Out of State

Kansas City, it's time to wrap things up

Aloha, ye who watch the Superbowl for the commercials!

This emo horse is not a Clydesdale and has nothing to do with either superbowls or commercials. (Photo by Kameron Kincade on Unsplash)

I will be in an airplane when the two red teams battle it out over the line of scrimmage that only the fans who failed to spend their life savings for a ticket to the Superbowl will see. Luckily, I’m flying on the airline known for their in-flight television, so I won’t have to miss the chorus of “NO!” whenever the captain makes an announcement, I mean the chorus of “GO!” whenever someone in red runs across a white chalked line.

Happy Superbowl everyone.

I just spent a few days in Kansas City. I saw the Hallmark museum (worth it) and Union Station (nice but it’s no Grand Central) and a WWI monument on a hill. But mostly I saw a million writers. I was at the AWP writers’ conference. All we talked about was how empty Downtown Kansas City was.

They built it, but no one came.

I hosted the National Writer-Parent Meetup and more than 50 people showed up. we gave away ten books or so, and copious amounts of free wine. The rest of the time I sat in a booth handing out postcards.

Still it was glorious.

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Writing News:

Were you not listening? I spent four days at a writing conference! No writing was accomplished.

I did do a really fun reading of A FLASH OF DARKNESS.

And the next night was our Writer-Parent meetup. I can’t get this midwestern hotel WiFi to upload photos but it was truly glamorous. (if you want to know what it feels liks, just RSVP for our Feb 13 salon online!)

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RANDOM FINAL THOUGHT:

The only panel I attended was moderated by Clevis Natera (who has read at our reading series) — it was on publicity. I was intrigued by the question “what is the difference between writer and author?” - a publicist of the stars answered that writers are connecting with their words and creating a work, whereas authors are connecting with their readers—wondering how they can find people who will connect to the work.

Kansas City was a very beautiful place that no one inhabited. I didn’t see a single bookstore.