RT Booklovers Convention with Aunt Noony

It's conference season in the land of the writer, and the festivities are kicked off by the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Authors are gathering costumes, preparing workshops, and reminiscing about RT's past.

Unless you're Aunt Noony, in which case this is your first time at the madness that is RT.

And, if you're Aunt Noony, you signed up to lead two workshops and offered to be on a panel, to help out a pal on Romance Divas.

Oh dear.

So, in good Artist's Way fashion, I shall take the next small step and share with you, Dear Reader, my take on the upcoming festivities. If you're curious about the festivities in totem, then please click on the link above for the entire list of everything by which you, too, can be overwhelmed.

Priming the Creative Pump
Thursday, April 12th, from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M.
Currently scheduled in Liberty, Lobby Level

Are you a writer but need to prime your creative pump? Do you secretly fantasize about being a writer? Do you wish you could write but don’t know where to start? Join the founder of the Evanston Writers Workshop for a hands-on demonstration. You are welcome to bring a notebook and pen or laptop computer to participate in an eclectic blend of written experiments including tools from Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way and other tools.

Panelists: Debbie Cairo and A. Catherine Noon, Co-Founders; and Tina Holland, CAO and Editor-in-Chief of Shopnotes; Evanston Writers Workshop.

I'm excited about this one, because it's based on our popular Prompt Group, which meets in Evanston the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.

Self-Editing For Writers: Improve Every Word
Thursday, April 12th, from 2:45 to 3:45 P.M.
Currently scheduled in Liberty, Lobby Level

Panel with Louisa Edwards, Tere Michaels, A. Catherine Noon, Kristen Painter, Devi Pillai (editor, Orbit Books)

I'm honored to be included on a panel of such professional authors whom I met through my affiliation with Romance Divas.  We've prepared short lists of our best editing tips that we use when preparing our manuscripts for a publisher, and I'm sure there will be lots of good tips to pick up!

Hands-On Critique Group
Friday, April 13th, from 11:15 A.M. to 12:15 P.M.
Currently scheduled in Liberty, Lobby Level

Have you ever wondered how participating in a critique group might help your writing? Join the founder of the Evanston Writers Workshop for a hands-on demonstration. You are welcome to bring up to 1,000 words of a story or novel to be read out loud and critiqued or simply participate in the group discussion. Since 2007, EWW has helped writers develop through weekly workshop critique and prompt meetings. See how a workshop-style critique can help you improve.

Panelists: Debbie Cairo and A. Catherine Noon, Co-Founders; and Tina Holland, CAO and Editor-in-Chief of Shopnotes; Evanston Writers Workshop.

General Impressions
I'll be honest and say I'm overwhelmed by the schedule. It's 32 pages long! The coordinators have done an incredible job, and I'm excited to be part of the program. Excited and a little awed. Well, okay, a lot awed.

I'm told by those who have gone before that RT is an excellent place to network. In honor of that, I've set up meetings with several author friends as well my two publishers. I plan to become like a sponge and see how much I can absorb in 5 days.

If you, too, are planning on coming to RT, please be sure to holler. If you're a newbie, like me, we'll clasp arms and phalanx our way through the place in grand fashion. If you're an old hand, then by gods HELP! ~grin~

See you at the conference! (And check back later today for a post by fellow BTV-er, Jean Marie Ward, for her upcoming conference schedule.)