Spalding reunion the first

I had the fantastic opportunity to return to my Alma Mater this past week and what an incredible time I had. First, I was honored to take part in a panel of Young Adult Alumni on the Care and Tending of Books. Also on the panel was (my good friend and fantastic writer) Marjetta Geerling, Cory Jackson, Kelly Creagh, Edie Edith Hemingway, Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen. There were six of us total and each of us had a slightly different story to tell. Dunno if they were just being kind, but several attendees mentioned they thought it was one of the better of the residency.

Those who frequent this spot know that I highly recommend the Spalding MFA program for Writing (Yes, I also teach in an MFA program, but we teach Writing for Entertainment and don’t even cover prose or poetry…so it’s very much non-competitive kind of thing). My experience there was a far better experience than I had with my Bachelor’s in Creative Writing. Spalding has a very “nurture the writer” mentality, not smash them upside the head and make them feel horrible one.

Rebekah J. Harris, me, Marjetta Geerling

As part of my trip there, I got to participate in the Homecoming festivities for the MFA program. While it was my first homecoming, it certainly wasn’t the first homecoming for the university or program. Part of the festivities includes what’s called the SPLoveFest, a short period of time when Alumni get to set up at a table and peddle their wares—mostly recently published books of one sort or another. I set up at one of the tables and displayed several of my comic series, including the graphic novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Ever the classics, they were popular amongst my more literary brethren at Spalding. I was further excited that several asked about my as-yet-to-be-published The Interns. No news on that yet, but stay tuned.

A couple of you noted that I did not blog last week. I apologize for that. We are trying to sell our home in Oxford so that we can effect a move to Orlando and the task of continually keeping the house ready to show just caused me to let that date slip right on by me. I’ll try not to let it happen again. I’ve got more material for Writer’s Mistakes in the not too distant future, weaned, of course, from my students and just from around the internet.

I’ll be appearing at the Gideon Media Festival again this year August 11-16. There is a comic contest available (as well as some other contests if the dates haven’t already passed), so go check it out. Additionally, I’ll be appearing at the Karitos in July (12-14) [like them on FB here]. Still working out the details for this one, but I’m looking forward to them both. Check them out!

Photo is YA author Rebekah J. Harris, me, and Marjetta Geerling, courtesy of Rebekah.

Thoughts on flying

So I’ve been flying a lot the last few months and I have a few observations. Angie, my sister, warned me that I’d likely grow bored or tired of it after a while, and she was right. It isn’t that I dislike flying…but I dislike flying. I guess it beats the alternative of driving, but I kinda like driving; it’s that rare opportunity for a long period of time to just think and chill, things we don’t get to do much today (as a society, that is). And although it’s downhill to Florida, it’s a 14 hour drive there, but a 12 hour drive back.

I probably wouldn’t have been able to make some of these observations if I didn’t fly about once a week. One of the first things I started to notice is how big of a hurry people are to get on the plane. If the seats were unassigned and it was just seat as you board, that would make more sense to me. But on every single flight I’ve had, I’m assigned a seat. I get a seat. There’s no question whether I’ll get on or not. That’s why I don’t understand the rush, except of course, the case of those who sit in First Class as my sister often does. They get pampered from the minute they step foot on the plane. The rest of us (she calls us “losers”) have to sit and sweat until the plane pulls away. Additionally, the seats are often small and squish my knees.

So, I’m not really in a hurry to get on.

Takeoff has always been my favorite part of flying. I enjoy feeling the sheer power of the engines as they propel the plane along the runway. Once we’re in the air, I enjoy looking at the ground for a while, trying to pick out landmarks and highways and such. I mean, if the plane goes down, I need to know which way it is to walk back home.

The other observation I have, I wish I didn’t. I’ve become keenly aware of the sound of the plane engines. I’ve gotten to the point where I can generally tell when they’re giving it gas and when they’re laying off. What’s eerie is when they lay off for a few minutes and then suddenly rev it back up. I find myself quickly looking out the window to make sure we’re not headed down in a nosedive.

For a long while I kept hearing what I thought was the landing gear. Recently, though, I noticed the sound was actually the flaps on the wings. It makes a terrific winding noise as the flaps are put up or down.

The worst times, though, come in storms. I DO NOT like flying then. It gets bumpy (isn’t that an odd way to put it? Bumpy? In the AIR? How can air be bumpy?). You know it’s bad, however, when the flight attendant is telling you to fasten your seat belt and then screams “Oh God!” into the mic after a nasty bump.

I keep waiting for them to tell us “assume crash positions.” (cue Airplane movie clip)

Idoling

A couple of you will already know of Brittany’s (and mine cause she’s too young yet!) experience of auditioning for American Idol, but I figured it was such a cool experience that I’d write about it. Last year they opened up American Idol auditions to 15 year olds. As Brittany had already registered for Camp Electric (she had a blast and made many new friends!) and seeing that Camp Electric ended on the day before American Idol auditions, BJ and I decided that we’d stay the night and let her audition.

We’d heard all the horror stories (and read some of them online, too) about the long lines, so Brittany and I decided we’d get up really early and get down there to get as close to the front as we could. We even scouted out the location the day before (really, we had to get arm bands then, so we just scouted at the same time) so we’d know where to park and where to go for the line.

As a year and a half has now passed, I don’t remember the exact time, but I think we were up at 3 a.m. and out the door by 4. Supposedly AI wouldn’t let you line up before a certain time, but we wanted to be down there anyway. Parking was relatively easy…but we were surprised to see the line extend about three city blocks already. So, we fell in line, parked our hineys on the sidewalk and waited.

We were surrounded by interesting folks; some playing guitar, some listening to music, many of them singing, few of them with really good voices. Still, though, it was kinda cool. Once the line started moving, we learned they were just filtering us into the coliseum to take a seat. As we moved forward, we passed the line which had circled all the way around the block and crossed over and around to the other side.

We made our way in, took our seat, and waited again. Once everyone was in, an announcer told everyone how things would work and proceeded to fire up the audience for the film crew. Once the auditions started, I was super impressed at how quickly and smoothly they went. It was obvious the American Idol people have done that before and know what they’re doing. I don’t watch AI, but was still impressed with their organizational abilities.

In the center of the stadium was 12 tables separated only by curtains. Behind each table sat one or two judges. As the contestants filled onto the floor, they were put in a column of fours, very military style. They then lined 3 to 4 rows of four up in front of each table. The judges would call the entire row forward, speak to them, and then call them individually further forward for their opportunity to sing. After each of the four had their shot, the judges privately conferred and then called them forward as a group to announce their decision. Winners went one direction, others went the other direction. I sat for thirty full minutes before they selected the first winner.

Brittany didn’t place; one judge liked her, the other didn’t…and the decision had to be unanimous. Regardless, it was a good experience for her.

The 2nd Spring Creative Writers Retreat

The Second annual Spring Creative Writers Retreat was held at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Education Center in Piggott, Arkansas. Once again, I was honored to serve as the mentor/instructor. This marks my fifth year to be involved as a mentor/instructor. As always, it was an incredible experience.

Some have asked how I got involved with a Writers Retreat in farming country Arkansas. Well, I’ll tell ya! When I moved to Piggott to become editor of the then Piggott Times, I worked hard to get to know the people I didn’t already know. Keep in mind, my family has been there for 150 years and has a long history there so I’m kin to about one-third of the folks there. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I know how I think it did: Deana Dismukes, who was then the Center’s administrator, had been delivering press releases to me. The summer of 2007, she asked me to come up and talk to the writers at the retreat. It was in the 5^th or 6^th year. She bribed me with lunch…and so I went. I did a story for the paper on the retreat and the writers there.

Then, in 2008, after I’d moved to Oxpatch, Deana asked me to come be the assistant mentor for the week long summer session. It seemed the mentor who’d help get it all started, Dr. Rob Lamm, had responsibilities elsewhere and his assistant was stepping up. I gladly accepted!

The retreats were so popular with the writers they demanded a Fall version. Thus, that November, a three-day Fall retreat saw its inaugural session with me as the only mentor. The others had regularly scheduled school responsibilities and I was available! The next year, 2009, the Fall retreat expanded to a weeklong event. Last year, 2011, writers demanded a Spring retreat. It was—and still is—a three day event. I’m honored to have been the only mentor at all of the Fall and Spring Retreats, and I love to see the continual flow of new writers coming to get some of Hemingway’s ambiance (he wrote parts of Farewell to Arms in the barn studio there on the grounds).

Generally, I give the writers a mini-lecture followed by writing exercises both in the morning and then after lunch. Many of them come with projects they’re working on (like novels) and just want some time to get away and write! I know of about three novels that have been at least partially finished—or at least worked on—while at the retreat.

This year was no exception with a slightly smaller—but no less talented group. Pictured are: front (l-r) Dr. Adam Long – Associate Director for the Museum and Ed. Center, me, Mary Lou Moran; back (l-r), John Achor, Shannon Richards, Linda Wyss, Jane Gatewood, Jerry Davis. Not pictured are Anne Winchester and Brett Thielemier.

If you’ve ever considered a retreat, let me encourage you to consider the Creative Writers Retreats at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Education Center. I don’t think you’ll regret it. Tell’em Roland sent ya!

Mississippi has a writers’ conference…and you should know about it!

This past October (14th-16th to be exact), the Gulf Coast Writers Association hosted their annual Southern Expressions GCWA Authors Conference, and I was honored to be one of their speakers. Held at the IP Casino, Resort and Spa in Biloxi, and the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs, the conference is a nice little gem waiting to be discovered.

I’ll admit that I’d never heard of the conference before, and as a Mississippian, I was a bit embarrassed. However, that embarrassment faded when I learned the conference was only in either the 3^rd for 4^th year. I made the drive down on Friday from my home in Oxford. I was starting a new job as part of the faculty at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida the following Monday, so I would just drive there from the conference on Sunday.

I arrived, checked in, and took my stash of books with me to the check-in conference room. Curtis Wilkie, author of The Fall of the House of Zeus, was the speaker for the night—he was asked the usual questions when it was done. I found it funny when I learned he also lives in Oxford and yet I’d never met him (or heard of him, to be honest). Just goes to show you I’m not running the “literary” circles in Oxpatch.

On Saturday morning they bussed the lot of us over to Ocean Springs and we began the daylong string of sessions in the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center. I met some interesting folks, both speakers and writers, and did my two presentations: one on suping up your protagonist and the other on shameless self-promotion.

The conference provided live entertainment on the grounds that night, but I caught a ride back to the hotel with some new writer friends I’d made (Charles Sasser and Peggy Webb—Webb, a Mississippian from Tupelo!). I had dinner in the casino where I stumbled upon Jeanie Pantelakis, (Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency) one of the agents in attendance…she joined me and we had a nice chat—mostly about movies and comic books!

Sunday morning was a very laid-back signing session by any and all comers. The public was invited and several people made their way from the slot machines to our room full of authors. Of course, most of them claimed to have just lost all their money and assured us they would have bought a book if they’d had any cash… It wasn’t a total loss, though. As many authors are fond of doing when possible, I managed to trade a few books and still come home with new reading material. Though I went knowing no single other person, I left with a handful of new friends. Not a bad trip, if I do say so myself.

(I meant to post this back in December…but neglected to do so. A slightly different version of this was printed in IMAGYRO, the magazine of IMAGICOPTER)

How many rejections does it take?

Writers who’ve been writing long enough know that rejection is as much a part of writing as weight training and conditioning is to an athlete. It’s just part of the process. A-listers get less rejection because they often generate so much revenue for publishers they can pretty much do what they want and the publisher will take it…pretty much. But rejection can hurt.

Rejection is tough for any writer but it is especially hard on young writers, or those just beginning their writing journey…just as conditioning is harder for an athlete when they first get started; it’s gets easier the longer they persevere. Although we know it in our brilliant writer’s heart that rejection isn’t personal, it feels that way. The form letters—which are more common than not—are the ones that hurt the most. We’ve taken the time to a)write the book, b)research the publisher and their product, c)find out who the/an editor is, d)write them a very personal letter explaining how great our book is and why they should want to buy it. So when the response comes back as a form letter…it hurts.

Ask any writer and they will tell you how excited they were when they discovered “a hand written note” at the bottom of a form rejection. It’s still a form rejection, but we feel that someone at least did notice us; that even though our voices are screaming out in the void, someone cared enough to hear that voice and acknowledge it.

Of course, some writers out there only submit once or twice, thus greatly diminishing their chances of acceptance. Depending on who you listen to or what/where you read, there’s some wild percentages that suggest you must submit (and thus receive rejections) X number of times before you get that acceptance. Some suggest the percentages are in the 90% and higher range. I don’t have any idea—that’s too much math for me. But when I think of rejections and acceptance, I’m reminded of the old lolly-pop commercial, you know, the one with the owl and the kid. The kid asks the wise owl how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The owl proceeds to give it a lick or two and then bites in.

So, how many acceptances does it takes to cancel out the multitude of rejections?

One.

It only take one acceptance to cancel out the hurt of all the previous rejections…no matter how many there were.

MidSouthCon 30 report

When I first started writing comics, I lived in Hattiesburg, Miss., and was a regular guest at CoastCon for several years beginning in 1989. The crew was good to me (and the entire Silverline crew), it was close, and it seemed like everyone locally was attending. But I was always aware of MidSouthCon and really wanted to go. I couldn’t go because it was either on the exact same date or the weekend before or after. Being a struggling writer, I couldn’t really afford to go to both. It wasn’t until the late 90s that I had the opportunity to go to MidSouthCon, held in Memphis, the city of my birth.

Thus I didn’t really realize it was the 30^th until sometime during the day Saturday (they use the Roman numerals and since I’m not Roman, I can’t read them easily)…and I don’t know if it was that or just that it is a sign of recovery, but there were a ton of people there; it was very crowded at times—which is good.

This was the first year that a)I didn’t set up at a table; b)I didn’t attend the entire weekend (I couldn’t); c)my son, Brett, had the chance to attend a con. Because I didn’t have a table, I felt a bit orphaned. It was a strange experience. Brett seemed to love the experience, though. He played games practically the entire time (though I did tell him he couldn’t spend $60 on a sword), even electing to skip out on my panels!

My first panel of the day was shared with a few folks, including John Jackson Miller and Anthony Taylor. The topic was “Playing in other people’s sandbox,” which is about writing material that belongs to someone else (like Star Wars or Planet of the Apes). One of the common questions there was about fan fiction as it seemed several were under the impression that writing it is a good way to “get noticed.” Miller was quick to point out that the Star Wars franchise folks do not want that for fear of possible lawsuits. So it doesn’t get read by people who would matter. I’ve never really understood the draw of fan fiction and have read very little of it. My thoughts are write something original; create your own world to play in. That, or get HIRED to do the work.

I then had the opportunity to sit on the “Marketing for Authors” panel with such writers as A. P. Stephens, Janine Spendlove, Mike Preston, Peggy DeKay, and Stephen Zimmer. Zimmer was the only one I’d ever met before, but was a good panel with lots of questions from those in the audience. As you might guess, digital publishing was a big topic!

The last panel I did was “Indie Comics” with Sean Taylor and Tom Bondurant. I’ve “known” Sean for several years now, but never had the pleasure of meeting him in person and was nice to finally get to do so. Go visit Sean’s site to learn more about him. Tom writes for CBR.

I would tell you that Dean Zachary was also on the panel, but he bailed! (in his defense, he was making money in the Dealer’s Room) But I did get to visit with him and other artist extraordinaire Jim Hall and Mitch Foust. Actually, I had a more lengthy chat with Mitch on comic story-telling standing in the hallway at the close of the con which was quite enjoyable.

There’s a whole host of folks that I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with but who I want to shout out to here: A. Christopher Drown (who was the recipient of a Darrel Award!), Alexander S.
Brown, David Blalock, Herika R. Raymer, J.L. Mulvihill, AND, some folks I had the opportunity to meet for the first time: Kimberly Richardson (who is the editor for an anthology to which I’ve submitted AND who said she remembered my story and liked it—so that bodes well for the story), S.P. Dorning (who I’ve swapped a ton of emails with, but had never met face to face), and Bobby Nash.

And since Brittany had the camera with her for Prom…I didn’t get to take any pictures. Still, a good time was had!