I’ve been nursing a bad back the last couple of weeks, not going out much, except to doctors and oral surgeons, but I don’t feel guilty for lying around because I’ve been working, even though no one can tell it to look at me. I’ve been getting ready for the SCBWI Southern Breeze SpringMingle conference in Atlanta this weekend.
And getting ready for a conference means not only reading over my stuff, and deciding what I might want to pitch, should the opportunity arise. It also means researching the speakers to see what they have written, represented, or edited.
So a couple of days ago I checked to see what Kirby Larson had written, because I’d never read anything by her. She wrote a Newbery Honor book, Hattie Big Sky. Hmm. Why had I never read it? I clicked over to Amazon and found that Hattie is a historical. And…historicals are not my favorite books. I loved the Little House books, though, and Hattie seemed to be in the same vein…. And Kirby would be speaking at the conference. I needed to at least read the first chapter of Hattie Big Sky to see if she could write.
Oh, my.
I was sucked in completely. Downloaded the book onto my Kindle. Read it that evening. Went back and downloaded her next two novels right away. Read The Dear America: The Fences Between Us yesterday, and I will read The Friendship Doll today.
I defend my investment in money and time, this way: This is work. We have to read. It makes us better writers. We have to read books written by speakers at conferences, if we want to be able to speak sensibly to people we meet at those places. And we have to read award-winning books, if we want to know what’s going on in the industry.
The fact that I loved the books doesn’t mean I’m not working.
I once told my pastor that I didn’t feel called to write (by God). I felt that writing was a guilty pleasure. And he said, “Oh, you’re one of those.”
“One of whats?”
“One of those hair-shirt people. You don’t think you’re working unless you hate it.”
Wow! You mean we don’t have to kneel on broken glass and wear hair shirts to pay penance for writing novels?
I’ve heard of various authors saying that when their wives think they’re staring out the window or napping on the couch, they’re really working. And I think the day-dreaming part of writing novels is an important and fun part of the process. But I guess in the end I’m a reader first and a writer second, because reading someone else’s dream, full of people I can’t help but love, is even more fun than dreaming up the stories myself.
So, my dear blog readers, I’m sorry for neglecting you a bit. But I HAVE been working here. Don’t let the jammies and hot chocolate and stack of novels at my elbow, fool you.
What about you? What books have you read recently, which made you remember why you wanted to be a writer in the first place?
It’s always great to find another author whose work you love, but how doubly cool when it’s part of work. Good-on-you, Sally.
Rebecca LuElla Miller´s last [type] ..The State Of Publishing
I am SOOOO glad you posted this. As soon as I get home tonight, I’m buying Hatttie Big Sky even though I’m not going to SpringMingle. I usually read like crazy before SCBWI conferences too. John Green, Walter Dean Myers, Shannon Hale….I’ve discovered so many of my favorite authors by doing this conference prep “work.” Sometimes I feel guilty too. Can’t seem to shake the feeling I should be writing instead of reading another author’s work. BTW – I’m not going to SpringMingle because I’ve already heard Kirby Larson speak (twice – she’s a wonderful speaker) & because Mary Kole has already declined to represent me (after the Athens Conference last summer)…also, I’ve started to feel a wee bit crabby about how anti-selfpublishing the SCBWI Southern Breeze folk have been. I was so sorry to see one well-known member feel the need to apologize on our listserve for her decision to self-pub. That makes my teeth itch.
Trisha Slay´s last [type] ..New Post Over at Creativity Diet
Hope you like it, Trisha. I didn’t get around to reading her latest novel. I got busy working on other things.
I didn’t see the apology on the listserve, but I do see that SCBWI is against self-publishing. I have been against self-pubbing myself for many years, but in the last two years things really started changing. There are still a lot of bad, self-pubbed books out there, but there have been some good ones, too. I think now we just have to judge them on a case-by-case basis. That said, I must admit that I don’t buy self-pubbed books unless they are written by friends. I don’t hear about them unless they are published by friends and I wouldn’t know how to weed through them all, even if I did hear of them. Is there some big self-pubbed review site? I bet there is.
Like you, I am one of those ‘hair-shirt people”. I mean hey, you are doing what you love so you are not working. Instead, you are turning your hobby into a profitable activity.
Jared´s last [type] ..guitar lessons
Sorry to hear; I drop in here from time to time to read your entertaining blog. Try Turmeric ( yes, the spice ), ginger, and MSM supplements. Read up on them or talk to a naturopath. All have worked well for my back issues and there are no contraindications like drugs. Plan on maybe 50% reduction in pain. Takes time for MsM to work into the system days or weeks. Turmeric is more immediate and is synergistic with NSAIDs and asprin.