Fan Girl

This past month, I've been busy attending conferences. And at these conferences, I was able to get my fan girl fix. Although I attended as a published author, I was just a fan girl for those authors whose work I adore.

For years before I ever dreamt that I could actually string together enough words coherently to write a book, I was a voracious reader (as most writers are). One of my favorites from way back is Tami Hoag. How many nights did she keep me up far past my bedtime? How many mornings did I awaken to the alarm clock with sleep deprived bloodshot eyes? And finally at a Novelists, Inc. conference, I was actually in the same room with her! It was all I could do to keep from embarrassing myself by jumping up and down. And the greatest thing is, she was as fascinating in person as her books are. Meeting her made my conference.

At Bouchercon I was in the midst of so many wonderful mystery and suspense authors ... well, it just boggled the mind. I can now say I've been privilaged to listen to greats like Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly, Joseph Finder, and Sue Grafton. Now if a person doesn't come home jazzed about writing after that, they don't have a writer's bone in their body. Needless to say, I'm jazzed and off to work on my next novel.

And for those of you out there who are writers seeking publication, next week I'm going to start posting and sharing some tools for the trade. Check back!