The Writing Conference was Great!
I’ve been home for five days and am still reeling from the wonderful conference I attended last week end in Cincinnatti. I met many new writing friends and the workshop presenters were awesome. The city itself is very impressive and easy to navigate, thanks to my friendly little Garmen, (GPS).
I had time after dinner on Saturday evening to finish writing my presentation for the local Christian Womens Connection, scheduled for Tuesday morning, Sept 14. Public speaking is outside the comfort zone of most writers, though the more I do, the easier it gets. Tuesday mornings’ was well received and that’s always a relief.
The editor who read the first fifty pages of my next novel gave me invaluable feedback and strong encouragement. He liked my writing as well as my plots, pacing and characters. He told me I write suspense. I said , “Oh, I don’t think so, I write slice of life stories.” He said “Yes, you do but there’s also plenty of suspense…”
While driving home last Sunday afternoon I stopped at a McDonalds in Columbus, Ohio to eat lunch and use the lavatory. A young man in crumbled poorly fit clothing approached me as I got out of my car, he was clean and nonthreatening. He asked if I would give him money for a hamburger. My standard answer in situations like that is always, “No, but I’ll buy you one if you come on inside with me.” He did. All he wanted was a $1.00 hamburger. I told him, “Nope, can’t do that, I’ll buy you a meal deal, do you want a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder?” His eyes became like saucers, “I haven’t had a Big Mac for months.” He decided on Coca Cola for his drink. I went to the lavatory, then ordered my own food and walked over to his table. “Mind if I join you?” He was shocked and nodded his head. So I sat down and asked, “So, what’s your story?”
I felt sad for the young man who seemed to be adrift without much direction in his life. He was 27 and said he had trouble waking up in the mornings. That very day, he’d planned to attend church but had slept late and missed the church van that usually picks him up. He talked about his work background that seemed to be quite sketchy. I know there were many chapters to his life that we didn’t touch upon…
I asked him, ”Do you know the secret to getting up early in the morning for work or church?” He stared at me and shook his head as if bewildered. I smiled and said, “Go to bed earlier the night before.” He grinned as if I’d given him a gold coin and thanked me again for lunch and talking to him.
I stopped to see my dad since he was leaving the next morning for Texas for several weeks. I told him about my lunch in Columbus and he shook his head sadly, “Nobody ever taught that boy work ethics.”
In families where no one ever learned the value of work, there was no one to teach the next generation. My dad was always big on work ethics and my siblings and I learned early on that a good days work was something to be proud of.
This week proved to have its own sets of adventures and misadventures and all my plans to get back to writiing full time were thwarted. But it looks like next week will finally be the opportunity I’ve been waiting for to really start writing again. I can hardly wait!