Consoling yourself with all the horror stories about trying to get a first novel published? (Such as 30 agents and 15 publishers nixing something called A Time to Kill by a small-town Mississippi attorney?) That’s all well and good, but you’ve been hawking your manuscript for, uh, how long now? Go listen to OC-boy-done-real-good T. Jefferson Parker and a whole bunch of other literary people—60-plus of them, from A (Amy Alcon) to Z (David Zimmerman)—and get some inspiration and good advice, or maybe just ammo for self-appraisal. If the latter results in a change of aspiration—commercial fishing or mountain climbing, maybe—consider it grist for the writing mill. Sebastian Junger, anyone?
Sat., April 9, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., 2011
