Ok Dog Lovers, my dogs are some of the coolest.

When I got home Sunday night, my sister's dog howled a yodel none of us had heard before.

My sister's dachshund is spending the week with us. I have become her special person. I allow her to sit on my lap instead of Boduke. He accepts the deal and periodically looks mournfully from another chair. But when my pit bull looks utterly destroyed it was too funny. Then the dachsy decides to get cozier with me and spots my German Shephard mix and growls. These two elderly girls are having a rivalry with one another. 

At least the motives of dog politics are more transparent than human ones.

I have recovered from the Writer's Police Academy. It is a whirlwind of information. I learned enough this time to know it is only the tip of the iceberg. I doubt I go to another conference for awhile. I've got to finish something to justify going. I am going to a small one day conference in Columbus, GA.

My first encounter with the academy was mind boggling. I had gone to a local conference where most of the attendees were unpublished. To drop amongst a group who had published not one or two books but perhaps 20 was a shift in perspective for me. What left the biggest impression on me is how open all the writers are to one another. So many touched me in so many ways.

Part of becoming a writer is defining what you think. Mixing fact with fancy, developing a plot, dreaming up people can be as much craft as imagination. I was surprised to learn there was a list of tropes or common personalities used in stories. My present study is the nature of comedy.

My big thought is to choose my books to read. I have this imaginary homework advisor that I am having a hard time shutting down.

My biggest revelation about writing is that it is a passion. It can be a money making enterprise if you write for that.  I still think it is a stroke of luck the "50 Shades" books took off. The free part on Amazon read like so many notes I have taken up from children. I have no real beef against pulp fiction. It is just that residual teacher in me that does not care for some of the books insights.

Karen Slaughter was a real hoot in spiel at the conference. She is a might too young to be reminiscing about some of Atlanta's history. One aspect of the South is that the past is always nearby. Allison Brannen brought out salient points such as do your research, learn the detail, but use just enough detail to keep your reader involved with the story.

My favorite were the active duty cops. The focus was more on the police work than writing. I had a hard time choosing between listening to the query shark Janet Reid and the former narcotics police officer. I know so much about querying. Besides, I am not querying at the moment. However, she was a worthwhile listen. More importantly, I lost my trepidation of the New York agent.