What wisdom was bestowed upon me at the Mountain of Authors? Where the phrase ‘Blowing smoke up my #?#’ came from. LOL Yep, Keynote Speaker, Mark Lee Gardner an award winning local author, historian and musician told the story. But fellow writer, Donnell Bell repeated the tale so eloquently. “The origin of blowing smoke up one’s &$@&. Once upon a time, tobacco was thought to be of great medicinal value. As a matter of fact, it was actually thought to be able to save drowning victims. This belief was so widespread that when people who lived on or near the Thames in England recovered a victim, the way to resuscitate him was to roll tobacco and shove it…well, where the sun doesn’t shine. Hence the lovely saying we’ve come to think of as exaggeration or telling lies.” Okay, I learned more than that. We listened to a panelist of writers on Writing for History. Gotta get your facts straight or you can bet someone will call you on it. Yep, that’s why I write paranormal romance, I can make things up as I go and no one is the wiser. The next panel discussed “I Wrote a Book, Now What?” The panel of three were experienced in the publishing industry and gave us their take on the industry today. Which is kinda like the Colorado weather, if you don’t like the way things are going, just wait a week or so. The industry seems to be always in flux. Continue Reading →