This is a continuation of last week’s blog on the PSWA Conference we attended last month.
SATURDAY, July 24
This was our big day. Following the opening by Scott Decker,
Joe Haggarty read Keith Bettinger’s poem, “Judiciary Square.” (These folks are wonderful
writers, and some are terrific poets.)
We were on next for our Featured Presentation: “The Perfect
Pitch.” Most writers hate reducing their books to the “elevator pitch” length
of 25 words or less. This presentation gives guidelines to help authors create them.
Then we allow time for the group members to write their own. Everyone seemed to
enjoy it.
A break, then a panel on “Nonfiction Dos and Don’ts.” The
panelists were Rannah Gray, Bruce Adams, Geno Munari, and Mike Brandt. They
discussed how to keep your writing fresh and interesting when writing
nonfiction.
After the break, we were back on a panel called “Stepping into
Publication,” with Jo Wilkins (a publisher), Barbara Hodges, and Marilyn
Meredith. We discussed the steps to publication. Larry covered book covers, and
Barbara and I discussed editing, formatting, etc. We also discussed what we
look for and what makes us cringe.
Another fabulous lunch. (Have I mentioned, they were all
terrific?)
After lunch a wonderful Featured Speaker, Terry L. Kerns, described
“The Opioid Crisis.” She explained why it is really a drug crisis. Terry was an
FBI Field Division Evidence Team Leader and is currently the Opiate Coordinator
with the Nevada Attorney General’s office. We learned a great deal during her
talk.
Following the first afternoon break, we were again on a
panel entitled “We’ve Got You Covered.” We discussed the final steps in
preparing a manuscript for publication and cover design. Since covers are Larry’s
area of expertise, he offered some good advice. I was also on the panel along
with Barbara Hodges, Thonie Hevron, and Dave Knop. (Barbara is also a cover
artist.)
More information on the police was presented in the next
panel, following another break. This one was called “Fuzz,” and included information
about jurisdictions. The experts were Bob Doerr, Scott Decker, Joe Haggerty,
and Darlene Record.
Following another afternoon break, we heard about “Writing
Action Scenes” from Bill Rapp, Dave Freedland, Jim Gugili, and Rich Wickliffe.
Afterward, there was an open discussion on how the past year
has affected our writing.
Once again, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a
light dinner with Marilyn and Lisa. The café has been redecorated since we were
last there, and I really loved the chandeliers made of brass instruments. They were
fabulous!
Knowing we would be leaving the next day, we went to the
valet stand and asked to have Elsa (the Tesla) charged up for our departure.
SUNDAY, July 25
Before we left our room, we packed our luggage. We checked
out and then took the luggage to the bell captain to hold for us during the day.
The first panel in the morning was called “Animals, Aliens, and Other Things that Go Bump in the Night.” This was a lot of fun because the discussion included ghosts. Since one of my books, Ghost Writer, contains a ghost, I was most interested.
Bob Haig Sr., Barbara Hodges, Dave Knop, and Marilyn Meredith
discussed the advantages as well as the potential pitfalls and limitations of
including these elements.
Following the morning break, we heard a panel on “Building
and Maintaining Suspense in Your Fiction.” Barbara Hodges, Thonie Hevron, Bob
Doerr, and Kelli Peacock provided some good advice.
After the final break, I was on one more panel called “Polishing
Your Manuscript.” The others were Jo Wilkins, Frank Hickey, and George Cramer.
We discussed what to look for after you think your manuscript is ready for
publication.
We picked up our remaining books to take home. (Yes, we sold
a few.)
The last event was the Awards Luncheon. Once again, good
food, great company, and a nice awards program.
We said goodbye to everyone and started on our way home with
the car fully charged. We enjoyed the weekend, but we were looking forward to
being back home again.
Again, a highlight of the conference was getting to spend time with you two. Thank you for coming and all of your participation.
ReplyDeleteWe really loved seeing everyone--and we learned a LOT!
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