Writers’ Retreat
The weekend before last was important to me. I’ve chosen all my conventions based solely on who I would see there. I went to AuthorCon in Virginia back in March and April. Already signed up for next year too. I went to Ghoulish in San Antonio because I wanted to support Max and Lori on their first convention adventure and to see my Texas friends. I went to MandoCon, a small private writers’ retreat put on by my friend Armand Rosamilia.
I’ve been fortunate in that all three conventions I chose, having nothing to do with sales or career advancement in mind, turned out to be great on all fronts. I got over 13,000 words written on a piece I’ve been struggling to find time to write. I was able to put down more words on it after getting home, so I’m excited about that too.
I’m not normally a “get energized” kind of writer. Typically, conventions kind of get in the way of my writing routine and I have to get back on track after getting back home. I’m excited by the conventions and have fun, but the business of writing for me is more about getting settled in, buckling back down, and putting down the words. It’s more “time spent in chair” than it is some new fire set under me. Maybe I’d be better off if I got some fiery passion from these events that I could hardly control. I don’t know.
I have benefitted greatly from these events in terms of sales, career opportunities, a reawakening of my drive to write, networking, and a hundred other side benefits. All of it came from the relationships being put first though.
I’m already excited for Scares That Care coming up later this summer.
Here are some things you might be interested in:
After The Bazaar of Bad Dreams #StephenKingRevisited
by Jay Wilburn
A number of these stories involve facing death. That’s nothing new for a Stephen King story …
Author’s Note: This is a weird little story as many of them are. I wrote this one live on Twitch and shared it on Patreon. Up until sharing it now, that is its entire publication history and may remain so forever.
“Comedy is Tragedy That Happens to Someone Else”
by Jay Wilburn
The bell rang again. John Mark rattled along his track and the small wooden doors popped open on their springs to blind his eyes with the bright light of day. He rolled along between the flats of an apartment scene and the small pieces of decorative furniture. Other eyes watched from out of the blur of daylight beyond the fourth wall …
Join me at Twitch.tv/JayWilburn to watch me write stories live. See the magic and the train wrecks as they unfold.
Thanks, Everybody
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