Off to a Good Start in 2010

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed the January Writers Workshop. Definitely a bright spot on such a dreary winter day and night.

It was so great to hear about how Sue went home after the December Writers Workshop and just kept writing for hours! And listening to Buck talk about his writing project and progress -- you can tell he's energized. Plus: that huge, majestic, colorful butterfly on the wall, conveying its transformative powers to all of us aspiring writers!

Thank you, Denise, for sharing your excellent work that night. I hope the comments everyone offered during the critique session were helpful to you, and I hope we'll see some additional chapters in the near future.

Okay -- this blog post is a bit all over the place. I guess I'm having that kind of day, so I'll just go with it...

Here are some other random thoughts bouncing around inside my brain:

- I just got my much-anticipated copy of The Murderer's Daughters, by Randy Susan Meyers (star of our first Author Series on 2/27)! Here are the first two sentences: "I wasn't surprised when Mama asked me to save her life. By my first week in kindergarten, I knew she was no macaroni-necklace-wearing kind of mother." Love it! If you want to read the rest, we'll have books available for purchase (at a discount) at the Author Series event, and Randy will gladly sign copies...

- I'm also reading a book called Your First Novel, by Ann Rittenberg (an agent) and Laura Whitcomb (a writer), with a foreword by bestselling novelist Dennis Lehane. It seems to be just what I need right now, as I wait to hear from the agents who are considering my manuscript, and as I embark on book number two. (And it really does feel like I'm "embarking" on a voyage...I guess, right now, you could say I'm in "packing mode," figuring out exactly what I'm going to take along for the ride. Next, I will start to map out my course.) I will try to keep you posted along the way. And please feel free to share your own updates with us as well.

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