GCLS 2018

At the beginning of the month, we got to attend the Golden Crown Literary Conference in Las Vegas. It was so much fun to reconnect with friends from around the world: England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Texas. (Just kidding)

While I have to admit to having an aversion to Las Vegas itself, the surrounding terrain is incredible, with some gorgeous parks and astounding sights. Our friend, Danielle, was a terrific tour guide. I swear she could hire herself out!

Red Rocks

The bridge at Hoover Dam

Wild burros!

Taking LOTS of photos

 

Those are wild burros we saw on our way back from Red Rock Canyon. The bridge is from our trip to Hoover Dam.

The conference itself was better than I had expected it to be. My reading group included some fantastic authors (from left: me, Radclyffe, Barbara Ann Wright, Ann Roberts, Lynnette Beers, Susan X Meagher, Suzie Carr) and was a lot of fun.

But it wasn’t all work – you know, readings and panels and classes. Oh no. We were in Las Vegas, after all. The fundraising auction included some “surprise packages”, as Lynne Pierce found out when she won herself a gaggle of authors “not” to dance with!

Lynne in the middle, surrounded by: Lynn Ames, Jae, Karin Kallmaker, Jessie Chandler, Patty Schramm, Lori Lake

Awards night was stress-free for me this year, as I didn’t have a book that made it to the finals, but I did get to present the award for Paranormal/Horror. Jae, of course, won an award for her beautiful book, Perfect Rhythm.

One of the most exciting things about this year’s con was all the new faces! There were over 100 Con Virgins, including many younger women and more women of color than in years past. They were terrific sports when they got tapped to participate in ways they probably hadn’t anticipated – like going up on stage at the awards to present. I would have been scared to death! One of the highlights this year was meeting so many new people – Brenda, Elizabeth, Gerda, Anissa – who were all brave enough to come up and say hello.

One of the coolest things about GCLS is the Writing Academy, a year-long writing course for the bargain tuition amount of $1000, whose participants also receive personalized mentoring from established authors. What a great way to learn and get their manuscripts in shape to submit for publication. In addition, the WA participants wrote short stories which were gathered into an anthology published by Brisk Press, courtesy of Susan X. Meagher, with all the proceeds going to the WA. Anyone interested in the WA can check it out HERE.

To be honest, prior to this year, I wasn’t sure I’d continue to attend, but this year re-energized me (even if all the cigarette smoke and some of the sights in Las Vegas put me off and can gladly stay in Las Vegas!). I’m looking forward to Pittsburgh next year, especially because it will be in easy driving distance. It will be my first visit back to the Steel City since 1981. I can’t wait to see how it’s changed.

One of our stops was at Bonnie Springs, a delightful watering hole in the middle of nowhere.

Tortoises at Bonnie Springs

A peacock at Bonnie Springs

I know a lot of people enjoy Las Vegas, but in the future, I’ll just use it as a jumping-off point for way more interesting places.

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GCLS 2015

If you’re involved in the lesbian fiction world at all, you know that the Golden Crown Literary Society’s 2015 conference just wrapped. It was only my second time in attendance. New Orleans is… different. Not my cup of tea (and the boiled water advisory and lack of showers in the middle of it didn’t help), but it was a good time, nonetheless.

Now, I am by nature an extremely shy, introverted person. If I were to attend this event by myself, I would probably spend all my time sitting in a corner during the sessions and then hightailing it to my room to eat all of my meals. Luckily, between my partner’s very extroverted nature and the friendliness of the other women attending, I have felt only a warm welcome. It saddens me to read posts by a few people who felt they were excluded or weren’t part of the tribe. All I can say is, yes, there are “cliques”, but I think they are born more of common connections those women share rather than any desire to be exclusive. I had wonderful conversations with all kinds of people: Sandra Moran, Rachel Spangler, Jeanne Barrett Magill, Ann McMan, Lynne Pierce, Lee Fitzsimmons, Jae, Cindy Rizzo, Dawn Carter, Rosie Moore, Mary Deutcher, RJ Samuel, Linda Hill and her right arm, Becky Arbogast. I know I’m leaving names out, but those are just some of the writerly people I spoke with. There were tons of readers I got to catch up with as well.

 

As hard as it was for me, I also put myself out there, proposing a panel which was fantastic! Titled Hopeful Ever After: A Different Kind of HEA, my panelists included KG MacGregor, Kenna White, Jaime Clevenger, RJ Samuel and Jae. We had a packed room listen to us debate the merits and pitfalls of nothing but Happily Ever Afters in lesbian novels, and it was enlightening to hear what everyone had to say.

I also did my first ever reading. Aside from trying not to hyperventilate and pass out, my reading from Turning for Home went well, and Bella Distribution sold all the copies they’d brought with them.

If I let myself think about all the things I don’t like about me: my voice, the way I waddle when I walk due to a wonky back (how’s that for some alliteration!), on and on, I would never have the nerve to get up in front of people. So, my advice to those who struggle to feel like they belong at this conference is just work up the nerve to volunteer for something, anything! A panel, a chat/reading, the registration desk, anything. The organization is totally run on volunteer effort and if you put yourself out there, you will meet people and there will be more of a sense of belonging.

Another highlight of this conference for many of us was meeting Rita Mae Brown, who received the Lee Lynch Classic Award for Rubyfruit Jungle. (Personally, I think Six of One is her best book.) While everyone else in the line had a book (or five) for Rita Mae to sign, I merely wanted to thank her. When my first novel, Looking Through Windows, was published, I naively sent her a copy asking for advice. She very kindly took the time to write me back, including a little blurb for the book, encouraging me to just keep writing. I have. I’m sure she doesn’t remember, but that letter and her kindness meant a great deal to me.

Year of the Monsoon’s cover made the finals.

I posted some other photos on my Facebook Author page: Caren Werlinger Author

Next year’s conference will be in Washington DC (kind of, actually it’s in Alexandria). If you have a chance to attend, please do! And be sure to say hello, even if you’re sure it will kill you.

In Gratitude

I have tallied the royalties from May and June book sales and I am very happy to let you all know that the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank will be receiving a check for $300. That amount includes a generous contribution from a friend, GB. That brings the total that Corgyn Publishing has donated to the food bank to over $1000!

Thank you to everyone who bought books in support of this fundraiser. And a further thank-you to all who have written reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and Smashwords. Even when they’re just a couple of sentences, reviews really do help other readers decide to give a new author a try.

On the subject of gratitude, I want to share a couple of stories that have deeply touched my heart. Last year, when In This Small Spot won a Goldie at the GCLS Awards night, I shared that a woman who has since become a dear friend had told me that that book helped her during her own cancer diagnosis. I recently heard from another woman that she’d started reading that novel just as her ex-husband was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer.  She told me that she hadn’t known at first why she’d felt compelled to read that particular book, but now she knew. She was writing to thank me!

How can any book or author be paid a higher compliment than that it helped someone at such a critical time in her life?

And while I’m on the topic of gratitude, I want to thank all of you who have followed the story of my patient, “Brian”, offering up healing energy and prayers for him. He is now officially in remission from his pancreatic cancer. He is the only person I have ever known who has successfully completed a chemo regimen for that diagnosis. June marked one year since his diagnosis. He’s back in physical therapy and I am delighted to say that he now complains that his exercises are his source of pain, but it’s a good pain!

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be at the Golden Crown Literary conference again, renewing friendships and greeting people I haven’t seen for a year. Something else to be grateful for.

Pax

She’s Singing!

Well, it doesn’t happen often that everything falls into perfect alignment, but today, it has. I woke up this morning to the news that In This Small Spot has been named a finalist in the 2014 Golden Crown Literary Awards in the Dramatic Fiction category. Considering the high level of quality in the nominations this year, that feels especially gratifying.

As thrilled as I am by my novel having been chosen as a finalist, I remember all too well how crushing it is when a book doesn’t get chosen. Author Clare Ashton (author of Goldie winner After Mrs. Hamilton) made a point on a group we both belong to that writing for writing’s sake vs. writing for sales and recognition is a sliding scale. I think she’s right. We write because we’re driven to, but after the euphoria of seeing that first book in print, there is an element of validation that comes from external things like sales and accolades. The hard part is not losing focus on why we write in the first place.

To that end, I am also consoling myself that Neither Present Time did not get named a finalist in the Contemporary Romance category. There were 65 entries in that category! Holy moly, that’s a lot of romancing goin’ on! But there were a LOT of really fine books in that category, so I can’t help but congratulate the authors whose books did get named as finalists.

We write because we have to… and so, I am announcing the release of my newest novel, She Sings of Old, Unhappy, Far-off Things.

The e-book is available now at Smashwords and Amazon and will soon be available at Bella. The paperback should be available in a day or two.

I hope you enjoy this story as much I enjoyed writing it! For the back cover blurb, go to the Books page of this blog. For an excerpt, go to Winter’s on the Wing.