Storymakers Conference
Another Storymakers Conference has come and gone, and I was counting the number of these I have participated in. I remember the first one I attended with my brother, Marky. They called it LDStorymakers back then, I think it may have been the first year they had the Whitney Awards, and I may have been completing my second grad degree. I was still in the military, and it was around 2007 maybe, although it feels like it was closer to 9/11. Probably the PTSD jarring my memories.
I did some checking and found receipts back to 2010, but I think my first year may have been 2007. I guess could say I’ve been attending for over 17 years.
I remember those first years, the conference was very heavy on historical romance and middle grade fantasy, and male participants were few and far between. I met some great writers, who became good friends, and nowadays, I think I attend the conference more to see friends and meet new people than to attend workshops.
Me and the wonderful Jennifer Nielsen
That said, I would be remiss without mentioning the workshop highlights (for me, anyway). I like attending what I call the pre-Storymakers Conference, the classes taught on Thursday before the official Friday-Saturday conference. This year started off with Interstate 15 southbound being shut down – I believe the accident resulted in a death, a harbinger of what possibly was to come at the conference, and I was late for my first class, Awesome Author Websites with Tiana Smith. The conference was aware of the soon departed, the freeway closure, and Tiana did not disappoint. I was already working on upgrading this site, adding some bells and whistles, and Tiana’s class gave me several good tips. First, blogs are dead – and as I am a horror writer by trade, I will continue to work in this dead form. The important stuff – author bio, book covers, book info, and talking about books, are things I took away. I also considered adding the audio version of a blog, a PrinceOfDarknesscast (PODcast). Talk about an automatic brand building opportunity.
My second Thursday class was with my hero, Jennifer A. Nielsen. Jennifer saved my writing career many years ago when I was letting imposter syndrome, anxiety, PTSD, probably depression, and everything else come down on me like a Force choke. She has remained a good friend and mentor for years. Her Thursday class – You’re Going to Be Published: Now What? – came at the absolute best time in my career, and aside from a myriad of great advice, I asked Jennifer to review my first book with Shadow Mountain (she said yes!).
Moving into the actual conference, I had two people really stand out – again, my opinion. First, Megan Clements did an outstanding developmental editing class, so much so, I may utilize her in the future as my first draft editor. I would highly recommend anyone needing an editor to check out Waypoint Authors. Megan’s partner in crime, shall we say, Jolene Perry is known by all Storymakers, so, again, highly recommend!
Second, I had two classes with Kathryn Purdie, Deep Point of View and Oh My Goth! Can I just say I fell in love with Kathryn and immediately went out and picked up one of her books. It did not disappoint. I absolutely love everything Gothic, I’m a horror writer, and I believe no other genre allows the writer to make the setting a character, usually an antagonist, which is, as the Romantics might say, sublime!
I am already looking forward to next year – yes, I have published, short stories and a collection – but next year I will be a traditionally published author. As Pinocchio said, “I’ll be a real boy!”
