I’ve been busy the last two months, and I’m glad to report I’ve been doing a lot of writing!
Upcoming Events
I’m super excited for the first ever Hillsborough Local Author Book Fair, sponsored by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library. As you may know, Hillsborough boasts a disproportionately large number of famous authors, and many of them will be signing books and giving readings: Jaki Shelton Green, Lee Smith, Allan Gurganus, and more. The lesser-known authors (ah-hem) will have our own tables to talk to readers and sell books. The event is 10 to 5 on November 24, with book sales from 11 to 4. There’s an event page here: bit.ly/OCFriendsBookFair
As of posting, there is one spot left in my Science of Bread class at the Folk School, January 6 to 12. (Register here.)
I’m teaching Baking Traditional Breads at the end of May. (Register here.)
Writing News
Last weekend I attended the NC Writer’s Network fall conference in Charlotte. I had some excellent sessions about the craft of writing: scene sequencing, writing authentic characters who are different than you, and detailed world-building. I also learned about pitching a novel to an agent or editor.
Mainly, I came away from the conference with a big, but confused, picture of the writing industry and where I fit into it. Last month, I blogged about the new-adult genre (https://emilybuehler.com/2018/what-counts-as-new-adult/), but the conference turned all my thoughts on their head when an agent told me no one uses the category anymore! I’m hoping I can sort it out in the coming weeks. I’ve blogged about the conference here: https://emilybuehler.com/2018/nc-writers-fall-conference/
On November 1, I started writing Kensington, a contemporary romance, as part of NaNoWriMo. Earlier in the fall, I actually created an plot outline for the novel, which has made it easier and more fun to write. I blogged about the plotting process in two posts:
- I Tried Plotting and I Liked It: Resources for plotting and how I got started, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/i-tried-plotting-and-i-liked-it/
- Get Your Novel Plotted and Ready to Go: The plotting process that worked for me, and a template, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/get-your-novel-plotted-and-ready-to-go/
I’m really excited for the new novel, but after NaNoWriMo and finishing a first draft, I plan to return to my previous manuscripts, The Knowledge Game and Rose Fair, both of which are mid-revision.
Personal Thoughts
As part of being more “out there” as a fiction writer, I added a “Thoughts” category to my blog. The idea was to write about topics that might interest readers of my fiction. I’ve been nervous about getting started (does anyone really want to read my thoughts?) but I’ve had these posts so far:
- Staying Calm in a Stressful World: I share some thoughts on panic attacks and dealing with stressful situations, as well as the strategy I developed over the summer, with help from a health coach, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/staying-calm-in-a-stressful-world/
- What Are My Goals for Writing?: I consider the merits of writing literary works versus being a commercial success, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/what-are-my-goals-for-writing/
- Why It’s Hard to Learn New Things: I recognize that discomfort is sometimes part of the learning process, and that I have some control over making learning easier, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/why-its-hard-to-learn-new-things/
- Halloween for Adults: My first Thoughts post, which might have been simply an excuse to post old Halloween photos, https://emilybuehler.com/2018/halloween-for-adults/
Incidentally, if you want to know how I created the blog subscription with categories, I blogged about it here: New Subscribe Options (and How I Created Them), https://emilybuehler.com/2018/new-subscribe-options-and-how-i-created-them/.
I’m hoping to keep up the daily writing through the holidays, as well as reading a lot of science fiction thrillers and romance novels, to figure out where my novels fit in.
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