This was first published at the Calaveras Enterprise, my current place of work, with my column "Mother Lode Millennial". You can see more of my column here.
I’ve always been a booklover. Even back before I could read, I would pull books off their shelves and flip through them, telling myself, “Someday, I will read these.”
I remember the first book I read all by myself; I was in the first grade, and it was about a laughing spider. The spider was eaten by a bird, who then began to laugh, who was eaten by a cat who also began to laugh, who was eaten by a dog who also began to laugh, and pretty soon, they were all laughing so hard they were all coughed back up, and kept laughing. When I finished the story, I closed the book and it hit me: I had just read my first book.
After that, I didn’t stop. I read constantly, and was almost always in the Mokelumne Hill Elementary School library. A favorite of mine was “Little Icicle” by Lois K. Szymanski. I also read a lot of the “Junie B. Jones” series by Barbara Park, and anything by Beverly Cleary.
This love of reading eventually fostered a desire to write, and I began to write – or rather, attempt to write – my own stories sometime in middle school and high school. I did eventually self-published one story I managed to finish, but eventually took it offline because it wasn’t good, though one of the four people who read it may disagree. At the time, I didn’t know any writers, and my story really could have benefitted from a support network of professional writers, which I didn’t have at that time.
How was I supposed to make a living as a writer? How do I get a publisher to look at my work? What the heck is a query letter? What about self-publishing? Did I take the easy way out, or is there a way to self-publish and actually deliver a quality book?
The only writers I ever knew of were in movies and, ironically, who lived in big cities writing for big publishers, or were starving artists. How was I, a rural country girl, every going to become a published writer? It just seemed like a whole world away. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a writer at all.
Little did I know, right down the street from me for many years, a conference for local writers called the Gold Rush Writers Conference was staged.
It wasn’t until I was 23 and considering going back to college after a short break that I stumbled upon it. I can’t remember how I found out about it. Was it a flyer at the library? Had I Googled “local writers” or “local writing classes” in desperation? Regardless, I found it and quickly signed up at the last minute; I was past the early bird discount, but I didn’t mind paying a little extra to attend.
I arrived early the first morning at the Hotel Leger on Main Street of my hometown Moke Hill, my heart pounding. I was in unfamiliar territory, an unpublished wannabe writer, and I didn’t know a single person there. Within minutes, another aspiring writer introduced herself to me, and then introduced me to her writers group, a lovely bunch of women who were part of the Amador Fiction Writers, who have encouraged me in my writing journey and offered incredibly helpful advice on self-publishing children’s stories. They also offered me a scholarship to attend the Community of Writers of Squaw Valley, where I got to see big name authors, including Amy Tan, author of “The Joy Luck Club,” though I didn’t talk to her in person. I did, however, get my copy of “Reliance, Illinois” by Mary Volmer, who was a speaker at my first Gold Rush conference. I had bought the book that day in Squaw Valley and was already four chapters in when I asked her to sign it. I think she took it as a compliment.
It was also through the Gold Rush Writers Conference that I became acquainted with Manzanita Writers Press, and members there later accepted a story I had written on evacuating cattle during the Butte Fire in the “Out of the Fire” anthology. I ultimately networked my way into helping the group with the “Voices of Wisdom” project, teaching one of the free classes for those ages 55 and older, with a book of their stories set to be published in June. I had never taught a class before, let alone a writing one, and was nervous. The other instructors and the students were very encouraging, however, and soon my nerves passed.
Had I not stumbled upon this conference three years ago, I believe I would not be where I am today as a writer. So I’d like to thank all the writer attendees who continue to encourage my writing and all the vital professional advice. If you are a young struggling writer in the area, I highly recommend attending the Gold Rush Writers Conference, scheduled for May 4 to 6 in Mokelumne Hill. You can find more information at goldrushwriters.com.