Happy Fourth of July! by Nancy L. Eady

I was casting about for topics to write about for Monday, June 29, and thought about writing something for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, which will be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, I was trying to figure out exactly what a 250th anniversary is called. According to Google, some terms include “semiquincentennial,” “sestercentennial,” “quarter-millennium,” and “bisesquincentennial.” They all sound like a mouthful to me. Being of a precise nature (at least about some things), I wanted to know which was the “official” term, and turned to my beloved Oxford English Dictionary, only to learn that the OED does not include any of these terms among its definitions. 

So now I’m stuck trying to decide what to call the upcoming anniversary. “Quarter-millennium” sounds a bit too grand for my taste, and both “semiquincentennial” and “bisesquincentennial” are too long. To be honest, “sestercentennial” isn’t much better, but it is at least a little shorter. So “sestercentennial” it is. And how will I celebrate the upcoming holiday? 

My mother, sisters and I all live in different parts of Alabama. We rarely plan activities together for the Fourth of July, and the one time we did was a disaster.  But every year, we all watch “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS, including the fireworks show afterward. The only time the show ever disappointed me was the year I learned that Jack Everly, the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, was not formerly a member of the Everly Brothers, a popular music group in the 50s and 60s. That’s my own fault, not the fault either of the show or Mr. Everly. If you think watching fireworks on television is tame when compared to the real thing, doing anything outdoors in Alabama in July is something that you do only from necessity, not for pleasure. Humidity down here abates for no man (or woman.) 

It’s not particularly logical to feel closer to someone simply because you know that they are watching the same thing on television at the same time that you are, but that’s how it works in my family. We have a good time in the days following the show discussing it with each other over the phone. I have a similar feeling over Thanksgiving if I happen to be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The same is NOT true for the Iron Bowl (the annual football game between Auburn University and the University of Alabama.) I feel close to those members of the family who are also Auburn fans, but not the Alabama contingent. They’re rooting against my team, after all. We make up after the game is over though, win or lose. 

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing at the time, I hope you enjoy your Fourth of July holiday as well. I’ll be thinking of you while I’m watching my show in my air-conditioned room. 

A Writer's Holiday

Border for LRWA Summer Event

With summer, students can look forward to a break from classes and different opportunities to learn through library reading programs, camps, special activities, and vacations. For writers, summer is a time of conferences, book festivals, and research trips.

Of course, any time writers gather it provides not just an opportunity for exchanging information and networking, but for finding new creative outlets through interaction with your peers. It’s great to keep in contact by email, but face-to-face can give writers a boost through encouragement and shared experience. It’s like the difference between calling your relatives on the phone and seeing them at a family reunion. In person, the information exchanged is of a different quality.

Anna DeStefano

This weekend, my friend Susan F. Craft and I enjoyed attending the Lowcountry Romance Writers’ Summer Event, which took place on the Isle of Palms, near Charleston, SC. Twenty two writers convened to hear from Anna DeStefano, a romance writer born in Charleston who now lives in Atlanta. She met with us Friday evening for dinner and a brainstorming session, then presented a day long program Saturday evaluating how we write and offering suggestions and methodologies for structuring, drafting, and revising a novel. I really commend President Christina Sinisi (who writes as Lexie O’Neill) and the members who organized the event for a cost of $40, which included handouts, some supplies, refreshments, and a goody bag. For those of us traveling, a special rate was available at the hotel.

But, what if you don’t have the resources to travel to meetings or explore possible new settings for your work? Are you stuck at home, surfing the internet? And, if you are, can you have fun doing it?

Definitely. Many of the same organizations that offer events also provide online courses at reasonable costs. The Lowcountry Romance Writers has a monthly slate of online offerings. Every month has at least two featured courses. In July, the two four-week programs being offered are about improving punctuation and writing short stories for an anthology call. In August, the selections are Beginning WordPress and Writing from a Male POV. The cost for each is $20.

If you are a member of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, you have access to the subsidized workshops coordinated by our own blogging partner E.B. Davis. She has arranged for well-known teachers like Ramona DeFelice Long and Kris Neri, who just completed a class on writing comedy. Cybercrimes was the subject of a recent well-received course and a short stories class is now being offered.

Thanks to Jim Jackson’s teaching a writing revision course in January, I learned about the online workshops sponsored by the RWA Kiss of Death Chapter’s College of Felony and Intrigue (COFFIN). Two tracks are featured. Murder One has experts in various forensic and other specialties as instructors while Killer Instincts focuses on writing craft. The cost is $15 for members and $30 for non-members. 

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Through the Murder One track, I’m currently taking a class with Hank Phillippi Ryan about how newsrooms and investigative reporters operate and how writers can use journalistic skills to improve fiction writing. Thanks to Hank’s wonderfully generous, interactive style, the information is terrific and student participation is high. In July, for Murder One, Chef Fran Gleason will provide an orientation to working in a kitchen and how you can commit murder there. For July’s Killer Instincts, Pam McCutchen has a course about writing convincing dialogue and other tips.

Writer’s Digest University has numerous online courses covering every possible writing topic at a variety of costs. If you’re interested in writing thrillers, take a look at WD’s thriller conference that takes place next weekend and features instructors like Hallie Ephron, D.P. Lyle, and James Scott Bell. In addition, it offers an opportunity to submit a query for agent evaluation.

Consider the opportunities that may be available in your community through libraries and bookstores. Authors on tour may be stopping by for signings. Check out the meeting schedules for your local RWA, MWA, or Sisters in Crime chapters. In South Carolina, our local chapters all feature monthly speakers. Most chapters allow interested persons to attend several meetings before asking that they become members.

Seek an experience that enhances your creativity. Go to a museum or ask to interview an expert at a law enforcement agency or university. Most people enjoy talking with interested persons about their specialties.

Taking a break from the routine tasks can bring you back to writing with renewed enthusiasm. So what do you have planned for a writer’s holiday?