Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

Well, the Ozark Creative Writers conference was great, and Eureka Springs was beautiful. I took the scenic route on a winding mountain road and enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage. I didn't get to spend much time on Main Street but drove around the historic loop a couple of times and rode the trolley around once. I can't wait to go back next year.

I'll talk more about the conference later, but it was very informative, supportive and inspiring. Listening to people discuss NaNoWriMo really got my creative juices flowing, and I spent the return trip plotting out the novel I'll write next month. Since I can't start writing for 18 more days, for the first time ever I'm going to outline my story and write complete sketches for all the main characters, which I've never been disciplined enough to do before. It will be interesting to see if I can finally FINISH a novel.

And good news--I won two honorable mentions at the conference, providing a much-needed boost of confidence. I was a little intimidated by all more-experienced and talented writers there, but they emphasized all the hard work they put into their writing careers. If I can be that devoted and keep at it, maybe one day I'll have some fiction-writing success of my own.

But in the meantime, I have a couple of stories in today's Commercial Appeal--a feature of the Memphis Fire Department's new paramedic education program and a business profile on MidSouth Geothermal.