Monday, March 14, 2011

I'm Ready to Seize the Day!

It was Saturday evening, and I came away from the Northern Colorado Writers Conference exhausted, motivated, energized, full of ideas and ready to tackle every project on my list with new energy.

The conference was well put together as always. Director Kerrie Flanagan and her creative team, plus all the outstanding volunteers, did a great job. Food was good, too. It's so great having a writers' conference of this quality right here in Northern Colorado. We have Kerrie to thank for that.

I had attended excellent sessions on fiction writing (including an outstanding idea for brainstorming I've never use before), writing for small presses, and a presentation on the myths of publishing from agent Rachelle Gardner. My own participation included moderating the agent/editor panel and acting as a reader for the slush pile event where two agents review one-page submissions and let attendees know at what point they would stop reading each submission and why.

But Saturday evening I went all zombie on myself and slept more hours than I would have thought possible. Sunday was pretty much a lost day. The most constructive thing I did was return a book to the library. I had so many things I wanted to do, but hitting that pillow for another good night's sleep won out.

So now that I'm all motivated and inspired and well-rested, it's time to seize the day. I'm going to begin by putting together the questions for three interviews I need to do. What's on your schedule for today?

14 comments:

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Visit. Monday is the day I blog hop to see what other's have to say.

Jemi Fraser said...

Sounds like a terrific conference. One of these days I'll get to one!

I've got company coming tonight for a relative's birthday supper - so I'll be cooking and baking most of the day :)

Patricia Stoltey said...

Mary, I need to set a full day aside to do just that. Now that Katie Kitten is getting better, I expect to have a little more computer time and a little less kitten caregiving time.

Hi Jemi -- you'd love attending a writers' conference. Nothing gets the writing juices flowing faster.

Good morning, Karen. Letting a day evolve often gets me into trouble, so I do as you've done and set some priorities first, Once those things are done, I can relax a little.

Jenny said...

Pat, I had R&R time yesterday, also. I didn't even make it to the library. Today, I'm trying to be more productive. And of course there's always laundry!

Elspeth Futcher said...

Good for you! I wish we could bottle that feeling so we could take a reviving chug whenever necessary. On my agenda today is figuring out a new custom mystery - I know who the characters are, but not anything else.

Unknown said...

High Five, Pat.

I agree the conference was great. The NCW coffees give a venue for exchanging ideas with other writers, but conference concentrates the learning experience. Everyone is exposed to new ideas, and then, they have time to discuss them since they aren't running off to their next errand.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Jenny -- yes, I have laundry today as well, and had to run a few errands this morning. Next on the list are those interview questions...as soon as I finish with these blog comments, and check my e-mail, and update Facebook and send a couple of tweets. :)

Elspeth, a reviving chug of conference excitement would be very helpful from time to time. We should work on that.

High five back, Kay. May the conference afterglow last for many, many days.

Karen Lange said...

Visiting blogs, working on some book reviews, and cleaning off my desk top the list. Have a great day! :)

Anonymous said...

Pat - So happy the conference charged up your batteries! That is very good news!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Karen...oh, darn, you reminded me I need to clean off my desk. :)

Hi Margot. I love conferences. This year I'm only doing two, but they're spaced about six months apart so it works out well.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Can't wait to hear about it! I've been completing my A to Z posts today.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Alex, you're completing your A to Z posts? You have all the posts done for April? You have them pre-scheduled or ready to schedule. I hate you.

:)

Terry Odell said...

Ah, conferences. So uplifing and so exhausting. I'm off for Left Coast Crime next week, and am really looking forward to it, but I know Ill be wasted for a couple days afterward.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

Patricia Stoltey said...

Terry, I attended LCC in Denver, and Bouchercon in Indy, and they were both outstanding, energizing, and exhausting. Loved 'em. I hope you have a great time.