Proud of My Spoils – Pikes Peak Writers Conference

 My friend, Kate posted a book she bought from PPWC and had signed, so I wanted to share mine as well. 




Impressed with his "Getting through Draft 1" workshop, and suddenly smitten with goblins? Thought I better check out Jim's books. Hugo award winner, you know!

I told him fairytales suck, so he wrote that inside.

Jim's keynote speech was centered around the lack of diversification in publishing and storytelling today. I loved it. It struck a chord with me and I'm looking forward to reading his book.

Chuck Wendig was the person to say what I needed to hear – basically what wasn't working in my writing. And now I am knee deep in curse words (and I really don't mind).  

I'm LOVING IT!

A Neophyte's Perception of a Writers Conference

Photo Credit: Nathan Williams

This whole account may be a little premature as I'm still living in a post-conference blender of emotions.

From Thursday to Sunday I attended the Pikes Peak Writers Conference in Colorado Springs, CO. It's now Monday. This means that my head is still spinning and the pendulum still swings back and forth between, 'I suck', and 'there might just be hope for me.'

A dreamer, the mere fact – which I was keenly aware of before conference – that people have written and published books, is all it takes for me to want to do the same. Nothing is going to keep me from realizing it, although I do believe that the method of extracting my story may have to come from something other than the usual way – brain summoning muscles to cause fingers to dance across the keys. It may also take more pain.

Despite being the epitomy of a newbie- necessary and a nuisance,  I have come out of the conference with my head firmly set on my shoulders, and ready to rock it.

PPWC is the self-professed 'friendliest conference' out there. It was a relief that everyone having to do with it, volunteers, speakers, and presenters, were only one baby kiss away from being saints because this was still attended by a sub-set of the population at large. You can't quite keep all the jerks out of everything. And like every necessary part of life, you show up, you participate, you do your thing, and ignore the people who have no investment in you coming out of it whole.

I'm sure that many of us went into the conference ready to take a beating, you can only be stripped down to be built back up again, a better person for it. With more skills in the back pocket for easy access, my soul has told me that I am indeed a step closer to something greater.

Really, the only rough spot I had in Colorado Springs, was with a handful of attendees and the rare expert. While most were supportive and wonderful human beings, there were some that had no patience for beginner writers. It made me feel sub-standard. It made me feel like an intruder.

Thank GOD for the keynote speakers. They rescued me. Their words cut straight to my ravaged writer's heart. I was laughing, I was crying. They made me feel like I could attain my own success, in my own way. They were so passionately into their words. Wait a second...they are authors.

So if you are considering attending a writer's conference for the first time, I would hope you consider going to this one next year. Despite my social anxiety and low tolerance for narcissistic ppl, I would easily go back to Colorado Springs, even still droopy eyed with notebook in hand – after I finish another chapter, that is.

Every one of the keynote speakers hit a home run. They all received a standing ovation. The event volunteers and organizers I met made me feel welcome. The master of ceremonies, Aaron Michael Ritchey was superbly entertaining. Hats off to the director, MK Meredith, the programming director, MB Partlow, and the faculty co-ordinator, Jason P Henry who made fantastic choices in content with top notch execution.

2014 PPWC Faculty

I can't wait until next year.

Face to Face with ADHD

Photo Credit: Marg : CC

Are you running from an ADHD diagnosis for your child? 

I was too. 

Avery was a toddler when I began to notice differences between her and other children the same age. She was curious, she was energetic, and it took every bit of moxie I had to keep her safe. 

It was difficult for me to understand why my child couldn’t stay in one place like all the other children around us. What toddler wouldn’t be drawn in by the colorful playground equipment? Avery would see something far away in the distance and off she would go like a wildcat pursuing a tasty gazelle. 

I have extremely vivid memories of running after her as an expectant mother, trying to keep her from reaching the busy street beyond. I would rationalize, “This is just what children are like. I need to be tougher, smarter and stay one step ahead of her.” 

ADHD is a common condition affecting children and adolescents and, for some people, it extends into adulthood. I am going to use the acronym ADHD in this article to encompass both ADD - attention deficit without the hyperactivity - and ADHD. It is characterized by three main symptoms; inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. A child may have one or all of these, and they need not all occur for a diagnosis to be necessary. But all children exhibit these behaviors ... so what makes it ADHD? 

ADHD is when inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity intrude on the child’s ability to function normally at home or at school. 

It became increasingly clear to me, especially as her younger brother began to grow older, that the differences between my two children were significant. The biggest difference was that her brother didn’t seem to take a vacation to the furthest recesses of his mind when receiving direction or focusing on things that might prove difficult to him. 

In preschool, a particularly astute teacher of Avery’s identified a deficit in fine motor skills. In kindergarten, her teacher conveyed that she would refuse to do certain tasks. Through the years leading up to second grade, there was a general awareness that she was falling increasingly behind despite the effort we both put in with her homework. Most often these homework sessions would take way too long and lead to tears for both of us. I could scarcely think about anything else. I would lay awake at night.

Though I wasn’t ready to make any life-changing proclamations, what I was doing, however, was compiling evidence, storing it away for the day that I might say, “I’m ready to take the next step.” ADHD was so controversial - it still is. I was afraid of being wrong, of harming my child by giving her a label. 

In second grade, our situation was particularly bad; she began crying before school and refusing to go in. She would cling to me, and we would both cry. It was a terrible kind of torture, to leave your second grader at school in emotional turmoil. 

Something amazing happened soon after, though, she was accepted into a new school for third grade. At first, she responded well to the extremely positive environment that I believe is the hallmark of our school, but then it was clear that she was achieving at a lower level than what she was capable. Her test results were so varied. Sometimes she was present, and sometimes her brain was taking a little vacation. Her teacher described that faraway look that Avery would wear and all the evidence came together like pieces of a convoluted puzzle. 

In the end, it took eight years, a change in schools, and watching and working with my child to keep her from getting too far behind to finally feel comfortable exploring the possibility of a diagnostic determination. An evaluation might lead to medication - and I wasn’t fond of medication.

Today, Avery is improving day by day. After she was evaluated, our doctor put her on a very low dose of medication and the change in her was dramatic. It was noted by everyone involved in her life. We are happy with how Avery is doing, and we believe that we have made the right choice for her. She still has her bubbly personality, she is not depressed, she eats as much as she did before. My husband and I believe that after all the watching, after all the waiting, it was the right decision for us to make. 

What to look for if you suspect ADD/ADHD in your child:
ADDitude magazine’s checklist of symptoms for ADD/ADHD