great. They have panels where you get to hear experienced authors talk
about books, writing, and what's hot in the genre. Hey, I was even on
a panel myself!
The panel was called "THE FUTURE OF HORROR - Part One: The Biological
Clock of Horror" (clever title, huh?) and was a panel of women writers
and authors: Sephera Giron (Moderator), Jill Bauman, P.D. Cacek, Lynne
Hansen, Kelly Laymon, Yvonne Navarro, Mary SanGiovanni, Elena Stier,
and me. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my tape recorder and a woman
who was recording the session said the tape didn't come out, so my
pearls of wisdom are lost forever! WAH!!!
Seriously, though, I do remember being asked if I felt that women
writers had a difficult time breaking into horror. Both P.D. and I
said we had chosen our bylines to avoid that and both of us have
received emails or letters assuming we were males (for example, "Dear
Mr. Cacek" or "Hey, dude!") An interesting comment came from Lynne
Hansen, who does Young Adult books: she said boys won't buy her books
if they have girls on the cover.
I'm still unpacking and doing laundry because I'm going away again
next week, so if you don't hear from me, don't panic: I'm still here!
My sequel, "The Old Power Returns," is coming along okay. I felt
really energized and ready to write after this conference, but now
I've got a silly thing like a vacation to interfere!
After I unpack from the next trip, I'll try to get some pictures on my
web site. My brother gave me a camera and it takes much, much better
indoor and night shots than my other one does.
What I'm Reading Now...
- A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli
- Page After Page by Heather Sellers
- How to Write Killer Fiction by Carolyn Wheat
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style by Laurie E. Rozakis
