SFWC and learning.

I attended the San Francisco Writer's Conference 2/18-20. Wonderful connections made with other writers, with editors and agents. It was worth the $$ and exhaustion. I feel I'm a member of a community. Hooray.

Met David Morrell at the conference. He's the author of First Blood, the Rambo originator. Rambo of the movies leaves me cold, so I wasn't prepared for Mr. Morrell, a kind and generous man who spent time with newbies like me, giving us the 4-1-1 about publishing and what media shifts, like ebooks, mean for writers. His keynote speech later at the Saturday luncheon also inspired me, professionally and personally. What I got from the speech is this: you can, you must, write the story you were meant to write no matter what obstacles you face.

I am one of those who is lost on the computer learning curve some between DOS and HTML. My daughter Kate laughs to think I fear computer-rama. I admit it, I am afraid. Go ahead, laugh.

I will learn, I will move forward, I will write down the URL and any passwords so I won't forget them. Lists now are necessary memory tools for me and post-its are the tools necessary to remember the other memory tools. REMEMBER LISTS the post-it shouts. Sometime I must remember to make post-its that shout about what lists, for I have many and don't always know which list the post-it refers to. I will leave aside my filing system. I don't really have one and writing about an empty set would just confuse me.

Must write an outline of Inside the Kaleidoscope for inclusion with the first three chapters an agent requested. Had no idea my story of life in a van with two cats, two dogs and me and my fears would interest anyone enough that I'd need an outline of the story. Drat. If only I'd been a Girl Scout. I would have been prepared. Same goes for the synopsis of ITK that I must write. Got to be tight, engaging words on two pages to describe a year of constant changes. There's a challenge. Yike.