Time to breathe and recap

April 27, 2024 by Julie Holmes, author 5 Comments

Okay, whew! First weekend in two weeks I’ve got a chance to really sit down and write up a decent blog post. Oh, and I remembered! Seems like my memory keeps going on road trips without me.

Left Coast Crime 2024 – Seattle Shakedown

Murder is my Side Gig panel: moi, Jenny Anderson, Leslie J Hall, Jason Powell, Baer Charlton

Left Coast Crime this year was another fun four days with old author friends, new author friends, and reader friends. My panel went well, even with some last-minute additions; Leslie Hall was added to the panel a couple weeks before the convention, and Baer was added an hour before the panel. While I had time to read one of Leslie’s books, I didn’t have a chance to read any of Baer’s (though I started on his memoir). It was a good panel, though. Great conversation. And if you liked Greg Renz’s Beneath the Flames, you’ll like Jason’s debut, No Man’s Ghost.

No pics this year of our table at the banquet. I have a problem remembering to take pictures (not that I take good ones anyway). People posted lots of pics from the convention on FB, so if you want to check it out, just look for Left Coast Crime or #LCC2024.

Next year’s convention is in Denver in mid-March. Still haven’t decided if I’ll go. Depends on a few things, including how my police procedural does when my agent starts shopping it.

St. Michael (MN) Book Fair

Group photo: Twin Cities Sisters in Crime authors at St. Michael Coffee, Crime, and Donuts event

Last weekend was the book fair in St. Michael, sponsored and organized by the Friends of the Library. First year for them organizing a book event. First year for our chapter holding a members-only book event. We had one panel to kick things off, which was attended by around 70 people. Was a great day to meet readers and other chapter members we either hadn’t met in person or hadn’t seen in a while. It was the first book fair I’ve done in a while, and I probably won’t do another until I have another book come out.

Next weekend: writing retreat at the Shire!

This weekend is my opportunity to try to catch up on housework. You know, the boring stuff like cleaning. Ugh. You do it, and then you have to do it again, and it just keeps on repeating. Then, next weekend I’m heading to McGrath, MN for a few days at the Shire in the Woods. Can’t wait! Oh, and even better–my class will be OVER by then. WOOT! It’s Finals Week this week. Woo-hoo! I’ll probably spend that first evening at the Shire just enjoying life with no homework due. Yippee!

On the writing docket: another outline for our group anthology. We’re each putting together an outline for our character’s role in the second half of the book. I haven’t done mine yet (because homework), so that’s on my agenda, and going back to my rural MN mystery project (with dual timelines). I do have feedback from my agent for my police procedural, and I’ll probably go through that, but she’ll be on vacation for a couple weeks, so if I can work on the other projects at the Shire, I can work on the feedback after I get back during the time my agent is unavailable.

So, that’s a quick recap of my last couple weeks, interspered generously with homework. I am SOOO ready to be done with this class. Did I learn anything? Not as much as I have in my other classes; most of it was stuff I consider–either due to experience or due to common sense–logical. Or obvious when you stop and think about it. The class: Researching and Writing Technical Reports. The task: write a technical research report. And there’s an accepted “formula” for those reports. So, follow the formula, like following a recipe. Anyway, it’s my last class. Woot!

Enjoy your weekend! Keep on Writing!