I posted the faculty on Tuesday with the promise that I would come back today and give you an idea of the agenda, so here it is.

The conference opened on Thursday July 24 and got right into interviews with William

Friday came and with the twelve and one-half hour session of learning about:

Opening strategies, developing character, developing intensive dialog, and maintaining suspense. After a brief break, we were treated to a courtroom scene acted by real law enforcement and judicial people taking a case and retrying it with new twists. After lunch, we were engaged in learning how to make the past real and good ways to do in characters that are believable and unique. This session was followed by a group of agents providing tips on how to get represented. One of the key ways is to query effectively and unless you have sold 10,000 books as a self-published author, query something completed and new. After dinner, there was an interview of Valerie . This was followed by a terrifying reading by those who wanted to participate. Yes, I did it and was very glad I did even though reading in front of a group of authors is always nerve-wracking.Blowback. This was followed by a terrifying reading by those who wanted to participate. Yes, I did it and was very glad I did even though reading in front of a group of authors is always nerve-wracking.

Saturday was an easy day in that there were only eleven hours of meetings:

The meetings started with a great discussion of the compelling protagonist and how to make it real. Plot and advance plot techniques were next on the list. The plot fundamental is basically a three-act play,  act one: the opening scene (short). Act 2: The major part of the story and the set up for the last act. Act 3: the final where you solve all the issues to the reader’s satisfaction. After that several authors gave us an idea of their life as an author who was interesting. Most live like the rest of us, they write all the time. After lunch, Isabel Allende gave a lecture on how she came to write Ripper a Mystery  which is out of her comfort zone. The main reason? Her publisher wanted a book by her and her husband, who was a mystery writer. Long story short, her husband dropped out and she had to do it alone. She was followed by a discussion on how to compose grief in a character. The lesson show grief don’t describe it. This was followed by a how to publish the tutorial. The way  was traditional and hinged on an agent which may or may not be the way everyone wants to go. The rest of the afternoon was taken up by  a discussion on social marketing and the heartbreak of editing. I don’t think there was anything new in these subjects, but it was nice to know the big guys suffer as much as we do on these. After a lovely wine and cheese hour we were treated to a fascinating discussion of covert ops by Valerie Plame and George Fong. They discussed the real world as opposed to the fictional world we think we know. The day was wrapped up with a great interview of Tom Rob Smith author of the Farm and Child 44 series. He discussed the role of research in the story. He believes the story can begin by research. He believes success is found in passion about a subject. Who can argue? His book Child 44 is not only a best seller, but will be released as a movie next April.

Sunday was the last day, but full of information anyway:

The day started with a workshop on sustaining writing steam through a real understanding of personal goals. We all wrote down five and had to present them to someone else to make sure there was someone in the world to whom we would be accountable. The next session was creating a backdrop on time and place and mining the research for a better story. Texture and facts were discussed and we as writers need both. After a short break, there was an actual FBI case presented and we were asked to conceptualize the case into a story. It was then our task to either finish the story the way the case finished or to create a new ending. I chose new (of course). The conference concluded with The Conference Challenge which we were given on check-in. The challenge was to finish your current book in three lines. You were not allowed to use semi-colons and had to include dialog, a little about the character and only three sentences. Here is mine:

Looking at his tear streaked face I say, “please come closer so you can hear me since I have something you need to know.” Jacobs leans in just close enough for me to grab his ear with my teeth and hold tight while he reels back causing his lower lobe to tear off and remain in my mouth. I spit the lobe in his direction as I hear the round being chambered in his 9MM and his muffled apology made through the gun in his mouth.