Well, Dr. Gupta (from previous blog post) would be proud of me. I did something scary. I was the speaker at the Abilene Writers Guild Workshop, thanks to Sheryl Nelm's invitation.
I titled my talk "Soundtrack of a Writer" and my little snippets of tunes brought some chuckles. Best laugh from Three Dog Night's "One" i.e. "one is the loneliest number.....NO is the saddest experience..." Writers with rejections understand. Here I'm chatting with Ginny Green - hadn't seen her in forever and it was great to catch up.
Assorted paper - the workshop program and my handouts. I gave a source listing, my library of writing books, and also a format cheat sheet - my book dimensions and fonts for Createspace book production. I've learned through trial and error what works and what looks like crap.
I'm wearing my Unleased Poetry Society T-shirt. It seems to bring me luck at writer events. All in all - thirty people attended. Super nice group. They participated in writing exercises, asked good questions, laughed where I hoped for a chuckle, purchased some books, and applauded at the end. Whew! Yummy pulled pork sandwiches for lunch along with tasty brownies added to the hospitality.
Abilene is a small city/town with a fabulous history museum called Frontier Texas. This is one of several buffalo wind sculptures outside the building. Inside were interactive displays and plenty of history - from Comanche Indian raids to buffalo stampedes and cattle drives. The pioneers who settled in Abilene and west Texas were rugged tough souls.
I'm very glad to be living in 2014 and only facing an indoor audience of friendly faces eager for some writing advice.
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Great job being the speaker for the event! It sounds like it was a success!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of people. I'd have been scared at 3! Sounds like you did an awesome job though, well done :-)
ReplyDeleteImpressive. Love the idea of the soundtrack - you're so inventive. Seems you might have hit on a new career.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Sounds like it was a rousing success! Congratulations! And guess what? It'll keep getting easier and easier for you to do. Honest. The first speech I gave in front of a large audience, I was afraid the sound of my knocking knees would drown out the sound of my voice, (especially since my presentation followed a NYC fire chief talking about his experiences on 9/11... talk about a hard act to follow) but I ended up loving the whole experience of speaking to a crowd. (Especially when they knew enough to laugh at the "right spots.")
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