James River Writers Conference and Writing Update

Last week, I registered for my first writers conference, which is the James River Writers Conference in Richmond, VA. I'm excited and nervous to be attending my first conference in October. I know of at least one other person going, and I hope some more writer friends in the area will attend. It's going to be a great conference filled with many activities over a period of two days (three if you attend the special workshop on Thursday...I'm hoping to get into one of them, particularly query letter writing...and if not that one, then the fiction writing). Here is what is planned for those three days:
THURSDAY, October 7, 2010 (optional day) Concurrent Workshops 2 to 4 PM
 Fiction Workshop with Clifford Garstang
Query Workshop with Michelle Brower

FRIDAY October 8, 2010 Plenary Session 9 to 9:15 AM
Welcome
Kris Spisak Petroski
Virginia Pye
Plenary Session 9:15 to 9:20 AM
An Ode to Writing
T.S. Prunier
Concurrent Sessions 9:30 to 10:45 AM
Pitching an Agent
Speaker: Katharine Sands
Poetry 101
Moderator: Doug Jones
Speakers: Josh Poteat, Nathan Richardson, Temple Cone
Freelancing
Moderator: Jason Tesauro
Speakers: Stephanie Pearson, Mary Ellen Ward, Maya Payne Smart
Writing Religion
 Moderator: Patty Smith
 Speakers: Kristin Swenson, Zachary Steele, Susann Cokal
Concurrent Sessions 11 AM to noon
Finding Your Inner Teenager
Moderator: Meg Medina
Speakers: Jacqueline Woodson, Lauren Oliver, Erica Orloff
Pacing 101
Moderator: George Tisdale
Speakers: David L. Robbins, Sarah Shaber, Charles Todd
Narrative Non-fiction
Moderator: Harry Kollatz
Speaker: Laura Browder, Meg Olmert, Charles J. Shields
Writing in Multiple Genres
Moderator: Ellen Firsching Brown
Speakers: William Henry Lewis, Silas House, Mike Olmert

NOON to 1 PM – LUNCH

Concurrent Sessions 1 to 2 pm
Interview with Jacqueline Woodson
Moderator: Gigi Amateau
Speaker: Jacqueline Woodson
Character 101
Moderator: Patty Smith
Speakers: Michele Young Stone, Clifford Garstang, Heather Lazare
Memoir
Moderator: Lee Gimpel
Speakers: Jason Howard, Margaret Edds, Melissa Sarver
What I wish I knew about publishing…
Moderator: Maya Payne Smart
Speaker: Diann Ducharme, J.B. Stanley, Joseph Papa
Concurrent Sessions 2:15 to 3:15 PM
Mastering the Short Story
Moderator: Virginia Pye
Speakers: William Henry Lewis, Clifford Garstang, Jeff VanderMeer
Setting 101
Moderator: Shawna Christos
Speakers: Dean King, Susann Cokal, Lucy Carson
Writing the South
Moderator: Gigi Amateau
Speakers: Margaret Edds, Jason Howard, Silas House           
The Art of the Interview
Moderator: Robin Farmer
Speakers: May-Lily Lee, Harry Kollatz, Phaedra Hise Plenary Session 3:25 to 4:25 PM
Relationships: Writers, Agents, and Editors
Moderator: Kris Spisak Petroski
Speakers: Diann Ducharme, Heather Lazare, Michele Young Stone, Michelle Brower
Plenary Session 4:25 to 4:30 PM
Closing
Kris Spisak Petroski

SATURDAY, October 9, 2010  Plenary Session 9 to 9:15 AM
Welcome
Kris Spisak Petroski
Plenary Session 9:30 to 10:45 AM
First Pages Critique
Moderator: David L. Robbins
Speakers: Michelle Brower, Melissa Sarver, Lucy Carson
Concurrent Sessions 11 AM to noon
Mystery
Moderator: Chelyen Davis
Speakers: Sarah Shaber, Charles Todd, Caroline Todd
Capturing History
Moderator: Jon Kukla
Speakers: Dean King, Charles J. Shields, Kirk Ellis           
The Professional Writer: Legalities & Taxes
Moderator: Lee Gimpel
Speaker: Joni Davis, David Robinson, Ellen Firsching Brown
Writing About Nature
Moderator: Jann Malone           
Speakers: Stephanie Pearson, Jason Howard, Meg Olmert
NOON to 1 PM – LUNCH
Concurrent Sessions 1 to 2 PM
Changes in Publishing
Moderator: John Ulmschneider
Speaker: Lucy Carson, Joseph Papa, Jeff VanderMeer
Writing Convincing Dialogue
Moderator: Bill Blume
Speakers: Lauren Oliver, David L. Robbins, Zachary Steele
Literary Journals
Moderator: Virginia Pye
Speakers: Mary Flinn, Silas House, William Henry Lewis
Writing About Food
Moderator: Jason Tesauro
Speakers: Katharine Sands, J.B. Stanley, Mary Ellen Ward
Concurrent Sessions 2:15 to 3:15 PM
Writing for the Screen
Moderator: Reginald Gordon
Speakers: Kirk Ellis, Meg Olmert, Mike Olmert
Publicity through Social Media
Moderator: Valley Haggard
Speakers: Lauren Oliver, Joni Davis, Joseph Papa
Fantasy
Moderator: Bill Blume
Speakers: Zachary Steele, Jeff VanderMeer, Michelle Brower
Love in the Pages
Moderator: Susann Cokal
Speakers: Erica Orloff, Temple Cone, Michele Young Stone
Plenary Session 3:25 to 4:25 PM
Interview with Charles J. Shields
Moderator: Dean King
Speakers: Charles J. Shields
Plenary Session 4:25 to 4:30 PM
Closing
Kris Spisak Petroski

I've bolded, italicized, and underlined the programs I'll definitely be attending (workshop one is a hopeful). I'm not sure about some of the other ones yet which one I'll attend. It isn't easy to decide as they all look great. I signed up for the five-minute pitch with an agent/editor, and I'll be sending in a first page critique, as well. I'm not certain which novel I'll choose yet, though (The Phoenix Prophetess, Virtuoso, or Moonlight Murders). Around the end of July, I hope to have my first pages polished in each novel, and I might be holding a contest to see which one people on my blog vote for. So look for it coming soon.

In other news, I believe my writing plan is paying off. I calculated the total words written of last week, and it was 2,376. It's more than I wrote last month all together. I hope to increase the word count each week, but the main goal is to write a little bit as many days out of the week as possible. For this week, here is the plan:

Monday: Rewrite chapter one of Moonlight Murders in killer's POV; read through and edit chapters two and three

Tuesday: Work on short story "They"

Wednesday: Finish Panther Moon synopsis and write first chapter

Thursday: Write flash fiction piece for Friday

Friday: Do whatever needs doing

Weekend: Editing

I didn't get any of the editing I hope to do this past weekend because I edited a friend's WIP on Friday, was busy Saturday, and on Sunday, I read another friend's novel, which I'm almost finished with and hope to begin reading book two very soon.

Also, my gmail account was hacked into on Friday. I changed my password, checked the computer for viruses, and deleted my contacts list, so I'm hoping it doesn't happen again.

On a good note, the blog now has 25 followers. Woohoo!