Susan Forest

Always feels good to finish a chapter. Began chapter 16 as well. Also, I hosted a reading of speculative fiction by my writers’ group at the local independent book store.

It is great to get so much done at a retreat, but boy, when you come back, there is so much to do–haven’t got too much writing done in the whole last week! Did do some work on chapter 15, but thought I’d have it done by now. However, I have helped to arrange readings for the Imaginative Fiction Writers’ Association at a local book store on Thursday, did some volunteer work for the When Words Collide readers’ and writers’ festival this summer, and got back to my exercise routine–and worked on a murder mystery play. So, lots done–just not much on the novel. Sigh.

Yeah, it’s not writing. But working for my writers’ group (we run a short story contest every year that is very cool), a writers’ festival (WWC encourages cross-fertilization among a zillion different writers’ organizations) and teaching adults how to write novels (through the Alexandra Writers’ Society) can also be very satisfying. So–okay–no fiction this week. But next week, for sure!

Had a great opportunity to participate in a reading at Shelf Life Books. I was the MC and my writers’ group, IFWA, had eight members read very short pieces on the Mayan Apocalypse. I only wish my friend, Ann, had written the story she was considering, about “alpaca lips.” Oh, well. The rest of the stories were very good, and great variety. We had about 10-12 people out to the event, so need to do better next time.

Where do I start to rave about When Words Collide? Our numbers were up–over 400 attendees. The Keynotes were inspiring, especially Adrienne Kerr’s and Anthony Bidulka’s. Personally, I sold 4 paintings, read at my own reading, two book launches (and had a new story come out in OnSpec) and IFWA’s Bedtime Stories, attended a really well-run Aurora Awards banquet (I didn’t win for best short story, but congratulations to Suzanne Church, who did! Woot!) and some really fun parties. AND, I launched my first collection! But of course, the best part, as always, was the incredible energy of the participants from so many different genres of writing. And exhausting, but very satisfying weekend.

What an opportunity twelve of us had, to have our cover letter, synopsis and five pages of novel critiqued by Adrienne Kerr, acquisitions editor for Penguin Canada. First, just reading everyone else’s submissions was an education in itself (they were all very different), and I learned tons just from putting myself in an editor’s shoes and thinking about why I would or would not ask an author to send me more material. Then there were the critiques themselves, listening to everyone explain their thinking on pieces I had already made my mind up about–very eye-opening. Next, there were the critiques I got on my own writing–thanks, everyone! And finally, there were Adrienne’s observations, from the position of someone who does this work professionally every day. An unforgettable experience.

So the Write-Off–IFWA’s semi-annual writers’ retreat–was awesome. Managed to revise a whole short story and re-submit, as per the editor’s request–fingers crossed!

Revised Chapter 10, and wrote Chapter 11 AND 12, and revised both. Also did a first pass at the revisions for my short story, using the critiques of my writers’ group from last week. Overall, very productive. Can’t wait to start chapter 13 – maybe as early as today (though I have regular life back, as well). This is a short novel, only 80,000 words, so the home stretch is in sight!

Four solid days of nothing to do but write–it will be fantastic! I’ll finish my novel edits for Edge Press today, so my plate is clear. Then: revise Chapter 10 and write Chapter 11 of “Magiers,” which is where my excitement is really boiling right now. BUT I also got an excellent rejection from IMGS that I want to follow up and I had a super critique on Tuesday for a new short story that I want to follow up on…and then there is another novel to revise for a May submission…Four days might be a little short.

The past week has been excellent! Let me see if I can remember ALL the fantastic things that happened! First off, the writers’ workshop with David B. Coe as our guest author was amazing! I was very fortunate to be his host and billet during the workshop, and so as we drove back and forth to various workshop and social events, I was able to have some very enlightening and stimulating discussions about writing and the business with him. The workshop itself was very informative, as we discussed a number of topics as well as doing our critiques. And, I got some good ideas for further working and marketing my short story.On his Facebook page, David wrote: “Great workshop. I had a wonderful time, and was blown away by the level of work I read and the level of professionalism I encountered. Thanks!”

The workshop was followed by ConVersion, which, for all its shortcomings (such as having no idea when or where any of the panels were occurring — including absolutely no mention of the big musical production I was involved in — communication was an issue) was very profitable on a number of fronts. The Monster Mash, our musical, was a big hit in spite of its time being switched multitple times right up to the day of performance (we were lucky all the actors got there on time). I got to sing a song and I played the villain, which is always fun.

The literary programming was run by IFWA, and as such, was very successful. Panels had interesting presenters, were well attended, and took the various topics to new places for most people. I was able to do a panel, judge the Robin Herrington Short Story Contest and do three separate readings, which all went well (and I got some nice compliments!). I attended a number of entertaining functions tool, such as having the opportunity to hear wonderful stories at Bedtime Stories with IFWA, Writers’ Idol and launches for Rigor Amortis and Edge Press’s Tesseracts 14, as well as improvisation by the hilarious 404s.

One really special highlight was my opportunity to receive my Aurora Pin as a finalist for my short story, “Back” in Analog. It is a gorgeous pin, and part of a limited edition just for winners and finalists. Very special!

And naturally, I also had opportunities to buy books (and get autographs!), t-shirts and art, network with authors, editors and publishers, and make connections for future writing opportunities. Very exciting! And on top of ALL THAT, I got to spend big chunks of my weekend with my two daughters, who also took in parts of the convention (one performed in the play with me and the other attended panels with me!). AND both my daughters received publishing credits for artwork they did for the 2010 In Places Between chapbook!

My husband took care of the home front (he is to die for!) and we even got to spend a fun afternoon together today getting out of the city on his motorcycle. AND, my oldest daughter was able to skype me from England to say her interview for her application for her doctorate program went well!

All in all, I feel like about the luckiest person on the planet, right now.