Thoughts on LTUE and Fiction

About April of 2016, I heard of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Writer's Conference that happens in Provo, UT every year. Compared to other conferences I'd been to, this one was very cheap, and it was 3 days of material! But as it happens in February, I missed it for 2016.

So, in February of 2017, I packed my bags and headed south to spend 3 amazing days immersed in the world of fantasy writing! (Many thanks to my amazing husband, who encouraged me to go!) Guys, let me tell you, LTUE did not disappoint. I had a hard time choosing sessions because there were just so many good ones.

As sci-fi/fantasy nerds go, I'm a bit too much of a geek for normal people, but maybe not geeky enough among true geeks. Still, LTUE is one place where I go to be with "my people." Of course, I had to go to LTUE 2018. One little blog post can't possibly sum up the whole conference experience, but here's a try. I went to a lot of classes about writing: Revision, Subplots, Epilogues and Prologues, Literary Fiction, Balancing Plot and Character, and even including Poetry in your fiction. There were also classes on the business of writing: The Art of School Visits, Publishing Contracts, and The Business of Fiction. I still had time to fit in some "fun" classes, like the two hour Medieval Weapons class, where we got to hand around swords and daggers and try not to nick our neighbors with them. (BTW, I always said I would like a hand and a half sword, and I was right! Now to put one in a novel ... )

I also got to fangirl over some of my favorite authors. Brandon Sanderson signed my copy of Warbreaker, which is my favorite book of his. Brandon Mull, Matthew Kirby, Brian McClellan, and Jennifer Jenkins all signed books for me, and they were all so kind and generous. It was a blast!

Guys, it was awesome.

Then I came home and had a friend ask me how my conference was. I started in on telling her, but she stopped me with, "I just don't have time for all that pointless nonsense. I only read nonfiction."

I had to take a deep breath and count to ten so as not to scream.

What better example do we have of loyalty than Sam and Frodo?

What better lesson on Bravery than Harry Potter?

What better example that young people can change the world than Ender's Game?

And The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle changed my life!

The books we read shape our minds and our lives. Sometimes we learn from them, sometimes they help us deal with our real world problems, and Always, they enrich our lives.

So I'm glad for fiction. I'm glad for LTUE to indulge my fantasy whims, and I'm glad for my ever-growing to-be-read pile of books all over my house.

And I hope to see you at LTUE next year!