Best Southwest Bookfest report

The writers festival was good. I got to hear and meet the two authors I mentioned in the previous post (Carlton Stowers and Shanna Swendson) and bought some of their books, which they graciously autographed for me. Shanna's book, Enchanted, Inc., is not really a category that I normally read, but it looks fun! It's chick lit and her description is "Harry Potter meets Sex in the City." My friend Gail will probably want to borrow it when I'm finished. It sounds right up her alley. I got one of Carlton Stowers true crime books that I had not read before--To the Last Breath.

Something funny happened. I managed to finagle a last minute ticket to the luncheon. When they opened the doors, I sat down at a fairly empty table. When people joined the table, they'd introduce themselves to me, and vice versa. A gentleman walked up and asked if he could sit at the spot next to me, and I said, "Sure, nobody there yet!" In my mind, I was thinking that I wasn't too excited about it because this man was obviously a heavy smoker who had probably just returned from a smoke outside. I was thinking my allergies weren't going to thank me for telling him the seat was vacant. After I got my box lunch and returned to the table, and he did the same, he stuck his hand out as I did. I said, "I'm Julie..." He said, "Carlton Stowers." I nearly laughed out loud, but managed to say something idiotic instead like, "I know who you are! I've read some of your books and really enjoyed them! Don't you love coming to these things where everyone knows who you are?" Then, I was thinking, "Hmm, that was kind of rude...implying that nobody would know who he was anywhere else." Oops. But, he graciously continued the conversation, telling me how he never turned down events where there was free food and I asked if that was a writer's secret to stretching the budget. He said, "Oh, yes, definitely!"

Anyway, he was fun and I enjoyed listening to him later in the afternoon as he talked about his latest book, Where Dreams Die Hard: A Small American Town and Its Six-Man Football Team. He said he wrote it after 9/11 when he had to take a step back from true crime to write something uplifting and less depressing.

One of my favorite sessions was by W.C. Jameson, who does all kinds of things in addition to being a writer. He's a singer/songwriter and also apparently leads treasure hunting expeditions (people do that in real life?) and was an advisor for the movie National Treasure. His session was about the "10 Keys to Becoming a Successful Writer." He said he compiled this list after years of hanging around with lots of writer friends and observing these characteristics in them again and again. He said not to feel hopeless, however, if there are any that don't describe you--that it's possible to develop some of them over time. Here's a brief look at these ten. I felt pretty good afterwards, because I can honestly say I possess most of these, at least in my mind. I'm sure some of them may need maturing, but it still felt good. I'll finish off tonight with the list.

1) Passion
2) Commitment (to writing, learning; devoting time and energy; strong work ethic)
3) Belief in one's self (and he specifically said this is one that may need to develop over time)
4) Patience (because the publishing world moves verrrry slowwwly!)
5) Strategy (a time and place to write, organization, philosophy)
6) Energy (excitement and joy about working in the field and being around other authors)
7) Understanding the publishing industry (staying informed; watching trends)
8) Attending and participating in writers' seminars and conferences
9) Talent and skill (but that having other charactertics may actually compensate for a "moderate amount of skill"!)
10) Reading the classics (This may be an area I have to work at it more. I'd rather read books like I want to write...I read so many classics in high school and college as an English major that I burned out pretty bad, but he said there is much to learn from the books that have stood the test of time. I did bring The House of Seven Gables home from Boston last fall, though, and have been reading it bit by bit. Does that count?)