one thing an author almost always does at a conference is sign books. This signing is at Tucson with Elizabeth Gunn and Hilary Davidson

Malice Domestic, Bethesda, MD

My first Malice Domestic, With Charlotte Hinger and Clea Simon

OWFI Annual Conference, Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma Writer's Federation International. I'm standing on a mezzanine landing in the conference hotel. I taught three workshops here that year.

Murder Mysteries and the West, Tempe, AZ

That's me in the blue talking to a reader after the panel discussion. Barbara Peters, my editor and owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore, is in the white, and the cowboy-hatted Reavis Wortham is next to her. Susan Slater is trying to hide behind the pillar.

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

This event had so many well-known writers that I don't have room to list them all. (Besides the fact that this was a few years ago and I don't remember who a couple of these people are) How many can you name?

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

Though I do have to mention these three, sitting on the left side, next to me on the end, because they are three of my favorite people: left to right, Carolyn Hart, Hannah Dennison, and Earlene Fowler.










(All photos taken by Donis Casey, Donald Koozer, or an obliging waiter.)