Still High From Stories From the Heart Conference

Kendra Bonnett--Getting Read #13

As some of you know, after the Story Circle Network conference ended, I faced a daunting drive home to Maine. Now normally I love driving. It gives me a chance to catch up on reading (well listening). I pack my iPod full of audiobooks, and set off in my little red Mini Cooper. This trip was no exception, only I faced the challenge of timing my trip up through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and New York to avoid the extraordinary snowfall and winds that caused considerable drifting.

I cut my driving days shorter than usual, checked the weather forecasts regularly and actually found a window of clear weather between storms. I left Tuesday morning and arrived safely at the home of friends in Connecticut on Thursday. I arrived bearing a cooler full of tamales from a wonderful Austin restaurant called Mr. Natural...touted as the only truly healthy Tex-Mex in town. You can choose from vegetarian and vegan tamales, enchiladas, chile rellenos and more. We invited friends over on Friday and had a real feast. And by 6 PM Saturday I was home in Maine...all three cats were waiting by the glass door and happy to see me.

You Couldn't Miss the Enthusiasm

Through the years I've attended many conferences, but I don't believe I've ever felt quite so much enthusiasm as was in the air in Austin. Attendees were all a-buzz. To those of you who weren't able to attend this year, all I can say is start saving for 2012 now. Someone suggested that if you put away just $20 a week, you'd have more than enough for the conference plus accommodations.

While I'm tired from the preparation, the event itself and the drive to and from Austin, I am also imbued with energy to get back to writing and finish our Writing Alchemy book, and I know Matilda feels the same way.

Writing Alchemy Workshop

Matilda and I were honored with the opportunity to kick off the conference by leading the pre-conference workshop on Friday afternoon. We played to a sold-out crowd...and literally played because we opened the event with a little skit that one of our students, Judy Watters, wrote about the challenges of getting her mother to fill in the story on her parents' early years. By the sound of the laughter, I have to believe some of the women in the audience know firsthand what it's like to pull details out of aging parents.

Matilda and I used the workshop to introduce our Writing Alchemy program to a large audience. To date, we'd only tested our writing deconstruction technique on small groups (mostly our regular students). While we have been encouraged by their results all along, we have been eager to work with a much larger group. The Story Circle audience provided excellent feedback. In fact, Matilda and I would like to thank all attendees for their encouragement. Furthermore, working with you gave us a few ideas for changing the organization of the book. You have been a tremendous help. We're hard at work on the book now and can't wait to deliver your copies (to all workshop attendees)--generously donated by Story Circle Network. We'll keep you posted on progress.

A New Author Conversation

What with getting ready for Story Circle, Matilda and I have been slow to get back into our routine of doing two Author Conversations a month on our Women's Memoirs site. But I'm happy to say that we're back on schedule. Today we posted our Friday interview with Susan Parker, author of Walking In the Deep End. It's an excellent discussion. Susan is very open about her challenges in writing about some difficult family stories. I think her comments will provide encouragement to anyone trying to work her way through a difficult story. 

We also asked Susan about the business aspects of her memoir. She admitted that the work has been harder and more time consuming than she expected. Actually I was happy that she said her best advice to other writers is to start early. I'm pleased she said that because it supports my own personal rant on this topic. I maintain you should start marketing (including starting your blog) the day that you decide to write your book. Here's a link to our interview with Susan Parker, and here is the link to Susan's guest blog and writing prompt posted last Tuesday.

I said we are back on schedule to do two interviews a month. Tomorrow we'll be posting on Women's Memoirs the guest blog from Judy Mandel, author of Replacement Child. And next Monday, we'll post our interview with Judy.

PS: While the conference ended on Sunday, Matilda and her husband Bill didn't leave until Monday and I,  of course, waited until Tuesday to get on the road. That left us a little time for sightseeing. We toured the Texas Capitol building and museum. They had a great little interactive museum...for kids. Matilda, however, couldn't resist testing out the saddle.