A week late, true, but here it is.  My presentation to the Utah Educational Library Media Association last Friday went as well as I could have hoped.  It’s always a bit nerve wracking to deliver a new presentation, and this was the first time I’d ever given this program on archetype and abandoning canon to develop narrative literacy in elementary schools.  The session was pretty well attended and participation was excellent.  We talked about parallels between Goosebumps and Great Expectations, then I broke attendees into groups to find archetypes in a variety of texts, and then I used that to jump into the theory.  The attendees seemed very pleased with the experience, which makes me pleased with it.  In the future I’ll be looking to give the presentation again to educators and librarians.  If that includes any readers of this blog who may be interested, contact me if you have an event at which you’d like me to speak.  And just for the record, either James or I is stalking the other.  You can’t keep crossing paths this frequently without someone putting in some effort to make it so.  I’m just saying.

Now a quick conference announcement: The American Fork Arts Council Conference for Writers is coming up.  Here’s all the information as I received it.

American Fork Arts Council Conference for Writers
Saturday April 24 2010 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Historic City Hall, 31 N. Church Street (50 East), American Fork
8-9 a.m. Registration
9-9:10 Welcome (Plenary)
 
KEYNOTES
9:10-9:40 Keynote #1 Ginger Churchill, “What I Wish I had Known as a Beginning Writer”
9:40-10:10 Keynote #2 Ally Condie, “My Journey to National Publication”
10:10-10:40 John D. Brown, “Aiming for National Publication”
 

INTRODUCTIONS of editors and authors
10:40-11:05 EDITORS: Derk Koldewyn, Granite

AUTHORS: Shannon Guymon, Linda Jefferies, Caleb Warnock
11:05-11:20 15-minute break
11:20-noon BREAKOUT ONE
Upstairs room “Crafting the Novel” with Shannon Guymon, John D. Brown
Downstairs One “Finding and Working With an Agent” with Ginger Churchill, Ally Condie, Caleb Warnock
Downstairs Two “Taking Your Questions about Publishing” with Deseret Book and Granite Publishing
  
Noon-1 LUNCH “Mix and Mingle with Authors and Editors”
 
1-1:40 BREAKOUT TWO
Conference One Derk Koldewyn of Deseret Book “What Deseret Book is looking for now”
Conference Two Ginger Churchill “How to Write and Publish Picture Books”
Upstairs room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 1: First Principles & Story Concept”
Office room Caleb Warnock “10 Things Every Writer Should Know about Copyright”
Downstairs One Granite Publishing “What Granite is looking for now”
Downstairs Two Ally Condie “Writing Young Adult Fiction”
 
1:40-1:50 Ten-minute break
 
1:50-2:30 BREAKOUT THREE
Upstairs Room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 2: Character”
Conference Two Ginger Churchill “Genres of Children’s Books, from Board Books to YA Novels”
Conference One Derk Koldewyn of Deseret Book “National Publication with Shadow Mountain”
Office room Caleb Warnock “How to Write the Query Letter”
Downstairs One Granite Publishing “Publishing Options with Granite”
Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “How to Write Romance”
 
2:30-2:40 Ten-minute break
 
2:40-3:20 BREAKOUT FOUR
Upstairs Room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 3: Plot”
Conference Two Ginger Churchill “How to be a Writer and a Mother Too”
Conference One Linda Jefferies “Writing Poetry”
Office room Caleb Warnock “Write a Synopsis? I’d Rather Gouge My Eyes Out!”
Downstairs One Ally Condie “Succeeding as an LDS author”
Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “Writing Nonfiction”
 
3:20-3:30 Ten-minute break
 
3:30-4:10 BREAKOUT FIVE
Upstairs Room John Brown, “Writing Scenes: The Basic Units of a Novel”
Conference Two Ginger Churchill “Querying Agents and Publishers”
Conference One Linda Jefferies “Publishing Poetry”
Office room Caleb Warnock “Okay, You Were Rejected – Why, and What to Do Now”
Downstairs One “How to form a critique group that works”
Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “Succeeding as an LDS Author”
 
4:10-4:20 PRIZE GIVEAWAYS, GOODBYE
 
REVISED (MAY CHANGE)

Two more bits of news to announce for writer in the Salt Lake area. 

First, the bad: it looks like there’s been some turmoil at UVU’s annual Forum on Children’s Literature.  I won’t go into the details as that might be airing people’s dirty laundry in public, but I will say that if any of you have registered to attend or were considering it, you may want to contact the organizers and demand information on all the changes.  My understanding is that everything from guests of honor to panelists and breakout presenters are up in the air at this point.  The conference also looks to be far smaller this year than it has in the past, and may shift its focus away from writing to education all but completely.  If you registered for this conference or are considering it, be sure that you find out exactly what the experience may be like.  It’s coming up in about two weeks, so you’ll want to look into it quickly, especially if you’re considering asking for a refund.

The next bit of news is far more pleasant, and is quite an opportunity: on March 10th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, will be presenting a workshop on Story Structure and Pacing at Weber State University.  The event will be held at the Hurst Center, Legacy Hall, and will cost $10 or $20 at the door.  I know Dan and let me assure you that he knows his stuff.  He’s easily one of the top writing craftsmen in the local area, no joke.  Taking a workshop from most other writers who are as capable as Dan could easily cost four times what you’ll pay at the door for this event.  If you’re working on your craft and can make it to the WSU area, it’ll be well worth your time and money. 

Next time something… well, I was going to say special, but I think I’ll stick with just something.  Hint in the form of a story problem: If Jane Austin is traveling from New York to Los Angeles at the pace of your standard barouche and collides with astrology in the midnight sky somewhere above Akron, what do you get?  

While the conference isn’t actually over for another few hours, it is for me.  Because I’m tired.  And my panels are all finished, so I’ve come back home to medicate my knees and tell you all the interesting (to me, at least) bits I remember.  (Things do have a tendency to blur at these things.)

Thursday

The conference started off with an interesting panel on writing style, after which I talked with Lisa Mangum about a requested manuscript of mine that’s apparently disappeared in some vortex at Shadow Mountain.  She said she isn’t in the vortex neighborhood (acquisitions) any more, but that believe it or not there is  bottom to the singularity and, yes, a fourteen month wait probably is a good sign in this case.  Having decided I would take what I could get in the optimism department, I headed to a presentation on open source software that made me aware of a few tools that may be very, very helpful.  (I’d never even heard of GIMP, which is apparently an open source graphic program in the vein of PhotoShop, for example.)  After this, I attended a panel on Mormons writing, reading, and editing horror fiction, mostly because Michael Collings (formerly of Pepperdine) took part, and I always love hearing him speak and teach.

Nathan Hale (who works with Shannon Hale on the Rapunzle graphic novels but is not her husband, brother, or othersuch, but is a scion of the Hale theater dynasty) then gave the day’s keynote address, which was a blend of three presentations that wasn’t exactly seemless and was better for it.  It was fun, as were the substantial number of flying fish (the helicopter rather than the standard species).   

Then came my first panel of the conference: Putting Romance in Fantasy.  Other panelists included Mette Harrison (who was a fine moderator in addition to contributing a great deal), Ami Chopine, Lesli Muir Lytle, and Anna del C. Dye.  We talked about romance as a concept apart from romance as a genre, which I thought was important, and I even thought to bust out one of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes.  A number of people complimented me on the panel over the weekend, so I must have said something constructive, which is the goal.   

Soon after I took part in my second panel of the day, which addressed why so many mothers and dogs and such die in children’s stories.  My friend and former editor Stacy Whitman (who is moving to New York, hurray!) served as moderator and panelist as she pitched questions at two good friends, Julie Wright and Paul Genesse, and myself.  Much of the time was spent establishing the difference between a trope and a cliche, which is a really important distinction.

Oh, I almost forgot.  That night I was invited to a goodbye dinner for Stacy at Bangkok Grill in Orem (about 8th south and 3rd east, I believe).  It was quite a gathering.  Stacy went to BYU with Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor, and a bunch of others now in the writing/publishing world, and they kindly let me attend with the rest of the clan.  It was kind of a thing to see, about twenty-five or thirty of us, a surprising number published writers (some very famous).  Here’s all you need to know: 1) Bangkok Grill is very good (Howard knows his Thai food) so you should go.  Frequently.  2)  Talking about methods of procuring and utilitzing tape worms for medicinal use is not the best subject for dinner conversation, but it can and does happen.  3)  If you think a writer is an especially capable, interesting, or admirable kind of person, never, ever go to dinner with a gang of us.  I fit in that night.  That means you will be disappointed to the brink of suicide.  4) Eating spicy food at night does not hinder my sleep, for which I am profoundly grateful.       

Friday

I was on the first panel of the morning, which filled up despite the hour (9:00 am) because of a really strong lineup: Guest of Honor and NY Times Bestseller Brandon Sanderson, the certified and certifiable schlock genius Howard Taylor, good buddy and perpetual puzzle James Dashner, and Larry Correia and Karen Hoover, neither of whom I knew but both certainly held their own on this heavyweight panel.  I hope I did the same, because this session earned a lot of praise—perhaps because it ranged from imbibing Essence of Payton Manning (you will live a happier life if you don’t ask) to the redneck fairies in Larry’s work to Brandon’s taking “Rapunzel’s hair” and “Sponge Bob” and transmuting them into a story about a space elevator constructed of impervious, semi-divine keratin which facilitates the discovery of a race of sentient sponges.  Yeah, if you weren’t there, you missed out.  That fifty minutes will never be replicated.

Marty Brenneis was the day’s keynotes, and he showed how George Lucas’s special effects company did every single cool thing you’ve ever seen on film.  It was a blast!  (Very literally.)  

At noon I was scheduled for a signing, which eventually happened though it looked for a long time that it wouldn’t.  There was some miscommunication between event organizers and the BYU Bookstore, and myself along with quite a few other authors found none of our books were available to buy.  When I discovered this the previous day I allowed my frustration to get the better of me for a while, but a very kind and patient woman named Tami arranged for me to sell on consignment and all went swimmingly.  They even got a sign with my name printed out in three hours!  I’m telling you, that girl is magic.  I signed some books over the course of the hour and talked to more people, so it turned out great.  A few other ladies at the bookstore helped me along with Tami though I didn’t catch their names.  Thanks, ladies.       

An hour later came my second panel of the day on writing authentic child characters.  Other panelists were Julie Wright (a much better moderator than she gives herself credit for), Dene Low (Laura Card), Laura Bingham, Bron Bahlmann (who is sixteen and truly deserved his seat!), myself, and James Dashner doing his best Jeff Savage impression as Jeff didn’t make it.  (For the record, it was more of a James doing Jeff doing a spot-on James Dashner impression.)  Again, things went well.  I didn’t know Dene or Laura very well, but they were both impressive.  Bron made me feel both old and a touch slow, which is a striking concoction of inferiority.  I’m a bit embarrassed that I laughed when James explained his process of secondary character creation, but it wasn’t insulting at all, at least, it wasn’t meant to be.  It was a result of perplexity.  James just writes good stories, much in the way the wind blows.  He’s so instinctive where I’m analytic.  He’ll tell you frankly he doesn’t know how or why about much of his process and, equally frankly, it’s like an itch I can’t scratch.  I gotta know how that brain works!  I swear, if he’s ever foolish enough to take a nap near me when we’re alone I’m going to find some scissors or something and poke around in his brain.  James, you have been warned.

I wrapped up the day with a really interesting presentation by Bryan Beus, a visual artist who reminds me a lot of myself in his approach to art.  He presented on archetypes and the monomyth in narrative from a largely visual point of view, which I found fascinating.  It really was like looking at a very familiar subject through lenses just that much different from what you’re used to.  We talked for a minute afterward and it was clear that there was some methodological kinship there.  I’m really glad I went.

Saturday

I’m always a bit drained by the third day of a conference and I was only on one Saturday panel, so I planned on keeping things short.  The day started off pleasantly when Brandon Mull and I parked near each other and walked into the Wilkinson Center together.  We caught up a bit and talked shop.  Brandon is one of the very successful writers who has and continues to pound the pavement like a madman.  He’s visited, I don’t know, a thousand schools over the years?  Whatever the actual number, he’s a legend in the local children’s writing world for his energy and work ethic.  When you add that to a terrific storyteller and a genuinely nice guy, you get someone who’s always nice to cross paths with.

Again, my panel was the first of the day (though my second on romance, go figure).  Where before I was the only guy on the romance panel, this was all men: moderator John Brown (who I got to know at dinner on Thursday), fellow Dragonlance writer Dan Willis, and L.E. Modesitt Jr (Lee) in addition to myself.  I thought this panel was fantastic, though Lee did disagree with me a few times (ouch!).  I can’t complain, honestly.  This was a good panel with the four of us dealing with pretty nuanced stuff, from sociological theory to narrative craftsmanship.  There was a lot of interplay and, I think, really actionable information for those in attendance.  I was glad to be a part and look forward to future events with all these men (though the topic of romance seems unlike as a future place for us to meet up). 

Then I spent an hour or two talking with a lovely nineteen-year-old woman about her book—or, you might say, abusing her by suggesting so many options for revision it certainly gave her a headache.  I’d use her name, but she insists she’s a thirty-plus married with two children.  I don’t want to expose her identity as a bald (and very young)-faced liar.

Then I went to two panels on worldbuilding.

Then I came home to write to you.    

Other things I’ll report (which you may or may not want to know):

* People ask me to take pictures with them, and this happened three times at LTUE.  I always agree, but still find this to be extremely odd.  Rather like taking pictures of a can of soup.  There is nothing particularly off putting about a can of soup, certainly, but neither is it possessed of a rare aesthetic quality.  Whenever I’m asked to take a picture with someone, a single thought fills my head: stop looking so confused.

* James Dashner’s entrance in a room is sometimes accomplied by applause, only some of which is sarcastic.  Brandon Sanderson’s is accompanied by greater applause, none of it sarcastic.  Mine is accompanied by no applause.  All of this strikes me as logical.

* Paul Genesse wrote some very generous things (perhaps overly so) on his blog after our Thursday afternoon panel.  He actually posted it that day—after being on four panels!  Like Brandon Mull, Paul too is a machine in synthetic flesh.     

* The Brandons Mull and Sanderson signed books for my brother and his wife.  I will now be even cooler to their family.  (My nephew, who will be four tomorrow, thinks I’m pretty awesome already, so just wait until he can read the dedication to GDC.)

* Best panelist of the conference: L.E. Modesitt Jr.  Yeah, yeah, that guy who kind of sort of disagreed with me about some stuff.  I may not agree with him on everything, but I do most things—and the guy knows his craft and knows how to talk about it.  I admire and respect his balance of intellectual orientation in the disciplines of economics, politics, and other social dynamics with the truly idiosyncratic nature of telling a story.  He’s one who does it right, if you ask me (though he’d be the first to point out that a million other ways can be just as right).  The Brandons, Howard Taylor, and Dan Wells among others are always standouts, but this weekend’s cream was Lee (which, unfortunately, rose only on Saturday as he was supporting his wife with an event she is holding this weekend).  If you ever get a chance to hear Lee talk about writing, don’t pass it up, I’m telling you.    

* My friend Eric Swedin and I still have yet to appear on the same panel, which is beginning to threaten mathematical probability as we know it.  My five panels were, I believe, more than the allotment to anyone not a very special guest.  For his part, Eric is so omni-present at this thing that it is unofficially known as Life, the Universe, and Eric.  (This may become official next year depending on Eric’s generosity and the conference’s poverty.)  I’m impatient to sit with him at the same covered table brimming with mics and free water, do you hear me!

* At my book signing a lady picked up my book, started to read, and in about a minute laughed long and hard out loud.  That was cool.

* Yup, LTUE was all good.

Just a reminder that I’ll be at LTUE this weekend: Thursday - Saturday at BYU (3rd floor of the Wilkinson Student Center, as Marny kindly reminded me).  Also a reminder that the conference is FREE and that my charm will be in rare full display as I pontificate on romance and writing not once but twice.  And a comment that only the exceedingly lame and those with very good excuses will miss this event.  (A good excuse would involve death or dismemberment in some way; a healthy letting of blood alone won’t cut it.)

If my tidbit ethos alone is insufficient bait then don’t forget the main courses: Brandons Sanderson and Mull, L.E. Modesitt, James Dashner, Howard Taylor, Mette Ivie Harrison, Lisa Mangum, ad infinitum.  (Well, maybe not that long.)

And here, once more, is my schedule:

Thursday, Feb. 11th

2:00 pm: Putting Romance into Your Fantasy—Do you have to have a love story in Fantasy?  Why or why not?  If you do, how do you balance it with the action and adventure?  Other panelists will be Mette Ivie Harrison, Ami Chopine, Lesli Muir Lytle, and Anna del C. Dye.

4:00 pm: No More Dead Dogs (or Moms)—Why do mothers and dogs always die in children’s literature?  How do we pull at the heartstrings and give child characters independence without killing off dogs and moms?  Other panelists will be Julie Wright, my old editor Stacy Whitman, and Paul Genesse, all good friends so this should be fun.  Also, Stacy andI kind of invented this panel last year.

Friday, Feb. 12th

9:00 am: How to Become an Idea Factory—Where do you find ideas?  How do you go from an idea to a story?  Other panelists will be Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor, James Dashner, Larry Correia, and Karen Hoover.  There are some heavy hitters on this panel, so don’t miss it.

12:00 pm: I’ll be having a book signing.

2:00 pm: Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction for a Discerning Audience—How to write believable child characters.  Other panelists will be Julie Wright, Laura Bingham, Laura Card, and Bron Bahlmann Wilcox.  Just a heads up, I think I may take this one in two different directions.  It seems the panel is asking two questions: how to make speculative elements feel authentic, and how to write authentic children characters.  If you’re interested in either question I think you’ll get some interesting insights.

Saturday, Feb. 13th

9:00 am: A Guy’s Take on Writing Romance.  Other panelists will be L.E. Modesitt, Dan Willis, Aleta Clegg, and John Brown.

What do you call a bunch of librarians?  A pack?  A mob?  I hope it’s not a murder (it is for crows, you see).  Next month I’m presenting at the UELMA (Utah Educational Library Media Association) Spring Conference, where I’ll begin the session by pointing out that Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and R.L. Stine’s Welcome to Dead House are essentially (in terms of archetype) the same story.  I’ve never known any books to generate such antipathy in elementary educators as the Goosebumps books, so I’m a little worried that the session will end prematurely in some violent episode. 

If it doesn’t, I’ll claim much more than a foundational sameness between Great Expectations and Welcome to Dead House; I’ll argue for the following texts being riffs on the same elemental story: Pride and Prejudice, The Harry Potter Series, The Graveyard Book, Holes, Much Ado about Nothing, Fablehaven, A Wrinkle in Time, The Tale of Despereaux, Last of the Mohicans, Dracula, Dune, Little Women, The Illiad, and the books of 1 and 2 Samuel from the Old Testament (the story of King David).  And just for the record, I am NOT making a comment on the veracity or lack of such of scripture.  Archetypal theory is about narrative, not fiction; it addresses the structure humans apply to everything, including facts and events, in order to construct meaning.

Sound implausible, all those books being the same story?  Well, if you’re not a librarian you may have to figure out how and why this is true on your own.  Then again, once I have a presentation in my toolbox I’m not one to let it rust in there.  If things go well I’ll see about doing the presentation other places.  Then the world can share in the wonderful knowledge that Mr. Darcy is Darth Vader, Japanese Kabuki is only technically and cosmetically different from classical Ballet, and not only do all the world’s great religions believe very similar things, but that these things are taught using the same story that undergirds life.

I’ll let you know how things go next month, as always.  But next on the docket is LTUE!

When I was a boy, my mother decided that my health would benefit from naturally therapeutic supplements.  She decided upon a concoction based, I believe, on the following equation: a substance’s nutritional and antioxidant value rises in direct proportion to its difficulty to ingest without gagging.  The result of this formulaic search turned up a brew foul enough to sterilize a person who’d had their tongue removed prior to quaffing the draught.

I’ll not name the product, but here’s a hint: I’m pretty sure that it was created by scraping the topsoil from a never-before-cleaned dog kennel, liquefying that in a blender, then carefully folding in charred bits of lemon peal, linoleum, and bone (likely human).  If you taste it, you’ll know (and hopefully this knowledge will not have left you blind).

Now,while I maintain to this day that the only benefit I gained from exposure to this noxious material was a built up immunity to radioactive waste, there are plenty of nasty medicines out there that are good for you while being no fun whatsoever to take.  This is, I think, the best way to describe my presentations at the Idaho conference two days ago: I think the event benefited me, but it wasn’t much fun to go through.

Without going into too much detail, let me say that I misjudged my ability to talk over the heads of some educators despite the fact that I have little formal training in education and pedagogy.  I spent weeks researching my topics to substantiate my claims (teaching narrative literacy by killing the canon and teaching metacognition by writing fiction) in the belief that educators would demand such theoretical underpinning to even consider listening to my proposals.  When I finished my presentations, I’m fairly certain the attendees would swear that I knew exactly what I was talking about; they’d also swear, in many cases, that they had no clue what I’d talked about.

So lesson learned.  Teaching educators isn’t that much different from teaching writers (despite the fact that I consider myself a professional writer but not necessarily a professional educator).  I need not worry that the material I deliver will be either obvious or already assumed.  My brain just doesn’t move in those well-traveled channels.  If I’m interested in something enough to teach it, I’d better keep it largely to the basics, because it’s going to be new to a whole lot of people (and weird to perhaps even more). 

But all’s well that ends well (the only one of Shakespeare’s plays I just can’t sit through), and I’ve even been invited back next year, as well as been added to the possible presenter list for additional events.  My mysticism must have impressed enough to earn me a second go around, during which I’ll be certain to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid—any other interpretations will only be considered with the submission of a personal picture).

My report:

The LUW’s Annual Roundup was, as always, well worth participating in.  The best part—other than seeing old friends and meeting some new ones—was the location.  It was the first time I’ve been to the Homestead in Midway, Utah, and it was the most pleasant conference setting yet.  The Homestead’s rooms are located in lodges and largish cabins scattered about the grounds, which gives the place a distinctly European feel.  They even have a natural hot spring ninety feet deep inside a stone chimney, which I think was called the Crater (very cool), though I didn’t do more than view it.  (Other guests went swimming.)  My room was large and comfortable, and the meals were of unusual quality.  The best attribute of the Homestead, however, was it’s natural setting.  Every outdoors glance was rewarded with peaked mountains with forested sides dappled in yellows and reds from the onset of autumn.  The drive to and from the conference was thus an unexpected highlight of my weekend.  I’d forgotten how magnificent fall leaves can be.

As for the conference itself, my workshop went about as I expect, which means I am pleased with the results.  People thanked me heartily for teaching it and asked many questions afterward, which is always a good sign.  I think we sold out the bookstore’s stock of Green Dragon Codex as well.  (No complaints there.)  I spent much of my free time with some friends, including Eric Swedin (writer and professor at Weber), James Dashner (children’s and YA author, whose The Maze Runneris coming out on Oct. 6th, so buy it because it’ll be great—and who is neither particularly dashing nor a Jane Austin character, despite the misleading nature of his name), and Heather Moore (LDS fiction writer and professional editor).  I also met some great people for the first time, including a woman named Taffy, which configuration was a first for me (for the record, a man named Taffy would also have been a first).  Got some marketing pointers from Richard Paul Evans and learned the Sandra Dallas is a very smart and very funny woman, which is always a great combination.

So, I’m glad I went and I am glad that it is over.  And anyone who attended my workshop, if you enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate a short recommendation.  Thanks!

Oh, an interview I gave to akgmag.com (a free site for and about writers) should be available soon.  When I know when, you’ll know.

Two major projects all but done, and now on to a third (after writing this blog post while watching Magnum P.I.), while a fourth stays on the horizon for the moment.

This morning I finished revising and editing the sample chapters for my newest proposal package. Overall, I feel pretty good about the work I’ve done. The book is clearly YA, a little older than my most recent children’s novel, which was itself a little older than Green Dragon Codex.  (I have a feeling that middle grade is a stretch for me, or at least for my much-cherished stylistic and content extremes.)  The one thing that does worry me a bit about the sample chapters is the length of the first chapter: 6,000 words.  (The next two chapters come in a touch lower combined.)  That’s a long chapter for a YA book, and an especially long first chapter.  My worries are alleviated somewhat by confidence that it’s a really good 6,000 word first chapter that happens in stages, and so should work out just fine—I think.  And to be honest, there’s just no way I see to cut it into sections or to cut it down more than I have.  I’d rather have it be longer than strategy dictates than kill the living story.  So, barring major issues raised by an alpha reader or two, the chapters are ready to stand out.

I’m even more relieved at finishing the second project: the first of my two presentations for the literacy conference in Idaho.  I’ll probably polish things a bit more, but the PowerPoint is done.  Now, any of you who know me—and some of you do—know that I don’t like PowerPoint.  No, that isn’t exactly correct.  I loath PowerPoint.  I often say I’ve never witnessed a PowerPoint presentation that didn’t malfunction in some way, ruining any sense of professionalism the program may have enabled.  Why am I doing this then?  Kicks, I guess.  It isn’t often that I address general educators (rather than teachers of writing specifically), which has left me feeling somewhat the prophet, responsible for crying narrative salvation in the educational wilderness (it’s startling how unimportant storytelling has become in many classrooms).  Because of this, I’ve done more research and work than was perhaps necessary for the occasion.  I doubt most attendees will expect the child’s author to run them over with educational theory complete with citation—but that’s what they’ll get, at least for much of the presentation.  Hey, I’m arguing for the killing off of the canon (or at least for its significant demotion).  I thought I’d better have a lot of smart people on my side to make that case. 

As of today, I feel I have that.  And I’m glad to be moving on to something else.

That something really isn’t much of a project, either.  I’m just refreshing myself on the workshop I’ll be presenting Saturday at The League of Utah Writers’ Roundup.  (2-4:00 pm I believe, for anyone who’s attending.)  I’ve done this workshop more often than any other, so it shouldn’t take more than an hour or so tonight to brighten up all the material.

As for next on the docket, that’ll be the second presentation I’m giving for the literacy conference in Idaho.  A lotta research; a lotta PP slides; a lotta hassle; a lotta theory behind a controversial claim (that writing fiction is a uniquely effective way to teach meta-cognition).  Uberfun. 

Hope to see some of you at Roundup.

Finally found my way back to this blog to toss a few things out at you…

The next book in the Dragon Codices line is out.  It’s the Silver installment, so if you’ve liked the others in the series, go pick it up.  (If not, just buy Green.  I didn’t say you had to like it, just buy it.) 

*****

A bit more information on my Idaho conference.  It’s called “A Change of Season: The Art of Literacy” and is being held in Meridian, Idaho, on October 1-2.  It’s an educator’s conference sponsored by both The Idaho Council of Teachers of English (ICTE) and The Idaho Council of the International Reading Association (ICIRA).  I won’t be attending the conference, just presenting my two programs.  I’m not sure when that will be, the 1st or the 2nd.  Oh, and there’s been some interest in my visiting schools in the area while I’m in Idaho, so I’ll post more information about that here when I have it.

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I just finished the rough draft of sample chapters for a new book.  For those who don’t know, I’m trying to stay productive over the nine months and counting a publisher has been considering a manuscript of mine they requested.  So I first developed a concept for an adult novel and got that package all ready to go; now I’m doing the same for a new children’s series.  Can’t tell too much about it, but here’s a little flavor: it addresses the themes of public education, espionage, and peer influence, and uses lots of funny names, many of which start with P.  If you want more than that, you’ll just have to wait until it gets published. 

Anyway, I finished the first go at chapter 3 yesterday, so starting next week I’ll begin to revise.  Once I’ve gotten the sample chapters as fit as I can, then I’ll write the synopsis and find out what actually happens over the course of the entire book.  After that comes the cover letter and, viola, another proposal ready to go.  With this new package and my adult idea, plus about three finished projects I think are profitably publishable, I’d call the pipeline a bit full. 

Next step?  Hopefully, hear back from this publisher about my book.  If the news is good and they offer me a contract, I’ll be on the phone to agents.  If I don’t get word about that contract soon, or they don’t offer one, getting an agent is still the next step, but I won’t have the convenience of using the phone. 

More letters and months of waiting.  Yeah.

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Finally, tonight, I refuse to be productive.  Absolutely refuse.  I am going to go over to a friend’s place to see how she’s doing, and I think I will bring Chinese (and a good Korean dish if I can find one, as she’s Korean).  Then I’ll run over to Chuck E Cheese to watch my nephew dart about like a hyperactive hummingbird on caffeine.  It makes one tired but it’s fun.    

What?  Am I leaving work undone to engage in this evening of frivolity?

Shut up.