It's November and I am wading into working on a new book during National Novel Writing Month aka Nanowrimo! This year, I'm working on the second book in my Sugarwood Mysteries - tentatively titled Dead Man's Doll. If you haven't checked out Audra & Drake in book one, now would be a good time! Click on the book cover or here to purchase.
I had the honor during the weekend of October 22-24, to be a moderator and participant in the York Writers Conference held on Zoom and hosted by the Writing Community of York Region (WCYR). If you've never done an entire weekend on Zoom before, I recommend stocking up on essentials—coffee. tea, and water were mandatory for most of us—and remembering to take breaks to stretch and see daylight.
We had many volunteers who’d worked
hard to bring in amazing guest speakers, organize meet and greets and breakout
room activities, as well as set up a virtual bookstore and SWAG bag. While the
initial organizational meetings were a bit daunting, the work we put in made
for a weekend with few snags.
We started off Friday evening with an
Opening Address by Canadian satirist and author Terry Fallis, who is the
award-winning author of eight national bestsellers published by McClelland & Stewart (M&S). Terry spoke about how writers need to not sell themselves
short. We are recording history and life for future generations. After a
virtual Meet & Greet cocktail party, we broke for the night.
Saturday morning we came back fresh to hear the energetic
Sacha Black speak about “Villains & Heroes” and how to make both more
realistic and engaging for readers. Based in the UK, Sacha is the author of
several books on writing.
We were all eager to learn more about “Agents &
Publishers” and Rob Firing of Transatlantic Agency did not disappoint. He spoke
about why writers need agents and his work as an agent for both non-fiction
authors and speakers.
Andrew Pyper’s inspiring Keynote speech was about an f word
we all know well: Failure. No one is
immune, not even award-winning authors! He reminded us that it is “not only
important to endure failure but to look forward to more.”
Michelle Fox spoke to the group about the ins and outs of “Digital
Marketing.” She covered a lot of information about marketing, software and
apps, cross promotion, and paid ads.
Next up was Maria Mutch who discussed “Short Stories” and
what makes a good story as well as potential problems. We did a great exercise
on observation and what we noticed in a photograph she shared.
Saturday evening, we held an Open Mic session where anyone
had the opportunity to read 2-3 minutes of poetry or one of their books. I was
thrilled to be asked to have two wonderful writers read a scene from a play
I’ve been working on called Secrets That
Haunt Them. It was a great motivator to get back to work on finishing it.
Several writers read their works, including one lady who used a piece she wrote
in the Short Story session earlier that afternoon.
Sunday morning began with Ruth Walker’s session on “Personal
Papers.” If you have ever wondered what to do with those ticket stubs, post-it
notes, and old journals, this was a great discussion for brainstorming ways to
implement them in your prose, non-fiction, and poetry.
Patti M Hall led a great session called “Memoir Mastermind,”
which I was frustrated to have to miss most of when my Internet went down. Fortunately,
I made it for the last half hour in time to catch some great nuggets in the Q
& A, particularly about whether to name people in your memoir and how to
capture those thoughts and memories.
Lunch Break – Breakout rooms dealing with what makes a great Opening
Sentence. It was fun to talk about the benefits of a strong first line with a
small group and even came up with a few of our own.
Derek Newman-Stille led an animated discussion on
“Speculative Disability,” which brought up some really great questions
regarding creating characters who are disabled and their purpose in the story.
I think aside from Andrew Pyper’s speech, this was one of sessions I found the
most impactful and eye-opening. For any writer wanting to add a disabled person
into their story, it was a good moment to sit back and ask some pointed
questions about their motive.
Last lecture of the weekend was J.M.
Tibbott’s discussion of “Self-Editing.” She covered a great deal of
information, most of which I was familiar with, but I still made a lot of great
notes! A good refresher on the process of self-editing never hurts!
After a hearty round of thank yous to
volunteers, speakers, moderators, and so on, I turned off my computer and made
dinner. Staring at a Zoom screen for the entire weekend was a bit tiring, but I
came away with some new insights and ready to dig into my next novel once more.
It was wonderful to spend so much time dedicated to something I have a passion
for as well as meeting some amazing new-to-me writers.
