The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain

When it comes to writing submissions, I think that the bone folder is possibly mightier than the pen. How else can you take about five pages and a SASE and thin it down to the point that it only needs one, maybe two postage stamps, max?

Proofread carefully to see if you any words out. ~Author Unknown

There is nothing creative about writing query letters, printing manuscripts, folding (if the submission is small) and stamping. Thank God for self-adhesive stamps and envelopes, however! The process is drone work almost making me want to "hire" my 5 year old to do it for me while I sip a latte and read a novel.

As for keeping up with my submissions, it is now extremely easy since I found the program Sonar online. It allows me to keep up with when I mailed my submissions, and if they have circled back like a boomerang for me to dispense yet again to another editor.

Don't be too harsh to these poems until they're typed. I always think typescript lends some sort of certainty: at least, if the things are bad then, they appear to be bad with conviction. ~Dylan Thomas, letter to Vernon Watkins, March 1938

Here goes nothing....yet, maybe something?

A Weekend of Inspiring Characters

As I'm sitting here listening to the rain dripping steadily outside, I am sipping on a cup of coffee brewed in just a flash with my Keurig coffee pot...one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received. I sprinkled in a dash of cinnamon as the waitress at the Austin Street Bistro in Jefferson, Texas suggested over the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, I found myself in some situations that I would never have believed possible. To begin with, I got to meet the great Pat Conroy. What can I say about Pat Conroy that can sum up what kind of writer he is. He is the Elvis of literature. My signed copy of My Reading Life is tagged with little neon green sticky notes, reminding me of all of the phrases that simply made me weak in the knees.

Another special happening was friend and author Allen Whitley (Where Southern Cross the Dog) pointing me out to hundreds of book club members, thanking me for being his friend and being the first person outside of his family to buy his book. I was completely flabbergasted and had to try really hard not to cry in front of everyone. I could not believe what I was hearing. Talk about unexpected!

I also had the chance to sit beside the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton for the entire day. While not listening to interesting panels of authors, we discussed poetry and frustrations with the submission process.

Have I mentioned that I met Fannie Flagg??!! Yes, I actually posed with Fannie Flagg for pictures, me shaking like a leaf of course. Come on, it was Fannie Flagg! Later in the evening she and I met again at the costume ball, I was wearing rubber vampire bite marks and blood on my neck and she was dressed like a Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz (I think) with rosy pink cheeks.

Perhaps the highlight of my weekend was meeting author Susan Vreeland...while wearing my vampire get-up. The writer of Luncheon of the Boating Party, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, and my favorite Girl in Hyacinth Blue, she is a tall, delicate woman with a smile that could melt butter. She sat down at my table the night of the ball and I quickly dished out a selection of books to have signed (I couldn't fit all of them in my bag, so I had to leave some at home). Feeling like a complete child, the only thing I could get out of my mouth was how much I loved her and her books. I can only imagine what was going through her head as I was fawning over her like a fat kid at a fudge counter. I couldn't for the life of me think of anything to discuss with her, my brain was completely stuck in "fan mode". We posed for several pictures and she wisped away (she didn't really walk, just floated like a sweet little ghost) to other tables. I turned to my best friend Michelle, as giddy as a school girl. My weekend was complete. All I can possibly say now is "Thank you Kathy Patrick for gathering this cast of inspiring characters for my delight."

Satisfying the Ghosts

I admit that it has been several months since I have touched base with my blog. With the craziness of the holidays, every day tasks seemed to have been put on hold. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

It is now 2011 and I feel the ghosts of 2010 past weighing heavy on my conscience. My writing ghosts, that is. I feel as if there should be some kind of place I should go to confess my writing sins. "Yes father, I have sinned 6 times. I have started short stories that I have not finished. I have quit writing poetry completely, and I have become a slacker in my article writing." Surely there's a support group for this! Writers Anonymous or something.

My New Years resolution is to get off of my ass and be the writer that I know I can be. I spent the weekend in Jefferson, Texas with some of the BIGGEST names in Southern Literature. Hell, I even sat beside the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton for an entire day and she even gave me a list of journals that she submits to! I have NO excuse not to be a good writer, I have NO excuse not to be a good writer...as I click my fuzzy slippers 3 times like Dorothy. No, mine aren't covered in rubies, but mine are more comfortable! Ha!

This will be an extraordinary year of words and books, I can just feel it.

December Louisiana Road Trips

I was very disappointed this year to find out that the Louisiana Book Festival had closed its doors due to budget cuts. My article on page 5 is my homage to book festivals and why they mean so much to writers and readers.

Open publication - Free publishing - More louisiana

Writing Outside the Box

"A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket." ~Charles Peguy

Oh, what can I say about a book festival? It is inspiring, educational, a chance for friendships, and super exciting...especially if you are one of the selected few that get to participate as an "author".

The word "author" is changing shape before our eyes. It is not always necessary to have a printed, paper copy of a work to be considered a writer. I was fortunate to be a guest at the Acadiana Book Festival in Lafayette, La on October 30th. I shared a panel with two very interesting authors Carla Hostetter, an independent romance writer, and Cyril Vetter (Dirtdobber Blues), a multi-media author who wants to expand the reading experience by adding audio and visual elements. I spoke for about 15 minutes about the art of blogging and its many purposes. Thank you Chere' Coen of the website Louisiana Book News for inviting me to be a part of the fun!

Unrelated Musings...

"Why do books have to look like they did in the 1500's? Why are they still made of paper? Imagine a beautiful synthetic book, feather weight, with bright white pages, impervious to mildew, water, or rot. Why not? Why is there no investment in this area? A new synthetic book could preserve the age old fonts, the glory of full color illustrations, the beautiful feel of the volume in hand, yet be cheap to produce, cheap to ship, and easy to store. To save the book, we need to remake the book. We have reinvented clothing with synthetics. Why not books?" – Anne Rice (Facebook post)

It's been a busy October full of literary happenings. I started the month out travelling across the state line to historic Jefferson, Texas, dressed in full black Victorian attire, to have dinner and meet author Karen Essex. Having written the novel Dracula In Love, I was excited to chat with the woman who dared to take on Bram Stoker's legendary vampire. She was elegant and witty and shared with the dinner guests the short play Asylum that she wrote based on her novel. It was a wonderful evening and I now find myself reading the original Dracula for the first time since grade school, now able to look at it in a whole new light. I am also reading The Countess by Rebecca Johns about the first female vampire Erzsebet Bathory...historic novels fit for Halloween!

Just a few days after having dinner with Karen Essex, I sat with several book club friends in front of the web cam, having a Skype interview with Major Pettigrew's Last Stand author Helen Simonson! She is such a sweet lady and inspiring for those of us who have to balance writing and family life.

Speaking of family life...with motivation from my husband and friend Connie, I have started writing again, although just in time for my daughter's fall break from school. Argh! I bought a new lamp and set up a little computer station in the living room. Each morning I fixed a cup of coffee in my favorite New Orleans coffee mug and turned on jazz from Terence Blanchard on my iTunes and typed away. Let's hope the muses stick around and are patient with the Caddo Parish School System calendar.

So, Saturday is the day. After much waiting, I will be speaking on a panel at the Acadiana Book Festival in Lafayette. I am excited to meet new and interesting authors and I hope to have many photos and stories to share with you soon.

Acadiana Book Festival Program

Acadiana Book Festival

Saturday, October 30, 2010

8:00am-5:00pm

Cite des Arts, Lafayette, LA

Program includes complete schedule and author bios! (My bio is on pg. 14)

Acadiana Book Festival Program