Just Back from Writing Seminar

This is a tough time of year for me. I lost my father three years ago right before the Pandemic. I made it to his side, held his hand, and told him I was there. It may or may not sound strange to you, but I felt he waited for me. He passed quietly in his sleep that night.

My Dad was known for his kindness and his professionalism, which was the message of Kevin J. Anderson’s (Dune, comics, Star Wars Jedi Academy and more) opening talk at the Superstars Writing Seminar conference I attended last week. He talked about how we can unleash our superpower, which may not be what you expect, at a conference filled with writers who are all seeking to improve ourselves, market our books better, write better stories—and network.

Kevin talked about the power of kindness and professionalism and through that process building a reputation, one of helping others, well, “just because we can.” For example, Dean Koontz mentored Kevin, who after a number of years asked him why he had been helping him, answering all his questions about the business, about contracts, and writing. Dean Koontz told him he’s offered to do the same to many new authors, but Kevin was the only one to take him up on it.

“Kindness and professionalism” that was just what my Dad did. The grass needed mowing—at our congregation. So, he rode his mower over and mowed it. No one asked him to. Dad would just hop on the mower and drive down the sidewalk making everyone in the neighborhood think he must be crazy. It was only a couple of miles, but the congregation had a significant acreage back then. He also helped friends and relatives out and my uncle noted at the funeral Dad was rather flexible, never judging people.

There’s a kindness and professionalism behind the conference. The people there all share and are supportive of one another. This year was the largest to date,  over 300 participants. They also gave out fifteen needs-based scholarships to those who have never before attended SSWS and announced in memory of conference founder Eric Flint (1632) there would be an Alternate History scholarship in his name. That scholarship will go to those who write alternate history stories and have never before been to the conference.

I met a lot of new people and caught up with some I’d first met either last year or at past conferences years ago. I offered advice just like everyone else and was a bit surprised that one writer sent me a lovely email thanking me for my encouragement. I hadn’t thought of it as exercising my superpower of kindness and professionalism until Kevin’s talk. But it is—it really is..

I wasn’t the only one exercising their Superpower. I asked James A. Owen if he could refer me to possible illustrators for a children’s book I’d written that I’ve been trying to find the right illustrator for—and he told me he would be happy to. I also attended his craft workshop on book covers and like all the others whose work was critiqued, I learned a lot—and will be making changes to my covers because of it. And, James left the door open for further discuss and encouraged us to help each other with the process. There’s a lesson in that as well that builds on the kindness and professional that can be an author’s superpower.

And you never know how being known for that will come back to you one day. That was the final part of Kevin’s message—and, I think, what my Dad wanted me to understand, too.

So, an editor with a lot of open calls for speculative fiction holiday stories lamented he wasn’t getting many submissions. I shared a story about my Dad and a funny thing he did. The editor said, “That might be perfect for one of my darker take on the holidays anthologies. So, I wrote a flash fiction piece—which was more true story than I’m used to writing—and turned it into a piece that’ll be perfect for his anthology. But whether it turns out to be or not, I put my Dad in one of my stories and that just felt—perfect.

Happen to be looking for free stories? The Dragon’s Curse and Last Knight are featured in Free Fantastic Fantasy in February.

Dare to Believe,

D.H.