In this issue:

Writing Avenues

Last year, I attended a writers' conference in Tennessee. I was handed a goody bag along with my registration information. In that bag was another bag. A member/author from the sponsoring club had made up a "conference survival kit" This was a really neat idea. I took the initiative and made it fit my own needs.

Recently at the Abilene Writers Guild workshop, I decided to pass this survival kit on to other writers. I bought some small zip sandwich bags at the dollar store and began filling them. I placed a pepper"mint", a penny, a paperclip, a rubber-band, a balloon, and a candy kiss in the bags. When all fifty bags were filled, I went back and added to them: an ink pen, one of my business cards, one of my "Fort Support" buttons, and a printed list of the contents and what they meant to me.

A "mint" -- is for my commit"mint" to write. After all, writing is the business of a writer. If I want to get published, I have to make a commit"mint" to write every day if for no other reason than to practice my chosen craft.

A penny -- is to remind me not to go over my budget. At workshops and conferences, there are books for sale. We must support our fellow authors and buy their books. However, we must remember not to go over budget. If we buy what we can in budget, we can make a list of what we want to buy later. That way you can buy my book, Texas Haunted Forts, from my website when you get home.

A paperclip -- is to help me keep notes and handouts in order. At workshops and conferences I take a lot of notes and I pick up all the handouts I can get my hands on. To keep these organized for later use, I am going to need paperclips.

A rubber-band -- is to help you remember to stretch your imagination. No matter what you write, you always have to push the limits with your imagination.

A balloon -- is to remind you to have fun at the workshop and/or conference. Having fun at a workshop or conference is easy. Just let your hair down and be yourself. Networking at the conferences and workshop are important, but that can also be fun.

A candy kiss -- is for luck as you pursue your dreams. Sometimes I get depressed and think that maybe I should be something besides a writer, but that is when I get out the candy kisses and realize that my dreams are worth having.

At the end of the paper explaining about the contents of the bag, I put a message I hope you will have a successful workshop/conference, a signature, Elaine Coleman, and the title of my book, Texas Haunted Forts.

This is what makes it one of my best marketing tools.

* * * * *

Both Sides Now
by R. S. Nailor

Just like the first line of the song by Joni Mitchell, I've looked at life from both sides now.  In this particular scenario, life is represented by writing.  Over the years I've attended different writing symposiums, conferences, meetings, etc., but always as an astute student.  This year I've had the privilege and honor to be a presenter, a speaker, the person up front with the bull's eye painted on his chest.

In the past I've always been in awe of that person standing at the podium, speaking and teaching, giving me a myriad of clues I would use to become a writer. Would I dare to approach them later and ask questions?  In the ruse of a meal or snack, I'd join a table where one of the speakers was sitting and glean even more information as the conversation livened up. It was in this deceptive manner that I'd ask my question and be enlightened with an answer.

This year I became that sought after oracle of knowledge. Writers, both young and old, boldly approached me with compliments of my session and then barraged me with questions that had been burning within.

It was this year that I started to notice more than the knowledge that was being offered.  Each speaker has his or her own style; from simple elegance to that of a side-show barker and ranges from "I will talk" to "let's talk" to "questions and answers" types. My style is animated, gets the audience involved and I try not to do all the talking, but of course, trying to keep me quiet is difficult, too.

Just because I was a presenter didn't mean that I couldn't attend other sessions, and attend, I did.  One must always remember that learning is an everyday thing and these other presenters would be sharing their knowledge, too.  I had one attendee ask me why I was sitting in on a certain subject. Was I spying? I looked this person straight in the eye and told him, learning.

One never knows all that there is about any particular subject and can learn, even from a novice.  In my session on character development, I shared my character analysis sheet and discovered that it was lacking.  Where? Clothing. I'd detailed many aspects of my character, including obscure details like income and childhood education, but never once mentioned anything about the type or style of clothing worn.

As an attendee, I hope that any question I ask will bring out valuable information for other attendees.  If the presenter gets stumped, remember, they are human.

As a presenter, I hope that every attendee would feel comfortable to ask their question.  The dumb question is the one never asked.  If the attendee is too shy to ask during the session, then by all means, use any ruse you can to approach and ask the question afterwards. Flattery is always accepted.

* * * * *

R. S. Nailor is Poetry Editor and Production Manager for the Emporium Gazette. His manuscript, THREE STEPS: THE JOURNEYS OF AYROLD, is currently in the final stages of editing. He has short stories included in three ebook anthologies from 23House and numerous articles and poems elsewhere on the internet. You can visit him at Lore's Webs.

FROM ANOTHER ANGLE
by Susan Long Turner

WRITERS AND WRITERS CONFERENCES

Success is that old ABC –
ability, breaks, and courage.
~ Charles Luckman

Writer's Digest and Shaw Guides provide an online a listing of over 1400 upcoming writers' conferences throughout the United States. According to the information included in these guides, you'll find a "wide variety of writing programs to spur your creativity and provide exposure to help refine and sharpen your writing skills."

Among these nationwide conferences, the writer will have no problem finding one convenient to home with a chance to contact publishers and editors. One of the most interesting and widely-known conferences, however, isn't exactly next door for most of us. Hawaii's Maui Writers Conference boldly claims: "Do you want to get published? The Maui Writers Conference is the world's premier writing and publishing event. Meet dozens of top agents and editors."

According to Elizabeth Hanes in an article for Jenna Glatzer's monthly mag, ABSOLUTE WRITE, says that many writers believe conferences pay dividends beyond the improved abilities gained from workshops and the chance to meet to meet influential members of the publishing community. Hanes quotes freelance writer, Lyne Royce, "Attending a conference is the best thing I ever did for my writing career. That conference validated me as a writer more than any other experience I've ever had."

Elaine Coleman agrees. "TEXAS HAUNTED FORTS (Republic of Texas Press/now Rowman & Littlefield Publishing) would never have been written and published if I hadn't gone to Ginnie Bivona's workshop and talked with her about the book. I have attended writers' conferences since 1990 and the workshops have helped me improve my writing. I know that without conferences, I would have been forever a wannabe.

"When I open the window of my office, I can hear ghostly breezes whispering secrets of the past and I am listening closely. I have many more stories to write," Elaine said in a Board Member Profile of BIG COUNTRY WRITERS, Abilene (Texas) Writers Guild monthly newsletter. Hot off the press, TEXAS FRONTIER FOODS is now for sale and TINGLING TALES FROM TEXAS HAUNTED FORTS with co-author, Nancy Robinson Masters, will soon be published by AWOC.COM.

Elaine Coleman fulfills Luckman's ABC of Success. She took advantage of her break at a writers' conference, used her ability to write the book, and had the courage to make scores of speeches and book signings resulting in sales of TEXAS HAUNTED FORTS that far exceeded the publisher's expectations.

I think I'll try Luckman's ABC's of Success. Why not sign thirty to this column and set up a new document to ready a synopsis of PRINSELLA AND THE BARON for the next writers' conference?

* * * * *

Susan Long Turner is co-author with Russ Turner of "Wings Born Out of Dust" which is available now from 23 House Publishing and is also available in trade paperbacks and hardback at other major online bookstores. Visit her Website

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Writer's Conference Economics
by Mitchel Whitington

As a writer, there are two certainties that I know.  The first is that one of the best ways to further your writing career is to attend conferences.  The second is that conferences cost money, often more than I have in my budget.  Over the years, though, I've worked out a few tricks that have enabled me to work in at least three conferences annually, and I fully believe that many of the successes that I've had in writing have been because of information and contacts from them.

A Conference Formula

My conference formula is simple: attend two good conferences that I repeat every year, and go to a third one that's a new experience for me.  The two that I repeat are known entities: I know that they don't repeat speakers often, if at all; major publishing houses and literary agencies are represented there; and the topics are varied enough that I'll have something of interest to attend every hour.  The third "new" conference is just as important, though, because it represents an influx of new ideas and fellow participants that will keep my writing ideas fresh.

Of course, I rotate my two repeat conferences occasionally.  For example, for many years I've attended the Oklahoma Writer's Federation (OWFI) conference in Oklahoma City.  It's a wonderful experience, and one that I highly recommend.  I chose to take it out of my rotation for a couple of years, though, just because I'd been there so many times in a row.  I'm planning on going back next year, though.

One major rule for choosing conferences is to space them throughout the year as evenly as possible.  If I'm going to three this year, ideally I'd like to have one every four months to allow me to spread the expenses out.  This won't always work perfectly, but it's a rule of thumb that I keep in the back of my mind.  And where do I find the conferences?  Easy – 1) through an Internet search for "writer's conference", 2) by asking writer friends for their recommendations, and 3) reading writer's magazines that list upcoming conferences.

Calculating Conference Costs

Once I've identified the three conferences that I'm going to attend, it's time to start adding up expenses.  Smaller ones cost $50 or so for registration, while larger ones can cost upwards of $200.  For the sake of argument, assume that one is $50, the second is $100, and the third is $200.  That's a total of $350 total cost for the conferences.

Of course, every attendee has to have a place to stay.  I always try to stay at the host hotel (these things are usually held at hotels or conference centers), and you'll find that usually there's a special conference rate.  Two cost-savers are to find someone to room with and split the cost, or get a room in a cheaper nearby hotel.  For this example, though, let's assume that the room with conference discount will average $75 a night.  If I need to stay two nights per conference, that's six nights at the $75 average, or $450.

Another cost is meals – one standard corporate expense model is $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $25 for dinner.  You can easily go higher or lower, but for the sake of this example let's stick with that model of $50 per day for food.  Two days per conference means $100 per conference for meals, or $300 total.

Travel is something else to consider, and is almost impossible to predict for this article.  My rule is to drive if possible, and in fact, I have to be very motivated to choose a conference to which I have to fly.  If a conference is three or four hours away, I can easily make it on one tank of gas each way.  Let's forget air travel for now, and assume that two tanks of gas take care of a single conference.  That's six tanks of gas, and as I write this article that's about $30 per tank, or $180.  I usually don't consider any other wear and tear on the vehicle when calculating actual cost.

We can now get a projected total:

Of course, there are always other expenses.  If there are special dinners or events that require additional costs, I attend if at all possible.  I usually budget %10 of the total for these types of expenses, along with picking up a few books or other things.  That's an additional $128, which gives a goal to reach for a year's conferences: $1280 + $128 = $1408.

Where does the $$$ Come From?

I heard at a conference in Albuquerque that the average writer in America makes about three grand per year.  That means for every Stephen King or Tom Clancy, there are thousands of people like you and I that get paid much less.  I put a big percentage of anything that I make writing toward conferences, but for this model we won't depend solely on writing income.  Here are a few ground rules for the exercise:

$$$ Rule #1: Have a family discussion about your writer's conferences.  If you're spending money to attend conferences, your family needs to understand that you'll be working hard to raise the money without impacting the budget.

$$$ Rule #2: Don't make other family members sacrifice unless they volunteer.  It's easy to build tension and resentment, and even though you have the support of your family, don't make cuts that affect them unless it's their idea.  It's just a good practice to observe.

$$$ Rule #3: Get ready to make sacrifices of your own expenses.  With every dollar saved, you're a buck closer to your target.

With that said, here are the tricks that I use to fund my annual writer's conferences:

Examine any personal, daily costs.  In my case, I spend an average of $7 every day on lunch.  With my three-week vacation, that leaves 245 workdays per year.  I discovered that I could take a cold-cut sandwich from home with a bag of chips for $2, and if I did that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'd save five bucks a day for 98 days a year, or $490.  That's almost a third of what I need for the conferences.

Hold an annual garage sale.  This is something that will not only help you keep your household free of clutter, but can yield a hefty payday.  We have one every year, and the least that we've ever made is $300.  The most is around $700, but let's go with the low end for our model.

Push your writing.  I set goals to sell five articles per year for an average of $50 each.  Of course, that means that I have to write at least twenty, but that's less than one every two weeks, something that I can easily handle.  That gives me about $250 from my writing to use.

Clip coupons.  This can quickly become an art form.  When I find that the Sunday paper has a set of coupons that save over $1.50 (the cost of the paper), I'll go down and buy 5-10 of them.  Combine this with following grocery sales, and you'll find that you can save a full 10% of your grocery bill, and that's being conservative.  The harder that you work at this, the more you'll save.  Let's use the 10% figure, though.  My family spends about a hundred bucks a week, so that comes out to $40 a month savings, or $480 per year.

The above items alone yield $490 + $300 + $250 + $480, or $1520 total.  That's more than I need for the conferences, and although the funds will be building up over the course of a year, my conferences will be spread out enough that this will be perfectly fine.

Closing Thoughts

This is just a model, of course, but it's one that works for me.  You can modify yours to make it work even better.  For example, one friend of mine stopped smoking, and used the proceeds toward funding writing conference trips.  The cigarettes were already in the grocery budget, so it was a painless transition on the spreadsheet – with the possible withdrawal pains, of course.

I'd strongly encourage you to put together your own model for paying for your writer's conferences.  Hopefully the other articles in this issue will stress how important they are.  With some creative thinking and a little sacrifice, you'll be able to enjoy several writer's conferences in the coming year, and reap the many rewards that they offer.

* * * * *

The Keepsake
by Tommy F. Scott

"A little, magical, mystical Keepsake"

the advertisement announced in italic lettering surrounded by a little box.

"The craft of a wisewoman assisted by her knowledgeable and gentle husband. Send three dollars in cash money or postage stamps."

The notice was followed by a post office box number.

As W. Willis Wooten continued to read through the newspaper, his thoughts kept returning to the little ad. "A little, magical, mystical keepsake."

The next morning, between preparation of his double latte decafe and his wheat toast, W. Willis scurried to the drawer of his arts and crafts style writing desk, opened the middle drawer and pulled an envelope with an watermark, a sheet of Spring Mint Green recyclable medium weight stationary and a booklet of postage stamps.

With practiced hand he wrote: "The curiosity raised by your advertisement regarding the little keepsake compels me to respond. Enclosed you will find the necessary payment in US postal stamps. Please forward to this address. Sincerely, W. Willis Wooten."

* * *

Thirteen days later, W. Willis Wooten returned home from his bookkeeping job at the Fair Speckled Chicklet health food store to find a neatly wrapped brown paper package in his postal box; lying politely between a packet of pizza coupons and an advertisement for a motorized scooter for the elderly. Shuffling through his keys with an obvious bit of eagerness, he entered his little two bedroom brick home (with single bath and attached carport). Softly humming to himself, he headed to the kitchen table (his regular place for reading mail); stopping only to pour himself a small glass of his favorite naturally squeezed carrot juice.

"Well my little Magical, Mystical keepsake." He giggled, opening the parcel with the familiar post office box address, "Let us see what my postage stamps have brought me." W. Willis removed his glasses, wiped the lenses carefully, replaced his handkerchief in his top coat pocket and carefully unwrapped his new treasure

Admittedly, he was a tad surprised at the quality and workmanship of the slim, leather bound little book which he found inside. Attached to the book was a little stick note with a neat, hand printed note which read:

Dear Mr. W. Willis Wooten:

Thank you for ordering our little keepsake.

Please follow the instructions found in the book exactly.

M/M R. D. Toeshanks

Collectors and Dealers in Oddities and Antiquities

"Follow instructions exactly?" he queried himself aloud. How very strange!

Opening the little Morracan bound volume, he noted that it had very few pages. The title page had no writing other than a curious symbol of some sort so he turned to the table of contents. The leaf listed each following page: Wealth, Admiration, Endurance, Glory, and finally Magnified Life.

"How very odd," he exclaimed as he turned to the first of the listed pages.

According to the information on the first page, the book was an ancient Grimoire; a powerful book of spells. The instructions went further to say that it was vitally important that the spells be worked in order as they appeared in the book and that the instructions must be followed to the letter.

"Well!" exclaimed W. Willis Wooten, tossing the book down on the kitchen table beside a crumb of wheat toast, "It seems I have wasted my stamps on a worthless piece of mumbo-jumbo." Sighing, he turned on his talk radio channel and made his way to the couch, for a few moments of repose.

* * *

An hour later Willis awoke with a start. In his dreams (which he remembered clearly) he kept seeing the keepsake book flying toward him with a smile on it. While he did not like this at all, he admitted to himself that his curiosity was getting the best of him. He was certainly not the type to normally fall for such mumbo-jumbo, but there was a little seed growing inside of him with a very big question mark on it. This, he decided, was an itch that must be scratched.

"Spell, the First," Willis read aloud. "Wealth: Into a glass of pure water place a drop of blood. Upon the vessel of water, place this keepsake. Call thy name out loud three times and close the book. A gift of wealth shall be thine."

A few minutes later W. Willis Wooten sat at his kitchen table staring at the small chest of gold coins that sat next to the little book. There was mesmerism in his eyes and a bit of a gilded twinkle.

"It is true. My god, it makes no sense, but it's true! Willis Wooten declared, marching back in forth in his little kitchen. "I will be rich! Rich!" A slight slant formed in his eyelids. "Rich."

Grabbing the book he quickly turned to the second spell. "Admiration." What? Why do I need that now? I must remember Murphy's Law! With my luck I will get the money and power and fame and end up dropping dead instantly! It must be a trick!"

The more W. Willis Wooten thought about it the more he worried. Surely his life would end now that he had the means to get everything he wanted. But wait! The last spell.

The one for magnified life. The warning to do the spells in order must be a ploy. With long life he would have plenty of time for the other spells. He was no fool. He would beat the book at its own game!

As the electronic clock pinged midnight, Willis placed the last of the called for ingredients in the wooden box demanded by the Magnified Life" spell. He did a mental inventory: a splinter of wood, a tack, a piece of cloth. His growing thirst for this reward deadened all of his sensibilities as he removed his clothes according to instructions and began to chant the words written in the little book. He would live for a very long time, and be powerful and be rich...all the things he could ever want would be his. His mouth watered at the thought.

After completing the spell, he sat in the center of the room as instructed and waited.

Then the pain began. His joints ached, his vision blurred and his back began to twist. As his world turned into total darkness, W. Willis Wooten attempted to scream but there was only silence.

* * *

Bright and early the next morning a tall, thin man and a short plump woman opened the door and entered the apartment of W. Willis Wooten. Smiling, the couple walked hand-in-hand to the middle of the living room and gave each other a little hug.

"Don't forget to get the keepsake, mother Toeshanks."

"Oh, I have it, Daddy Toeshanks. In fact I placed the new ad yesterday," she added as she followed the man outside.

"You always remember. Don't you, Mother?" the man exclaimed as he closed the tailgate of the pickup truck and stepped back to admire the large Windsor chair he had just loaded. "Me Wooten made such a fine chair, Mother. We should get a lot of life out of this chair." He chuckled to himself, rubbing his fingers across the gold he'd swept off the table into the pocket of his topcoat. It was a shame so few of the clients followed the Keepsake book's instructions to the letter. A rarer chair would have fetched a small fortune when "Mother" finally tired of it and sent him to sell it at the rare antiques auction.

"Oh, a fine chair, Daddy. Such a fine chair. I can't wait until the hussy bench is ready. I have wanted one for so long." Mother Toeshanks feigned a blush as she fingered the silver pentagram around her neck

"You are such a scandal, Mother."

W. Willis Wooten would have cried out had he been able. He knew in his horsehair filled mind that he would be around for a long, long time.

* * * * *

Tommy Scott is a playwright, writer and visual artist who spends his time between homes in the Memphis area and Chicago .