Looking Back, Looking Forward

Wow. It’s Sunday. Can’t believe almost a whole week has passed since I returned from the Summer 2010 SCBWI conference in Los Angeles.

It took me nearly a week to recover. I’ve been to three of these conferences now, and this is the longest it’s taken me to re-enter my world. Which of course makes me stop to contemplate why.

The most obvious reason is that I didn’t get to sleep until about 2 a.m. each morning because I was spending time talking with writers and friends in the fabulous lobby of the Hyatt Century Plaza. Good, good times.

The not-so-obvious reason is that at this conference I made a deliberate effort to push myself out of my comfort zones, both socially (in the interactions with other writers and industry professionals) and mentally (in working out what’s next for my current projects). For someone who is happy to spend her days reading and daydreaming in her cozy little cave, such efforts cost me a lot of energy.

That deliberate pushing of myself out of comfort zones? Totally paid off.

Which brings me to today, to right now. I’ve finally recovered my energy and am ready to get my keester back in gear and get down to work. Serious work. Here’s what that’s going to look like in terms of this blog.

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing what I learned at the conference.

After I’m done sharing the conference highlights, I’ll be posting on the following schedule (which you can also see in the right side bar):

  • Monday: Writing-craft topic
  • Wednesday: Cross-over post from The Parking Lot Confessional
  • Thursday: Flash fiction piece
  • Friday: Writing-life topic

In short, I need to be devoting as much of my word power to my current projects. So I’m posting here less and writing in my WiP more. My goal for this blog is to share what I’m learning and discovering along the way. It’s not a drastic change as far as the schedule goes, but it’s a mental shift for me.

I’m excited for what the next couple of months hold. And I’m excited to share them with you.

As always, thank you for reading.