My Time at Emerald City Writers Conference 2015

The greater Seattle chapter of the Romance Writers of America always knows how to put on a great event. This was my third year presenting at their annual writing conference, and it’s still one of my favorite events as both a presenter and an attendee. The atmosphere at the conference was equal parts welcoming, enthusiastic, and casual, and I’m so grateful to the organizers for inviting me back this year.

As always, the workshops were a great mix of craft, business, and research subjects. Sabrina York gave an incredibly insightful workshop on street teams, while University of Washington Law Professor Zahr Said clarified a variety of issues regarding copyright law. While I wasn’t able to attend my good friend Gordon Frye’s workshop on firearms, I did get to go to Tina Shrigley’s wonderful presentation on the real face of PTSD. The most exciting workshop was probably M.A. Taylor’s hands-on crime scene investigation presentation. It was morbidly fun to search for blood marks, fingerprints, and telltale clues in a variety of mock crime scenes.

While there were no bloody knives or guns at my workshops, everyone attending still seemed to have a great time. Nearly every seat was full, and we all had a lot of fun as I taught about revision techniques, beta readers, and deciding where to start your story. My favorite part was when I was answering questions after my first workshop, and one lady came up to ask me what my other workshop would be about.

“Who cares?” said another lady nearby. “It’s him! Just go to it!”

“I will!” the first lady responded. “I just wanted to know what I’m going to!”

While the Emerald City Writers Conference may be organized by romance writers, the truth is that nearly all of the workshop offerings would be of benefit to writers of any genre. Of course, it is still very much a romance writer’s party. Nearly all of the attendees are published romance writers, as are all of the keynote speakers and organizers. Still, if you enjoy great workshops and the company of friendly authors, then this conference would be a good choice for the Seattle area. And if you’re writing romance, then this should definitely be your first choice for an annual writers conference.

Magic, Mystery and Mirth is Coming November 10

Yes, my collection of fanciful short stories will be available for purchase in print starting on the 10th of next month. To celebrate the release of my third title, we’ll be having a launch party at the Tumwater Timberland Library from 5pm to 7pm. Planned activities include games and readings along with treats and maybe even a few door prizes. For more information, check out the Facebook Page for this event.

In anticipation of the upcoming book launch, I’m also actively looking to increase the number of people in my street team. With that in mind, if we manage to reach our target number of team members by November 1st, then every team member will receive a free pre-release PDF version of the anthology. To learn more about how to join my street team and what’s involved, check out the following link.

Great Opportunities for Fans

Exciting New Opportunities for my Fans and Readers

For a while now, I’ve been looking for ways to better connect with my fans and followers. I’ve also been exploring possible ways to help spread the word about my books and share these stories that I love so much with more readers. With that in mind, there are two new ways that my fans can stay connected and get involved. 

My New Mailing List

Using MailChimp, I’ve set up a list that anyone can subscribe to in order to receive a regular newsletter in their e-mail. These newsletters will include high-lights from some of my most recent and popular blog articles, upcoming book releases and promotions, and some of the details of my speaking schedule and author appearances. All information provided by subscribers is kept private, and the newsletter can be unsubscribed to at any time.

To sign up, just click the link below and enter your information.

Subscribe to Lindsay's Mailing List

My New Street Team

This is a place for people who love my stories and want to help spread the word. Members of this team will be entered into drawings for free books and goodies, receive invitations to exclusive parties, and have a special Facebook group where they can interact with myself as well as each other. In exchange, the street team will be given monthly goals to help promote and discuss my stories, spreading the word and sharing the characters and adventures that they have come to love. A typical monthly goal might be ten new book reviews on Amazon, or fifty new follows on my Facebook author page. Each time a goal is met, members of the team will be rewarded with additional goodies and events.

There will be no dues required to be a member of my street team. All that’s required is an enthusiasm for my stories and a demonstrated desire to help more people discover them. With that in mind, fans who are interested in joining my street team should include a link to an amazon review that they have written for one of my books when they subscribe to my mailing list. If the applicant is accepted into the street team, they’ll be added to the street team mailing list and will receive an invitation to join the street team Facebook group.


I hope that all of my fans will take advantage of these great new opportunities. My ongoing goal is to continue discovering new and better ways to connect with my readers and have fun as a group. I look forward to hearing from you!

On Steamposium and the Chanticleer Authors Conference 2015

I recently finished what has been the most ambitious speaking schedule I’ve attempted thus far. Two days at Steamposium, the Seattle steampunk convention, and three more at the Chanticleer Authors Conference in Bellingham. Seven panels and workshops in five days on subjects ranging from the origins of steampunk to managing author marketing resources. It was intense, exhausting, a little scary, and very, very rewarding.

I started bright and early on Friday morning at Steamposium, manning my vendor table and selling books along with fellow authors Jeffrey Cook and Lee French. Over the course of the two days, I saw a variety of elaborate costumes and had many opportunities to discuss both the culture and literature of steampunk. My favorite part of the Con probably happened on the first day while sitting on the Steampunk 101 panel. As we chatted with the crowd before starting, I noticed a face in the audience that seemed familiar. It turns out that he had attended a similar workshop that I’d given at the Brass Screw in Port Townsend, and had been hoping to hear me speak again in Seattle.

Since I spent most of my time either at the vendor table or sitting in on panels, I didn’t get much of a chance to see many of the Con’s attractions. I did take the time to wander the vendor floor a few times, and was impressed by the vast array of artistic and mechanical talent demonstrated by the artists and vendors. It would have been nice to stay for the final day of the event, but I had a workshop to give at nine in the morning on Sunday in Bellingham, so I headed north.

The Chanticleer Authors Conference was both intimate and intensive. There were speakers and presentations nearly every hour of each day, mostly focused on the business of promotion and marketing. Despite giving several workshops myself, I found myself furiously taking notes during nearly every presentation and plan on making some significant changes to my own marketing plan as a result. Of course, it wasn’t all business. I made many new friends from both the States and Canada, including James Wells, a hard sci-fi author and the great-grandson of H.G. Wells. James was also kind enough to allow me to stay at his home throughout the event, which was a delightful treat for me.

There were many highlights at the authors conference for me. Hearing Robert Dugoni speak was one of them. Learning enough about promotion to feel a measure of confidence rather than intimidation was another. But the greatest part of the event had to be staying with James and his family. He showed me a clock that had belonged to H.G., as well as a book that was full of the classic author’s own penciled edits.

I wasn’t sure how I would handle the demanding schedule I’d created for myself, but I’m proud to say that I emerged from the experience with both greater knowledge and some amazing memories. Standing in the cool evening air on Sunday night and watching a red-tinged lunar eclipse with the great-grandson of H.G. Wells, I realized that I was having a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Here’s hoping that I continue to have similar experiences as I pursue my dreams and goals.

An image of H.G. Wells' personal notes on an early copy of The Country of the Blind provided by James Wells

My Thoughts on the Southwest Washington Writers Conference 2015

Recently, I was invited to give two workshops at the second annual Southwest Washington Writers Conference held in Centralia. I was very happy to accept the invitation, since I’ve felt for some time that the writing community in the South Puget Sound area often doesn’t get the kind of attention that it deserves. While the conference was just a one-day event, it was well attended and seemed to me to be a complete success.

As soon as I arrived at the conference, I felt very welcomed. Everybody from the bookstore staff to the event organizers were friendly, cheerful, and accommodating. It was clear that each volunteer had a passion for both writing and the local community. I was also pleasantly surprised that the event was carefully organized and scheduled. Workshops started on time, remained on topic, and even the keynote speakers were kept to a strict schedule. As a presenter I especially appreciated this. Too often, organizers will think that they are being generous when they let a speaker go over time without considering either the following speaker or the attendees that were especially looking forward to the next schedule block.

Speaking of presentations, I had a great time giving both of my workshops. There were plenty of participants for each, and it seemed like everyone enjoyed learning more about word choice and the four stages of writing a novel. We also spent some time discussing revision techniques and where to find good feedback, listing a variety of possible options as well as the positives and negatives of each. I’m always so glad when I can share insights to help to my fellow writers, and I hope that many of them take up my offer of a free, one-hour coaching consultation.

All in all, I have to say that I was very happy with my experience at this conference. The generosity and helpfulness of the organizers was amazing, and the conference offerings were on par with any of the big city events that I have attended. I look forward to next year’s conference, and hope that I will be invited to participate again!

Top Ten Reasons Why Writers Might Be A Little Crazy

10. We’re at our most successful when we hear voices in our heads.

9. No matter how much time we have alone, we still wish we could have more.

8. We will spend half an hour fixing one paragraph only to cut it and the rest of the chapter out the next day.

7. We work hard to get lost in our own little worlds.

6. We regularly ask for feedback without listening to any of it.

5. We go to classes to learn how to stop avoiding doing something that we love to do.

4. We agonize over pitching to agents and then ignore their requests for material.

3. We read every book that is similar to our own and then worry that our book sounds like everything else that’s out there.

2. We make people up and then ruin their lives to make them more “interesting”.

1. We measure success by how many strangers write short essays online saying how brilliant we are.

Balancing Storytelling and Gameplay in RPGs

After recently playing the Mass Effect trilogy along with other story-heavy RPGs, I wanted to try something a little different. I decided on Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition, having no prior knowledge of the game or the franchise other than constantly hearing that it had great combat mechanics, awesome loot, and a lackluster story. That was the consensus of nearly every review that I read before buying and playing the game, so while I was looking forward to the game, I was also mildly curious about this storyline which was supposedly the weakest link in the game.

After a couple of false starts, I played the game all the way to the end of the expanded campaign with a demon hunter, going as high as Torment III in my difficulty settings. I had a blast killing hordes of monsters, leveling up my character and equipping all the new goodies I was finding. And how about the story? It was minimal, certainly. In fact, I had considered at first doing a review of it, but to be honest there just wasn’t enough to really review. The characters are very minimal, the conflicts are clearly explained, and even the rare ‘twist’ is so clearly telegraphed that I was never even slightly surprised. But was that all a bad thing?

Not every RPG has to be a Final Fantasy or Star Ocean to be good. Ten minute cut-scenes and long periods of time spent “talking to villagers” don’t necessarily make for immersive gameplay or an engaging storyline. The truth is, a role-playing game needs a healthy balance between its mechanics and storyline. While one may be stronger than the other, a game needs both to be successful.

Last year I tried out a JRPG called Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360. I still remember the evocative storyline and immersive world with its engaging characters and subplots. I never finished the game, and sometimes I still yearn to return to that amazing, fanciful world. But then I remember the gameplay. The combat was horrible. Every normal attack was a quick-time event, all mage characters were incredibly over-powered, and the leveling system was a convoluted mess. For me, this game’s engaging story just couldn’t make up for the terrible gameplay, and I put it away forever as a result.

So, what about Diablo III? Did the gameplay make up for its storyline? For me, definitely. While earlier versions may have had some mechanical issues, the Ultimate Evil Edition has perfectly balanced difficulty, engaging combat, and an addictive leveling system. Actually, my favorite aspect of the game is also the biggest break of the fourth wall. All earned gold, stashed equipment, and character progress above level 70 is shared between each of my created characters. Because of this, I started the game over with a new character just a day after beating the game the first time, something that I’ve never done with an RPG before.

I think the difference here is that it’s much easier for an RPG to be good with minimal storytelling rather than minimal gameplay. A perfect example is Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo. Look up any list of the best RPGs ever, and you’ll find this game as either number one or close to it. Because of the limitations of the system it was developed for, this game has to tell its story without the benefits of voice acting, lengthy cut scenes, or huge game worlds filled with dozens of NPC interactions. And yet the story is both beautiful and complex, with every line of dialogue crafted carefully for maximum efficiency.

I’m not saying that there’s too much story in all of today’s games. After all, one of my favorite series of games is Uncharted, which often feels more like an action movie than a video game. But no matter how good the story might be, a video game also has to still engage the player with its interactive elements, whether that’s combat, puzzles, or actual decision-making role-playing. In short, storyline needs to serve the gameplay just as gameplay needs to serve the storyline, and that’s often easier to do with minimal story telling rather than minimal gameplay.