LTUE 2013

This weekend I had the chance to go to LTUE. It's a Sci-fi/Fantasy writers conference that happens every year here in Utah. I had such an awesome time. I'm not sure if I've gotten better at picking classes, or if this years classes really were better than last year but either way, I'm currently suffering from a very serious case of overloaded brain melt.

In a very good way.

The last night of the conference they had a dinner. Tracy Hickman was the guest speaker and I was excited at the prospect of maybe meeting him. Turns out I got more than just the chance to shake his hand. I'd casually made friends with a woman earlier in the day and when she and her husband were choosing a table, she chose mine. And they brought Tracy Hickman with them.

I got about an hour to talk with him. I got to ask how he became a writer in the first place and tell him a little bit about what I'm working on now. I wish I could say I was brilliant but the truth of it is that when he asked me what I was writing, instead of giving him my pitch (which I'm rather proud of) my mind blanked out and all I could think to say was, "It's a fantasy". Me and my missed opportunities. Still, there's always another chance later. I hope?

I'm planning on finishing my novel Haven's Reach this year, complete with rewrites. This being my first, it may very realistically end up being a practice novel. My real hope is that I can limit the number of practice novels to as few as I can. The writing has never been difficult for me. It's the story itself that bogs me down. With what I learned this weekend at the conference I think I may now know how to solve that. At the very least, I'm further than I was.

I'm thinking I might do a few posts over the next few weeks about some of the classes that I attended. Sandra Tayler did an amazing class on finding the time in life for creativity. She offered ten points that went far beyond just 'carving out some time' in your schedule. It's one of the classes I may find myself going over several times through the coming year. It was that good. From that point on in the conference, I attended every panel she was part of.

I got to sing with Megan Whalen Turner. I ate dinner with Tracy Hickman. I met and befriended three separate editors and many other authors, both aspiring and published. I have enough class notes to keep me studying for weeks. But best of all, I have the most solid first half outline for my novel that I've developed yet. The last half of the outline is the easy part. Figuring out how to start is what kills me.

It was a pretty awesome weekend. Can't wait till next year!