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MEGAMANIA! AND DEEP THOUGHTS
Jul. 2nd, 2019 07:30 pmWriting
I totally neglected to post about the 2019 Western Writers of America Conference Jeffrey J. Mariotte and I attended June 20-21 down in Tucson, where he was a Spur (and Peacemaker!) Award Finalist for his short story "Byrd's Luck." Very proud of him! And I was able to mostly survive the trip, but certainly needed the weekend to recover, as 1 1/2 hours in the car and then a lot of sitting and schmoozing is not so good for neck/back issues.
Our next event is the always wonderful MegaMania! put on by the Pima County Public Library down in Tucson on Saturday, July 13th.
Here's our schedule:
1 PM - RM 3/RV 102
Writing Action Scenes
What makes for an effective action scene? How do you go about creating one? Ask pro authors Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, and K.S. Merbeth
3 PM - RM 2/RV 112
Writing Together Workshop
How does co-writing work? Writing partners Marsheila Rockwell and Jeff Mariotte lead a workshop about co-writing.
4 PM - Signing Area
Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, Tom Leveen
Come see us!
Everything Else
This past weekend was my 30-year high school reunion (yes, I'm THAT old). I wasn't able to attend (see above about neck/back issues - Tucson is pretty much my travel limit these days), which really bummed me out, not so much because there were a ton of people I wanted to see (though there were a few), but because I found out a good friend of mine from high school has Stage 4 cancer and likely won't make it to our next reunion. This may well have been my last chance to see her.
I did get to talk to her, though, and one of the things she really regrets is not ever having had the chance to find her passion and do what she really wanted with her life. It made me think about my own life.
I had a pretty horrible childhood - I've talked about parts of it here before. Abuse, poverty, neglect...I was never homeless, so there's that. But...I graduated valedictorian and was a National Merit Scholar. I had my pick of top colleges (wound up not going to any of them, but that's a different story, one about young people making stupid decisions, and that's not tonight's tale). I got an engineering degree and went on to earn my Professional Engineering license - in CA, no less, which is the hardest state to become licensed in (I later let my license lapse, another stupid decision, but I digress).
All my life, I'd wanted to be a writer. I thought I'd become an engineer, make a ton of money, and retire young to spend the rest of my days writing. It didn't work out that way, but I DID become a writer, of novels, short stories, poems, comic books, articles, and even a professional paper (The Bearing Capacity of a Simulated Lunar Soil - riveting stuff). Some of my work has even been nominated for awards, which is cool. And I've had people write and tell me that my work has helped them through hard times, and there's no greater compliment to a writer than that.
And I'm the mother of three amazing boys (and step-mom to two other great kids), and I have a wonderful husband who adores me for reasons beyond my ken.
Yes, I'm in constant pain and maybe will be forever. Yes, we sometimes struggle to make ends meet. No, I may never make it to Paris or hit the NYT Bestseller list.
BUT - I am SO INCREDIBLY LUCKY. Pretty much everything I ever wanted to do in life, I've gotten to do. Despite a ridiculously awful childhood.
And it pisses me off to no end that my wonderful friend, because of some gaslighting asshat doctors who would not listen to her until it was too late - which happens to women ALL THE G-D TIME - won't get that chance. I want to tear out all their eyeballs with sharpened claws and feed them to rabid crows, then pour molten mercury in their bloody eye sockets, and carve "I FAILED HER" on their foreheads with a rusty, serrated knife. THEN make them pay for every expense my friend and her kids have for the rest of their lives.
I can't do any of that, obvi. But I can be grateful for the time I have left with her, however long and however distant that time is. And I can be grateful for the incredible luck I've had in my own life.
And I am.
I totally neglected to post about the 2019 Western Writers of America Conference Jeffrey J. Mariotte and I attended June 20-21 down in Tucson, where he was a Spur (and Peacemaker!) Award Finalist for his short story "Byrd's Luck." Very proud of him! And I was able to mostly survive the trip, but certainly needed the weekend to recover, as 1 1/2 hours in the car and then a lot of sitting and schmoozing is not so good for neck/back issues.
Our next event is the always wonderful MegaMania! put on by the Pima County Public Library down in Tucson on Saturday, July 13th.
Here's our schedule:
1 PM - RM 3/RV 102
Writing Action Scenes
What makes for an effective action scene? How do you go about creating one? Ask pro authors Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, and K.S. Merbeth
3 PM - RM 2/RV 112
Writing Together Workshop
How does co-writing work? Writing partners Marsheila Rockwell and Jeff Mariotte lead a workshop about co-writing.
4 PM - Signing Area
Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, Tom Leveen
Come see us!
Everything Else
This past weekend was my 30-year high school reunion (yes, I'm THAT old). I wasn't able to attend (see above about neck/back issues - Tucson is pretty much my travel limit these days), which really bummed me out, not so much because there were a ton of people I wanted to see (though there were a few), but because I found out a good friend of mine from high school has Stage 4 cancer and likely won't make it to our next reunion. This may well have been my last chance to see her.
I did get to talk to her, though, and one of the things she really regrets is not ever having had the chance to find her passion and do what she really wanted with her life. It made me think about my own life.
I had a pretty horrible childhood - I've talked about parts of it here before. Abuse, poverty, neglect...I was never homeless, so there's that. But...I graduated valedictorian and was a National Merit Scholar. I had my pick of top colleges (wound up not going to any of them, but that's a different story, one about young people making stupid decisions, and that's not tonight's tale). I got an engineering degree and went on to earn my Professional Engineering license - in CA, no less, which is the hardest state to become licensed in (I later let my license lapse, another stupid decision, but I digress).
All my life, I'd wanted to be a writer. I thought I'd become an engineer, make a ton of money, and retire young to spend the rest of my days writing. It didn't work out that way, but I DID become a writer, of novels, short stories, poems, comic books, articles, and even a professional paper (The Bearing Capacity of a Simulated Lunar Soil - riveting stuff). Some of my work has even been nominated for awards, which is cool. And I've had people write and tell me that my work has helped them through hard times, and there's no greater compliment to a writer than that.
And I'm the mother of three amazing boys (and step-mom to two other great kids), and I have a wonderful husband who adores me for reasons beyond my ken.
Yes, I'm in constant pain and maybe will be forever. Yes, we sometimes struggle to make ends meet. No, I may never make it to Paris or hit the NYT Bestseller list.
BUT - I am SO INCREDIBLY LUCKY. Pretty much everything I ever wanted to do in life, I've gotten to do. Despite a ridiculously awful childhood.
And it pisses me off to no end that my wonderful friend, because of some gaslighting asshat doctors who would not listen to her until it was too late - which happens to women ALL THE G-D TIME - won't get that chance. I want to tear out all their eyeballs with sharpened claws and feed them to rabid crows, then pour molten mercury in their bloody eye sockets, and carve "I FAILED HER" on their foreheads with a rusty, serrated knife. THEN make them pay for every expense my friend and her kids have for the rest of their lives.
I can't do any of that, obvi. But I can be grateful for the time I have left with her, however long and however distant that time is. And I can be grateful for the incredible luck I've had in my own life.
And I am.
