Colorado Goooooold!

This week I am recovering from an amazing conference - Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold.

It. Was. Amazing.

Day one - Master Class with the one and only Trai Cartwright. This chick is BRILLIANT. It was a character class called "The Last Character Class You'll Ever Need." I have to admit, I'm pretty sure the title is right.

The rest of the time was spent in and out of seminars, workshops, and classes.

And then, the drinking.

My critique group broke me with red wine.

Here's a tip to those of you out there who A) Don't drink very much, and B) Want to be able to function. DON'T DRINK YOURSELF INTO OBLIVION. or SAVE THE PARTYING FOR THE SECOND NIGHT AFTER THE BANQUET.

Yeah. That is all on that front.

In other news, I was talking to Petty's Creator about my writing. Here's a summary of that conversation:

Petty's Creator: How's your writing going?

Me: Meh. I have like 11K on it. I keep getting stuck. In all the rewrites I reach a certain point and I get stuck.

P's C: Maybe it isn't time to write this story. Maybe you should set it aside. What else you got?

Me: Well, there was this story I worked on for four years...

Then I told her about it.

P's C: You have to write that one.

Then she made me share it with the rest of the group. And they all agreed.

I'm pretty sure I started this particular blog waaaaay after I got my ass handed to me by a contest critique on and almost quit writing, but that was because of this story.

I have been reluctant to revisit it because I thought it sucked horribly. But you know what? That was YEARS ago. Back then I think I wasn't in the place to write this story. But now, I have grown as a writer. Even just in the past year that I've been with my critique group, taking classes, learning the craft and the nitty gritty behind it... I think it is time.

I know it is time.

And so, Evil Never Sleeps has come out of the "This Folder Sucks" folder in Dropbox and is now sitting in a bright new shiny "01" folder (the 01 puts it at the top of the file list).

This week, I've been doing some character building using info from Trai's amazing class. I even wrote the first 1200 or so words! I submitted those first five pages to my group to tear apart next Tuesday.

I think they are freakin' brilliant from a character introduction stand point. Freakin' brillliant.

My confidence is soaring! Marietta has been relegated back to the potato cellar... I'll get back to her when I've grown a little more and have the brain power to work out her story.

I already have some ideas.

It's great to be writing horror/thriller/suspense again!

Keep writing!

Claire L. Fishback