BELLES AND BRUJAS Recap

Goals Update:

Books read: 43

Words on WIP: 10,250

Submissions: 1 outstanding

Attending book events is a relatively recent thing for me. I didn’t start going to conventions as an attendee until my mid-twenties, and last year was my first time going to a show as a vendor. I’d never been to a book signing.

Some of this is a result of where I live. My city might be big for Alabama, but it’s not exactly a giant metropolis. Book tours don’t frequently stop in my town, and I frankly haven’t had a whole lot in the way of time to travel for something like a book tour.

But, this past week, a perfect opportunity arose.

I managed to make it to the Nashville stop of the “Belles and Brujas” Tour. The tour is for a couple of books that came out this year: THE BELLES by Dhionelle Clayton which came out in February and BRUJA BORN by Zoraida Cordova which came out this month. Throughout the tour, other authors have joined as guests. For the Nashville stop, the guests included Julie Murphy (author of, among other books, RAMONA BLUE which just barely missed my top five reads for 2017) and V.E. Schwab, who’s got a long list of works that includes the book THIS SAVAGE SONG, which I’ve mentioned here several times. (SEVERAL times.)

 Going to this event was a huge deal for me. These authors’ books have been some of the most captivating recent reads. And I got the chance to listen to them talk. To meet them in person.

Obviously, one of the benefits of going to this event was the swag.

Swaaaaaaag

I got some books signed and got some book-themed goodies. I’ve worn the RAMONA BLUE pin, like, every day since I got it. And there’s something really cool about flipping open your favorite book and seeing a message from its author to you, personally.

But what I really got from this event—the most important swag I came home with—was a spark.

The book signing was the last part of the night. Most of the event was a panel discussion with the four authors. (If you’re interested in the content of the panel itself, Zoraida Cordova has—or at least had—video of the whole thing on her Instagram: @zoraidasolo.)

Listening to authors talk about their work and why they do it is always fascinating. Everyone’s process and reasons are different, and, since our work is shaped by our contexts, getting insight to where different people are provides fresh perspective to the words on the page.

One of the most interesting questions that the authors took on during the panel was the question of with whom or what their work is in dialogue. All four authors talked about using their writing as a way of negotiating their own identities and of making sure that the things that they couldn’t find in books as kids are there for young readers now. They spoke about addressing problematic and frustrating trends in the industry, breaking the patterns to show how a different type of character or arc or archetype can carry a story and be meaningful to readers.

All of the questions were answered with thought and care, but this one, I think, brought out the most passion. It was so wonderful to see authors who clearly care so much about their work and its readers—and society in general.

Being around authors and readers talking about their work and the dialogues surrounding it lit a fire in my belly.

As was said during the panel, so much of writing makes an island out of you. The work can be so lonely. And, for me, I get so in my head. I love creating worlds and stories, but my desire for perfection can start to pull me to pieces. Being around other people who know the struggles, who care about their work, who have sat in front of a page and just wanted to tear their hair out, helps me feel a little more grounded.

I got to spend a couple minutes talking to V.E. Schwab (and managed not to cry/pass out/throw up—good job, me) about the struggles I’ve gone through with my space opera. When I told her how much I appreciated the fact that she is open about the tumultuous relationship she has with her own work, she said that part of the reason she shares the struggles is because, when she started in the industry, there was no transparency. That glossing over of the struggles, she said, can make people feel like there’s a gulf of talent between them and the folks who have “made it” when that’s not the reality.

I know that—have known that. So many factors play into a person getting an agent, getting a book deal, getting sales. Market demands. Agent preferences. Social climate. The phase of the freaking moon.

But when it’s just you and a screen or a page, it’s easy to forget that. To think that the reason that your work still only lives on your flash drive or in your notebook is because of you—because there’s some problem with you or your work or both.

Being around other people who write and other people who care about books, hearing writers you respect voicing some of the same insecurities that you experience makes the whole thing less lonely.

I’ve been struggling to get words on the page this year. Part of it was the whole holding-four-jobs-at-once thing, but part of it was that I was feeling lost. I had so many false starts. So many things about the book I love so much weren’t working (and, to be fair, a lot of them still aren’t, but I’ve at least convinced myself that it’s okay to let the thing breathe for a while).

I left the event Tuesday night feeling buoyant. I felt hopeful. And, most importantly, I wanted to write.

It’s still slow-going—it usually is for me—but I’m making progress. I hit 10,000 words on the WIP. I jotted down some skeletons for a couple of new short projects. I even think I can go back to CANUS in a while and make it shine.

The tour event was the refresher I needed. I’m back. I’m ready.