Word Mayhem

Thank you to everyone who has come to my author events and bought The World Undone. One of the most gratifying--and terrifying--factors has been the number of people who have contacted me to say, "Read the book in three days! Loved it! When's the next one?"

Yeah, I'm working on that, as you can see from the state of my desk above. (And I teach organizational skills to kids?!?)

I'd forgotten how totally chaotic a first draft is--wait, amend that--how totally chaotic it is trying to come up with a first draft. My characters are amorphous, my plot threads are a hopelessly tangled web, and there are days (this being one of them) when nothing I write resembles standard English. Diversions abound.

Like blogging about the problem instead of working on it. So I return now to my version of what Chuck Wendig describes as "a steaming shit wagon of inelegant word murder." Wish me luck.

UW Madison Writers' Institute

I'm just back from a wonderful weekend at the University of Wisconsin Writers' Institute Conference. Laurie Sheer and her crew did a fabulous job putting together a great, well-organized weekend. The workshops and panel discussions were excellent, the hotel was lovely, and Madison is a fun place. I highly recommend this conference for writers at all levels.
Special shout outs to my new BFFs: Sally, Sola, and Connie!

Author Event

How cool is it that my book is in the window of Women & Children First Book Store!

Tomorrow, I will be doing a reading there at 4:30, which should be really fun. W&C is my new favorite book store. They have had my book on display for over a month, they've promoted my signing event on their website and in their calendar, and the staff have all been helpful and enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to meeting them in person.

It's quite interesting to see how various venues react to a new author, particularly a self-published one.
We all know that changes in the industry have happened very rapidly over the past couple of years, and there is still a lot of evolution (and revolution) going on. Some bookstores have embraced the changes, while others continue to cling to the old ways, automatically giving indie published books short shrift. That strikes me as ironic, since the indie book stores should be all about NOT letting the big guys, tradition, and status quo have the upper hand. Would it make sense to say an indie book store has poorer quality books because they aren't run by Barnes and Noble or Amazon?

In any case, Women & Children is obviously a place of vision and dedication to writers and readers. Let's all support this store.