90% of life is Steven Boyett
Unless you knew what the mound represented, you’d have no idea that civilization once existed here. That this was a highway overpass, and that was a two-hundred story skyscraper. In the red light it was a long, pitted slab of stone, and a mound of dirt strewn with the ubiquitous brown vines.
Those are the last lines from the notebook I brought to the 2008 La Jolla Writers Conference. 2010 is headlined with a quote:
You cannot pretend something is true unless it is. — Laurel Corona (La Jolla Writers Conference)
That was from her opening-day discussion on Fact vs. Fiction. I had to miss Mike Sirota’s Self-Editing for Writers to be there, and Mike is always worth learning from.
One of the highlights of this year’s conference was Steven Boyett, author of Ariel• and now Elegy Beach• (and hidden things in between). His Sunday morning talk on self-indulgent writing was the first thing I listened to when I received the conference CD in the mail today. If you weren’t there, you can hear his keynote at the LJWC web site. They’ve made it at least temporarily available on the front page.
Don’t be in a co-dependent relationship with yourself! You will have no peace until you listen.
Also, I’m not a big fan of writers conferences, but I do come back to this one every couple of years. If you come, bring your best work.
- Ariel•: Steven R. Boyett (paperback)
- “It’s been five years since the lights went out, cars stopped in the streets, and magical creatures began roaming Earth.” Want to bet Shadowrun would include this on its inspiration list, if it had one?
- Elegy Beach•: Steven R. Boyett (paperback)
- I have not yet read this, which is apparently a sequel to his first novel, Ariel.
- La Jolla Writers Conference
- “The La Jolla Writers Conference welcomes writers of all levels of experience. This three-day event, now in its 11th year, always boasts exciting, interactive workshops, lectures, and presentations by an outstanding and freely accessible faculty comprised of best-selling authors, editors from major publishing houses, and literary agents, all of whom value meeting and working with a diverse group of creative people passionate about writing.”
- Laurel Corona
- Author of Penelope’s Daughter and The Four Seasons.
- Mike Sirota
- “Mike Sirota, published author of twenty novels and award-winning journalist, believes that you need an edge to make your work of fiction or non-fiction ‘better than good.’ To that end he offers a variety of evaluation and editing services to help make your work shine.”
- Steven R. Boyett Keynote: Steven R. Boyett at La Jolla Writers Conference
- Steven Boyett’s La Jolla Writers Conference keynote from 2010.