A gentle gaited horse
I was just at the Tony Hillerman Writers Weekend in Santa Fe, where Wordharvest (http://wordharvest.com) announced the revival of the Hillerman Mystery Short Story Contest in 2011, this time with New Mexico Magazine (http://www.nmmagazine.com/featuredauthor_fein_dec10.php). There was also talk about the Left Coast Crime mystery writers’ conference (http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2011/), which is coming to Santa Fe in March.
Valerie Plame Wilson gave a fabulous keynote speech at the Hillerman Weekend, where she recalled writing her book “Fair Game” at the rate of 1,000 to 1,500 words each day, then her travails with the CIA Publications Review Board which led to her suing them (with a lot less money to pay her attorney than they were paying theirs), and then publishing the book with the censor’s marks visible as blacked-out words.
Valerie Plame Wilson gave a fabulous keynote speech at the Hillerman Weekend, where she recalled writing her book “Fair Game” at the rate of 1,000 to 1,500 words each day, then her travails with the CIA Publications Review Board which led to her suing them (with a lot less money to pay her attorney than they were paying theirs), and then publishing the book with the censor’s marks visible as blacked-out words.
A curious Arabian
My favorite conversation was with mystery writer Judith Van Gieson, now running ABQ Press (http://www.abqpress.com/). She said she’s in a phase where she’s opening herself up to what the universe brings her, instead of trying to make things happen. I’ve always been a big proponent of making things happen instead of relying on fate (although fate did slow me down when I was looking to buy a new horse and I ended up glad it did—not that my equine attraction has faded, but the time wasn’t right). Fate deals the cards, but we play the game. What do you think? Are our life paths determined more by free will or fate?
