Getting ready for the Writers Conference

This Friday I am participating in the Whidbey Island Writers Conference which is organized once a year by the Whidbey Island Writers Association. Whidbey Island is one of the islands that make up the Puget Sound community, to get to Whidbey Island I have to take a ferry from Mukilteo, which isn't too far from my home - maybe 10 miles or so. I am excited to go because there are always so many dedicated writers at conferences like this one, many of them struggling with their manuscripts just as I am. Also there's always a good chance to meet agents or editors from the big publishing houses, so it's fun to try out my pitch on them, even though I'm nowhere near to finished with my novel.
I haven't written much lately, on the book, that is, but I've been thinking and thinking about it and re-reading Susanna Clark's "The Ladies of Grace Adieu." I love the metaphors she conjures up as well as the odd premises of her stories. She's created a faery world that sits just outside our modern comprehension, as if it's in our peripheral vision, evading us as we glance toward it.

Apart from writing, I picked up an incredible beadwork-oriented book the other day called
Beading with Cabochons: Simple Techniques for Beautiful Jewelry. It is filled with exquisitely beaded semi-precious gemstone (and dichroic glass) cabochons, and details of the techniques the artist used to create the beadwork. Utterly fantastic work. It sets me dreaming.