so, what do you write?

A while back I attended my first ever writer's conference. I didn't schedule any pitch or critique sessions; I just went because I wanted to get in to the mindset of writing as a business instead of a hobby. Oh, boy. It was an experience.

I took my seat in the first session and hoped like hell that nobody would want to speak to my introverted, awkward self. No sooner had I taken my pencil out of my bag than the guy behind me asked, "So, what do you write?"

Well my friend, that is an excellent question.

On Tuesdays I write poetry. Every other Saturday I meddle in middle grade fantasy. The third Wednesday of the months that start with J I work on adult mystery novels under a pseudonym. Then I shake in early readers and picture books for a little flavor.

(This is an exaggeration, obviously, but only just).

The truth is I write whatever pops into my head, and that makes me feel like I cannot be taken seriously, so I defer the question.

I was considering entering a contest once and I asked whether I could submit work in two genres. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that most people who submit more than one genre often find that something is missing from both submissions because they lack focus. Maybe that's right (I mean, this guy ran a national writing competition and I'm on the literary sidelines); but I can't believe it. I have these ideas that seem so vivid in my mind and on the page that they cannot have possibly come to me for nothing. I suppose one day I will find that he was right. Or, maybe I could find myself, published, in multiple sections of the library.

So, what do I write? Today I dictated two chapters of McKenna Slate on my way to work and tonight I came up with a bedtime story for the girls - who knows what I'll write tomorrow. Hopefully something good.

ema