What I Did on My Winter Vacation

[Peg Herring]

What Michiganian wouldn't take a few weeks in Florida in the middle of February? Very few, apparently: we ran into fellow northerners everywhere we went. I did a tour of many Florida libraries, giving talks and letting people get to know my work, and ended the trip at Sleuthfest, a conference for crime writers in Deerfield Beach, Florida. I have to say, I plan a great vacation. Whether my husband/driver/book schlepper would agree is unknown, but he seems cheerful enough if allowed to sit poolside with a good book.

I thought I'd spend a few blog days on what I've learned, although it isn't anything terribly new. As writers we need to be reminded sometimes what we're doing, and a conference is a great way to get that memory jog. So FIRST, I was reminded that the writing is the most important thing. If I don't create my best book every time, I'll fall quickly into obscurity. (I know, there's no guarantee I won't do that anyway.) Marketing, promoting, networking, etc. etc. etc. all are important, but they take time away from what you're supposed to be doing. It's hard to carve out writing time, to get back to what you started all this for.

Brad Meltzer and John Hart were featured speakers at Sleuthfest. Both stressed writing as key to a writing career. Sounds too easy, right? But how much time is drained away by other things? So Refresher Lesson #1 from Sleuthfest for me: make time to write, edit, and polish. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but I know it's essential, so I must.