Storymakers

LDStorymakers was amazing this year. And I'm not just saying that because this is the first year I've been. I learned so much and met a lot of really awesome people. I had a great chat with Cindy M. Hogan. I had just finally been able to read her first book Watched, Thursday night. I had tried to get it before then and for some reason my purchase on Barnes and Noble didn't go through on my computer. So I bought it straight onto my Nook and read straight through. Of course, then I had to find out what happened next! So at about midnight, I bought her second book, Protected, as well and read that until almost 4:30 in the morning! I was a bit tired the next day, but it was totally worth it!
I also got to meet Dan Wells, who has been one of my top favorite authors for a couple years. I had met him before, but this time I actually got to talk with him for a little while. If you haven't read his books, I suggest you remedy that situation as soon as possible. They are all awesome! I especially love the John Cleaver series: I Am Not A Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don't Want To Kill You (which won the Whitney award Saturday night for best novel of 2011! Congrats Dan!). The psychological aspect of them fascinate me. And A Night of Blacker Darkness just made me laugh the entire time. It is a thoroughly ridiculous book, and absolutely a blast to read!
I also met Karen E. Hoover, who I have to admit (Sorry Karen) I hadn't heard of before. But I did spend a good half an hour just chatting with her, and we hit it off really well. I bought one of her books from the book store and she was kind enough to sign it for me. I look forward to reading it when I have a chance! (I can't stay up until 4:30am reading every day, as much as I would like to, my work schedule would kill me!)
Over the course of the next couple of days, I'm going to put my notes from the classes I was able to take up on here and my thoughts on those classes as well. If any of you were able to go to any classes that I wasn't, I would love to get your notes and thoughts as well!

Bipolar and Writing

Last October, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. I actually diagnosed myself, went to my doctor, and told him what I thought. He agreed and put me on medication.

It's helping A LOT! It's actually amazing how well it's helping. It's not, however, doing everything. What do I do to supplement my medication?

I write.

I actually talked to another author about this who is also bipolar. She says that writing helps because you have to use both sides of your brain to do it. The creative side to come up with the story, and the logical side to organize it.

My life suddenly made sense.

All my life, I couldn't tell if I was "right brained" or "left brained". I figured I was left brained, since I was really good at math, but couldn't draw a picture to save my life. But at the same time, I was more imaginative than almost anyone I knew, thinking of things that no one would ever think of and coming up with solutions to problems that are unlikely to occur.

I'm bipolar. And it all makes sense.

It's interesting how one revelation can change your life. I'm not going to put this author's name up, as I don't know that she'd want me to, but I have a feeling that she will never know just how grateful I am that she said those things that day. She went through several years where she didn't write at all and it just about destroyed her. I'm amazed. I can't go through more than a few weeks.

I suppose you could say that we're addicted to writing.

I'm okay with that.