Sometimes “writing” is not about putting words on paper at all.  Sometimes, for me, writing is about socializing, learning, and marketing.  Here’s a quick update on what’s going on in my writing life:

RMFW COLORADO GOLD IS THIS WEEKEND

Author Carol Berg at last year’s Colorado Gold Conference

Yes! The event I look forward to all year is going on at the Denver Renaissance Hotel this weekend.  Bunches of writers, aspiring authors, agents, editors, and everything literary are coming to town for three days of fun and learning.  I can’t wait to be a part of it all again.

I’m looking forward to seeing Sharon Mignerey, who moved to Texas several years ago.  And I’ll spend time with Mike Befeler, asking not only about his work, but how his house is surviving the flood waters from the mountains.  People from my critique group will be around and I’ll look forward to chatting with them both about writing and about their lives.  Each week when we meet, there is little time to bond as writers. We have to focus on reading and editing each other’s work. This weekend will provide the time for just being friends with a terrific interest in common.

But best of all, MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS COMING TOO! Whoo Hoo!  Chloe is thirteen and one half, old enough to understand what’s going on.  She is a wonderful writer and is excited to visit Colorado to see what the “grown-ups” do with their writing.  I hope I haven’t over-sold the event, but with books to buy, sessions to attend, and people to meet, I’m sure of one thing–Chloe will not be bored!  I can’t wait to introduce her to my friends.

TWO BOOK SIGNING EVENTS

Here’s where I’ll be Saturday, Sept. 28. Hope to see you there!

Yipee!  I have another book signing coming up.  If you live in the Littleton area, please be sure to stop by Three Chimneys, Natural Surroundings on Saturday, September 28th between 11:00am and 3:00pm.  This is the historic shop I wrote about a couple of months ago.  I can hardly wait–just need to get people to come to the event.

Also, tomorrow night I get to visit with a women’s book club. I am so excited for this.  Thanks to my friend, Gina Fenske, I’ll visit the group in Gina’s home, answer questions about writing and possibly dogs, then encourage the group to tell me about themselves, and tell their friends about Faith on the Rocks.

SLICED VEGETARIAN READY FOR BETA READS

I cannot believe I am so close to having a second novel ready to submit to my publisher.  Today, I am planning to review, edit, and/or rewrite the last seven chapters of Sliced Vegetarian, the second Daisy Arthur novel.  Sometime tomorrow, I will export my document from Scrivener, the writing software I use, to either a pdf or Word format, and send it off to three talented writing friends for review.

When I wrote Faith on the Rocks, I think I took every single chapter to critique group.  As a result, I only had one beta reader, or person who reads a work before taking it public.  Technically, I should probably refer to these friends as “alpha” readers–people who read a work in process, but I feel that Sliced Vegetarian is at the public testing phase software companies refer to as “beta sites.” Please wish me luck.

LOOKING AHEAD

For a marketing person, I’ve been pretty lax about pushing myself and my books “out there.”  I want to start sending a monthly newsletter to people, with the idea that through the newsletter they can keep up-to-date on Daisy happenings, about Prophet–aka “Thunder” and Nalla, or “Georgette.”  If you’d like to be on that mailing list, please let me know.  Also, if you have ideas of articles you’d like to see in that newsletter, again, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

Wishing you a great week, full of all the adventure you want, and the best reads you can find.