Saturday, April 18, 2015

Celebrate Books (Day 4)



Today I went to The LA Times Festival of Books. The panelist who invited me was kind enough to give me a green wristband that allowed me to pretend to be a VIP, so I had the run of the place.
As a community, we can be proud that Los Angeles can attract such a rich collection of authors -- and crazies. I enjoyed the crazies as much as the authors. You can't buy a crystal that's going to center you from an author, and authors dont read your palm -- usually. An author isn't likely to run over your foot with a motorized wheelchair.
So many writers in one place are inspiring. Some of the authors were even making a living with words. I went to one "conversation" (the term used for a panel at the Festival) on publishing where one of the panelists told us that only three hundred writers in the whole country make a living at it. This to a group of aspiring writers. The panelist probably hadn't heard the adage, "Know Thy Audience." It's always best not to make the members of your audience want hang themselves from the nearest tree as soon as they leave the auditorium.
If the crowds at USC mean that the written word is alive and well, then it must be. Maybe next year three hundred and one writers will manage to make a living -- maybe even three hundred and two.
I got my words in after I got home, and I'm encouraging you to do the same. Hit the 3,000 mark today.
Day four and still going strong.
 
 

2 comments:

  1. I went to the festival too on Saturday. I went to see two friends on panel and neither invited me to the green room. Some friends I have! I enjoyed a crime fiction panel. They talked about the importance of place, setting, description, etc. They kind of freaked me out by saying they plotted their books up front, because I haven't done that at all. But they also pointed out it's really important to do that with a mystery, lest you leave important clues out at the beginning and outcome doesn't add up in the end.

    Anyway, Saturday was my day off from writing. I'm up to the right word count, but, as I said, I don't know exactly where this is going. Still, plugging along.

    I'm glad you're going strong!

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  2. Oh, and yes, there were SO MANY people there! You could hardly move about among the tents in the afternoon. Reading and books are very much alive and well in LA!

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