The Workshop

The Scaring Your Readers workshop that took up most of my Saturday and interrupted prime word-churning time was absolutely worth it. They didn't seem thrown by the fact that only a couple people raised their hands when they asked how many wrote horror. They went on to ask about various genres and acknowledged that no matter what you write, you need to amp up the tension sometimes.

I especially like Carrie Vaughn, author of a series about a werewolf named Kitty (no it's not just the name) who is a radio talkshow host for other supernatural beings. She was funny and honest and talked structure and pacing to build suspense. I'll definitely pick up Kitty and the Midnight Hour after the first of the year. She's the one who gave us the exercise that D.B. used for her prompt this week. I'm thinking of using the scene I wrote somewhere. It's another exercise that took me to my dark side. Has to be a positive thing for my writing. I don't think we have to worry about me staying there. Too long.

The venue was okay, but needed more restrooms (which should have been out of earshot of participants--don't ask). The food, however, was really good and there was so much of it. Broke up the day nicely. Of course, everyone was drowsy after lunch and that's when they scheduled the gentleman with the deep, soothing voice. It's a good thing he had a handout of everything he covered.

All in all, another great workshop from Pikes Peak Writers. I always feel like it's going to be too much money or take too much time, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised by all of them.

And now it's time to go work on adding pages to the Vesta story. I know what's next, and that's always cool.