As an introvert who prefers listening to
speaking, I’ve never found it natural to stand up and talk about myself in front
of a group of people. But I learned some time ago that if I wanted to be a
real, honest-to-goodness professional writer, I’d better learn how. To my
surprise and relief, I’ve come to find the experience really enjoyable.
One of my first public events occurred from
an invitation to take part on a panel of short fiction writers at the large,
fan-based mystery convention, Bouchercon in Las Vegas back in 2003. This wasn’t
the most easy-going venue to begin my public speaking life, but the woman who’d
invited me was a lively extrovert who would keep things going. It turned out to
be great fun, and a delightful surprise when mystery writer extraordinaire, Val
McDermid, joined us to take part in the Q & A discussion.
Except for the occasional glitch, other
panel discussions over the years went reasonably well. Although I still wasn’t
comfortable facing people who were probably hoping that I'd say something insightful, I
kept trying. With the launch of my first couple of mysteries, I also became a
soloist. It’s still a little scary to stand before a group of people, even
though some are colleagues and friends, and talk about myself. But I recently came
across a saying which stated that if you’re not scaring yourself all the time
by trying something new then you’re not really living. I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.
I’m going to be living front and center Tuesday, Oct. 21st, when I speak at the Golden Ears Writers event, at The ACT Maple
Ridge, from 7 to 9 p.m. My topic is blending fact with fiction in mystery
writing. Happily, I know something about that. You can find more on Facebook,
either by clicking on the link I provided or typing in Golden Ears Writers on
FB.
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