Sorry I’ve been so busy, but…
I’m not a fan of blog posts that begin by apologizing for how busy the author has been and how chagrined he or she feels at the great insult of not having posted more frequently. Like even the most popular of blogs has an audience waiting with baited breath for the next instalment.
Except, I’m w
ay overdue with this post, and this sort of chagrin is exactly what the post is about.
If you’ve been in orbit here for any time, you cannot fail to know that I just got back from Hollywood and the 2013 Writers of the Future seminar. There, I got personal instruction on the business of writing from seasoned pros like Tim Powers, Dave Wolverton, Kevin J Anderson, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Orson Scott Card, Mike Resnick, and on and on and on…
But that’s not the best part.
I also got instruction and experience on self-promotion and interviewing. I had fun. I met June Scobee Rodgers and visited the Challenger Learning Center. I had a kerfuffle with SpongeBob Square Pants. I ate dinner with Kerry O’Quinn, who gave the world Starlog and Fangoria, who’s social circles over the years have stretched from Alan Greenspan to Isaac Asimov. I put on a tux and spoke before a few thousand people. I got a laugh. I got a trophy. I got to see my work in print–hot off the presses.
I watched a total lunar eclipse, on my birthday.
But that’s not the best part.
I brought home a treasure chest of new friendships: current and former writer and illustrator winners and even a few of their family and friends. People who, diverse though they are, all have one thing in common. They are pulling for me, and I for them. And that’s something, I think, none of us expected.
And now I must get back to writing. I wouldn’t want to let my friends down.
