La-Tessa Montgomery

Ok, since I decided to get serious about my writing this year, I have signed up NaNoWriMo next month.  In case you didn’t know, November is National Novel Writing month, and NaNoWriMo serves as a fun, supportive way to help writers get their butts in gear and complete a 50,000 word novel (in one month–yikes). 

A dauting task, I know, but with emphasis being on quanity, not quality, , I figured why not!  I have been working on the structure & outline for my story, and I should be done by the end of October.  So I am accepting the NaNoWriMo challenge as a way to jump start my first draft. 

So know you all have a goal to hold me accoutable for.  And for any of your nursing the desire to put pen to paper, sign up and add me as one of your writing buddies so we can keep tabs on one another. 

Lata,
~La-Tessa
Someday I’ll fly, someday I’ll soar

Friday night during downtime, I went to the historic section of Norcross, GA.  My travel companions and I enjoyed it so much, that we went back the next day during the Arts Festival.  Anyone who loves one of a kind art would absolutely LOVE this festival.  The short time I was there made enough of an impression on me, that I am making tentative plans to visit again next year.  Hopefully, it will be held during the same time as the Moonlight & Magnolias conference, and I can do both again. 

We enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much at the Norcross Station Cafe, that we had dinner there both Friday and Saturday night.  Let me tell you, the food was excellent and portions were huge.  I have never tasted carrot cake as good as what I had there.  And believe me, the resident dessert expert, that cake is worth another trip there all on it’s own.

Norcross Station Cafe

Norcross Station Cafe

I loved the art work on the door, the cafe sits directly behind a working railroad.

Here are some pics I took at the festival:

Wine Caddy

I love this wine caddy

Metal Butterflies

I LOVED these ornamental metal butterfies as well.  The pic doesn’t do them justices, but they were the brillantly colored.  They were also huge-LOL.  It’s a good thing there was not enough room in my luggage for one

Artwork

I loved the colors in this set.  That blue was soo bright, it actually looked like it was moving.

The Clock

I took me forever to get a decent picture of this clock, it reminded me of the clock tower in Back To The Future from some strange reason.  Check out the harpist and the recorder player

Unfortunately, because of the booths, I could not get any clear pictures of the store fronts.  Also we were short on time, so I did not get any pictures of the beautiful, vintage homes in the area.

Oh well, there’s always next time.

Lata,
~La-Tessa

I attended my first writer’s conference, Moonlight & Magnolias, this past weekend.  For those not familiar with this event, it’s sponsored annually by the Georgia Romance Writerschapter in Atlanta.  The conference consisted of several excellent workshops, editor and agent appointments, and a host of networking opportunities.  The jewel of the event was the Margie Award presentation and dance.

As a newbie in the writing game, I was blown away by the amount of information I received that actually impacted my writing.  For me, the highlight of the conference was Margie Lawson’s workshop on Empowering Characters’ Emotion.  This one workshop is so powerful, that it made an immediate impact.  If you get a chance, visit Margie’s website  and checkout her conference/online workshop schedules and her lecture packets.  Any author serious about making their writing more powerful and taking it to the next level would definitely benefit from one, if not all, of her courses.  Heck, maybe I’ll “see” you in one of them.

After the workshop I was able to get a picture with Margie.  Ok, I am not looking the cutest here, but it was a long day and I my mind was full of all the great info I’d just recieved-LOL. 

me w/ Author Margie Lawson

 Another workshop that made an impact was Winnie Griggs’ presentation on backstory.  This was a true “wow” moment for me.  I left this workshop armed to handle all my backstory and exposition in much more favorable way, without bogging my story down and losing my message.  And last but not least, Stephanie Bond presented an awesome workshop called Write Fast, Write Well.  She passed along some wonderful time management and discipline tips. 

On Saturday, I attended the book fair and autographing session.  I must say, Borders had a very well stocked bookstore there.  I was very impressed with the amount and variety of craft books they had on hand.  During the bookfair, I was able to chat with some more authors and get a couple of pictures as well:

Author Carmen Green

If you’ve never read a book by Carmen Green, you a missing a treat.  The next time you are in the bookstore, and you want a good read, pick up one of her novels.  Of course, I was in networking mode while I was there, and hopefully I will get the opportunity to interview Ms. Green for RomanceInColor.com.  If I do, I will let you know-lol.

Author Jenna Petersen

Ok, I hate to admit this, but I have been admiring the cover to one of Jenna’s books for the better part of 4 months or so.  Whenever I go into Borders, which is quite often mind you, I somehow come across Lessons From A Courtesan every time(<–cover shown in photo).  And every time I take it off the shelf, look at it intently, read the back, then place it back on the shelf.  For some reason, I didn’t purchase it, even though it constantly caught my attention.  Now I know why.  Somehow the psychic in me knew I would be meeting her this year and that I would get the chance to get the book in person and get it autographed-LOL. 

Author Teresa Mederios

I was honored to meet Teresa Mederios, the featured Keynote speaker, during the book fair.  She was so nice and down to earth, it was a pleasure getting a few minutes to chat with her.  She delivered an awesome address during the luncheon, I actually paid attention through her entire speech; and anyone who knows me knows how my attention wonders a bit at times-LOL.  So that, in itself, is a testament to how great her talk was.  I look forward to reading her latest Some Like It Wicked.

All in all, I had a wonderful time at the conference and came away with a renewed vigor, passion, and drive for the craft.  I look forward to returning next year.