A Writer's Digest Conference Re-Cap

My friend from high school, Erika Robuck, is now a published author, working on her second book.  She recently attended a conference put together by Writer's Digest, where she was able to pitch her book to agents.  She re-capped her visit for Jane Friedman (former editor for Writer's Digest and currently a contributing editor for WD and a visiting professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati) over on her blog, which is part of the Writer's Digest website, called There Are No Rules.  Here is an excerpt and you can read the rest over on the original site, how's that? lol

From the blog There Are No Rules, guest blogger Erika Robuck about the Writer's Digest Conference:


[Jane's intro:]
"The following guest post is by writer Erika Robuck, who attended the Writer's Digest Conference on Saturday and generously offered to recap the sessions she attended.

[Erika:]
'The business of writing is the business of reading.'
—Richard Nash

These words from Richard Nash’s keynote address have been sitting in a quiet space in my writer’s heart since I heard them.

They seem so simple, but the meaning is profound. If I think about what reading is—the intimacy of the act of bringing someone else’s words, thoughts, and imaginings into my brain, often while I’m in bed; if I reflect on the weight of that as a writer and apply it to all areas of the publication process (from words on the page, to editing, to marketing, etc.)—I can transform the entire experience into something I’m eager to do, every step of the way. "


Please head on over to There Are No Rules to read the complete story!
Thanks Erika! (you know, ahead of time!)

Story Start

Here is my new beginning to my novel:

Melkiand examined the new planet from the safety of the portal. It was hard to tell if it was suitable through the haze of blue light, so he stepped out.


“Hiunte,” he said. The blue square of light sizzled shut.

Melkiand surveyed the area through smoky gray lenses. He glanced down at his handheld. The UVA/UVB rays were low here; low enough for him to remove his goggles. He folded his handheld in half and slipped it into a pocket which sealed itself. He reached up for his goggles just as a large shadow sped out the trees to his right. His upright arms blocked a razor-sharp beak from having a clear shot at his face. As it was, the bird’s eight foot tall head was on par with his own, making it difficult to dodge its thrusting beak. Melkiand stumbled backwards with one arm up, the other trying to unseal individual pockets in search of his weapons.

The bird was shrieking in a high-pitched cry that echoed around the clearing, making Melkiand’s head reverberate. He was abruptly struck in the back by a tree. He stopped fumbling with his cloak long enough to crouch and rolled out between the bird’s long spindly legs.

Upon standing, he hit the release patch on his cloak’s left shoulder, opening all pockets. The bird had whipped around and there was hunger in its eyes. It shrieked again, flapping its absurdly small wings.

Melkiand located his two staffs, pulling them out and snapping his wrists so that they telescoped from six inches to eighteen. The bird shrieked, its “S” shaped neck undulating as its talons clawed the ground, raking up great tufts of earth. Melkiand pressed a release and cords shot out of the ends of the staffs, turning them into two long whips. He cracked the right one at the bird, catching it around the neck. With a grunt, he pulled the whip out to the right, sending the black bird flying across the clearing. It smashed head first into a tree with a crack. It crumpled to the ground in a heap of glossy black feathers.

Melkiand flicked his wrists backwards, causing the whips to retract. He flicked them once more to make them pocket-sized. This time, he kept one in his hand and the other in an interior pocket close to his chest. He approached the dead animal with caution, knowing from experience that creatures on different planets didn’t necessarily die as one might think.

Melkiand nudged it with the toe of his boot, but there was no response. He was pretty sure the sound he heard was the bird’s neck breaking. He crouched to examine it closer. Using his staff to lift the head he examined the beak and how its edges were like the blade of a knife. Perhaps that could be used as a tool, he mused.

Melkiand stood and pulled his handheld out again. He typed in some notes relating to the size, strength and speed of the bird, as well as possible uses of the animal’s various parts. The handheld disappeared back into his pocketed cloak before he headed off into the trees, a little more alert.

NaNoWriMo

I am a little nervous, but I have 11 months to get used to the idea:  I have joined NaNoWriMo. 

Actually, once I joined and realized I should've done it sooner, I thought, "Well, that's ok, I am going to aim to finish my first book soon and use November 2011 for writing my SECOND book in this proposed series! Or heck, the first book in one of the other series I have in mind!"  :) 

So there, NaNoWriMo!

Heeeere we GO!

Alright, I'm getting ready to post this to Twitter! :) Hope this generates some interest!  I am so excited to be all organized and to show everyone some of the cool writing things I have found along the way. 

Suggestions are welcome, for improvements or site additions (links and the like!).

I will be adding on--I don't have all my authors' sites up yet, for example and I may add a list of artists' links too.

Thanks for you interest, check back often! :)

Re-Loaded

Hello all!
So I've splintered off here and created a blog just for all the writing and author and artist sites I have come across.  I am still not finished.  I like to keep things neat and organized, so I think I'm going to get rid of my blogroll over there and classify all websites and blogs according to the headings I've created (i.e. Author Sites, References and then one for Artists). 

I've just found that I have soooo many resources and so many cool authors and other people with lots of great advice, I wanted to share it.  But it didn't seem appropriate on LaLa Land, so here I am!

Enjoy!
Feedback is greatly appreciated! Comment away! :)

Some Work from Drawing Class!

For Drawing class, we learned how to set up and light our own still lives.  (That sounds like incorrect grammar to me, but I can't figure it out! lol).  I had a harder time getting the idea of shading the background so that the items were placed in space.  If it was on a table, I included a table line, but I was afraid of screwing the whole thing up by shading in the background. 

This was a little container that had a handle and two cubbies, which I laid on its side and filled.  There were supposed to be 5-7  items which were supposed to be all white, but I had a brain fart I guess because after searching for several days around the house and couldn't find anything I liked.  When my son asked me what I was doing, I explained and he ran and got his little stuffed spiderman for me.  I thought, "why not? " and added it.  It wasn't until he was all sketched in and I had started on shading that I realized/remembered he wasn't white! Oops!  The professor gave me full marks though and recommended I shade in around the container for a more 3D effect.  I may go back and do it...when the fear passes! ;)

Various drawing pencils, 2H through 8B on white drawing paper.

This one was just 3-5 white items, showing shading and all.  I used mostly beige wooden blocks.  Pencil on white paper.

Simple exercise to draw a sphere in 3 dimensions, using only pencils.  We were to include a cast shadow and a highlight with no solid lines or drawing in of edges;  we were to create volume and depth by shading.

This was one of my favorite pieces, I guess because it felt like it had a theme, it felt cohesive.  I had the plastic bucket with shovel, the shells and the beach towel on a chair which was not at an especially easy angle I might add.  I liked how you could see the bump of the circumference of the bucket through the towel and the puckering of the fabric where the towel catches the right corner of the chair's seat as it cascades down.  I was also impressed with myself that I managed to NOT overwork the shovel and in fact, it seemed to show up out of nowhere with a few strokes of charcoal.  Maybe I'm getting the hang of this charcoal thing yet, huh?

2B and 4B charcoal sticks and my kneaded eraser.

My brown leather chair tucked in the corner with a bookshelf on the left and my fireplace on the right.  In an effort to make the focus the chair in the middle, I left off with too much detail in the surrounding areas, but was called out on it by my classmates, especially the mantle and I can see their point!  Also, this is kind of a matte leather, not shiny, and the leather does in fact sag and hang a little funny in places.  This is not totally unusual with an Ikea piece, you know?

2B and 4B charcoal sticks on drawing paper.

Had to draw some texture, preferably dissimilar ones.  I did a close-up of a CD under light on the left and a basket, which is hopefully obvious, on the right.  Pencil on drawing paper.

Here is my self portrait, done in charcoal on paper. My first self portrait, my first time ever drawing people with charcoal, so I guess taking that into consideration, it's not horrible!

My final project, done in charcoal.  In case you can't see, it is an older vase with carnations in it on the left, then a chunky plastic elephant beside a wooden birdhouse.  Slightly in front and to the right is a small, slender glass perfume bottle, all sitting on a wooden chair, draped in my favorite scarf.  I think this shows my shading (and maybe my observing!) skills have improved!

On to Concept Development!

I have finished with Perspectives as well as Drawing, finishing both with "A's"! :) Summer break is almost over (a 4 week break) and will be starting Concept Development in a few days, followed immediately by Life Drawing.  I'm very interested in the Mixed Media class and the illustration classes I'll be taking but those are listed as "Second year" classes and I think I have 2 or 3 more classes before my first year is complete. 
I'll try to post some Drawing class work in the next few days.