~from Ami

Just when I think I can't take any more traveling...an opportunity presents itself and ends up being exactly what I needed.

I was invited waaaayyy down to Altus, Oklahoma, Saturday to put on a talk about NEXT OF KIN and conduct a writing and publishing workshop. The drive was oh-so-interesting, as I've never been that far into southwest Oklahoma. The hills of NE Oklahoma fell away behind us, opening up vast plains of pastureland and red dirt. I truly believe I could see all the way to Texas! Then suddenly these mountainous apparitions appeared- WHAT are those? Mountains? Hills? As we drew closer we saw they were in fact hills that appeared to be formed out of giant boulders. The landscape was so unusual that it kept my camera quite busy.

The people of Altus were so friendly and welcoming to me, even going so far as to present me with a king-sized box of Lucky Charms, which is my secret vice and of which I have been known to imbibe an entire box at one sitting. Keep that tidbit to yourselves, please.

I love, love, LOVE talking to writers! I think one of my strongest gifts is that of encouragement- which I use daily as a social worker and whenever I can to encourage other writers. There's enough depressing statistics facing the aspiring novelist floating around the publishing world, no? Enough to make someone give up. I've been writing "seriously" since the age of 19 (and "for fun" since age 5), and I don't think writers should give themselves the option of giving up. Someone on my Murder Must Advertise digest today gave a quote from J.A. Konrath, who suffered 500 rejections before his first novel was published (Can you IMAGINE??!) "They have a word for writers who never give up: It's called 'Published.'"

My sincere thanks to the writers group and library at Altus, Oklahoma, for giving me another growth opportunity as a speaker and writer. May all our dreams come true!