Writer Wednesday – Conferences – Are they worth it?

My general viewpoint on conferences is that they should be viewed as a working vacation.  Part of this is because of what I write and what my expectations are.

The big conferences for Romance writers are RT (Romantic Times) and RWA National (Romance Writers of America).   They serve different purposes.

RT is geared mostly towards readers, although they do have some writing classes.  I’ve attended this conference as an aspiring author, published author and a reader.  I’ve always viewed this particular conference as a working vacation.  It was a chance to visit my author friends, Lyn Armstrong and Debbie Cairo.   It was a chance to see a new city, visit friends and attend parties.  I always attend writing classes there and go to publisher spotlights.  I actually met both my publishers (Liquid Silver Books and Resplendence) at RT.

RWA is geared mostly to the business side of things.   I’ve yet to attend this particular conference, even though I’m a member.  I have attended regional RWA conferences including Midwest Fiction Writers and WisRWA.  I found both beneficial to my writing career.  Classes tend to revolve around business, craft, and publishing in general.

Some other conferences I’ve attended are Lori Foster’s RAGT (Reader and Author Get Together).  This is also a reader geared Con, unlike RT it is much smaller and there are about ten readers for every published author.   Lori keeps the author roster small so readers can interact.   Maddy Barone introduced me to this Con and we’ve traveled the last two years together.

I’ve attended two local Sci-Fi con’s since I write Paranormal Romance.  CoreCon and ValleyCon.   I highly recommend if you write in a genre that falls into the genre of SFFP (Science-Fiction, Fantasy, and Paranormal) that you consider attending a local or regional Con.  It is a great way to meet readers and I find the communities, in general, to be very supportive of creatives.

There are also many Romance Reader Cons popping up.   I ran across this website that might be helpful for those of you writing in the Romance Genre.

http://www.romancerefined.com/list-of-romance-conventions-and-conferences.html

I usually attend RT when I can and if I can rope someone into going with me.   RWA is still on my bucket list.   I’ve attended Lori Foster’s RAGT the last two years.  This year, due to my job loss,  I’ve cut back on my conferences.  I will likely only attend the local sci-fi cons and my annual writing retreat at the end of September.

Overall I love conferences and attend as many as my budget will allow.  If nothing else I get a few classes in, meet a few new authors and network.   That’s a win in my book.

 

Double Trouble Tuesday!

Welcome to the first Double Trouble Tuesday!  This is where I compare two items that are similar in this case it’s book trailers with something in common.

Alien Sex 101 by Allie Ritch

Over My Undead Body by Debbie Cairo

Join me for more Double Trouble next Tuesday!

Love,

Tina

AuThursday – Debbie Cairo

Hello Naughty Boys and Girls!  I’d like to give a warm welcome for my dear friend Debbie Cairo.  I met Debbie years ago at an RT Con.  She lives in Chicago and is here to tell us about her brand new book, Over My Undead Body. 

Debbie – tell us a little about your most recent book?

            I call it Freaky Friday meets Beverly Hillbillies with fangs.  It’s a story of a working class girl who switches bodies and lives with a wealthy vampire, though she gets more then she bargained for.  What the vampire neglects to tell her is along with power and wealth Lizzy will be inheriting a vampire council in the middle of a war and the king of that council who she will soon find out, she is married to.

Q: How long have you been writing?

            I’ve been writing now for about seven years.

Q:  When you are writing, who is in control? You or your characters?

            Definitely the characters.  It’s their story; I’m just along for the ride.

Q:  What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants or a combination of both? Do you use mood music, candles, no noise, when you write?

            I fly by the seat of my pants.  I make up the story like a movie in my head and when I can see it clearly, I sit down and write it.

 Q: What advice do you have for other writers?

            Only do it if you love it, because the business end is frustrating.  Also find good friends / writing groups to support you.

 Q:  How did you deal with rejection letters, if any?

            I take them with a grain of salt.  Most of them are form letters anyway.  You never know if you’re being rejected because of business decisions at the publisher or your work.  I try not to take it personally.

 Q: Would you tell us your story of getting “the call?”

            I was so excited!  I got a simple email saying that they would love to publish my work.  I was all over my iPhone emailing and calling my friends with the good news and asking my already published friends, “What do I do now?”  Their answer was … edits.

 Q: What books can we expect to see in the near future?

            I’m working on a novel called When Good Toys Go Bad about a world where all the men have been wiped out by a plague and androids have been built to take their place.  It’s the story of a forbidden love between one of those androids, who goes beyond his programming, and a courageous woman who risks everything to save him from the scrap heap.  

Q:  Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?

            www.debbiecairo.com

Join me on Saturday when we read an Excerpt from Debbie’s Book “Over My Undead Body”

Until then, Be Naughty!

Tina