Thursday's thing to love...other writers!

Sticking to the conference theme, one of my favorite speakers at this year's RMC-SCBWI conference was Elizabeth Rusch (http://www.elizabethrusch.com/.) She gave talks on writing for magazines, on using interviews to craft terrific nonfiction, on marketing books through magazine articles, on the editor/author collaboration and on obtaining meaningful feedback from child audiences. I enjoyed her first talk so much that I rearranged my schedule to come back for more!

Liz's recently-published nonfiction book Will it Blow? Become a volcano detective on Mount St. Helens (Sasquatch Books, 2007) was a must-have addition to my collection of great nf books. She takes a unique twist on the standard volcano book, opening with a memo from the Department of Volcanic Investigation:

"Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to predict a Mount St. Helens eruption. It's not enough to catch Mount St. Helens red-handed. To protect the public, you must sniff out what kind of volcanic trouble is brewing...."

The book is chock-full of information collected under fun headings, such as YOUR MISSION, THE SUSPECT, PRIOR OFFENSES, and KNOWN DISGUISES.

My goal, as a nonfiction writer, is to find those incredibly cool, unique twists on subject and presentation. Creative nonfiction is the art of crafting story from facts. If you want to read a great example of creative nonfiction, check out this book. It's a great book for the nonfiction writer to study--not to mention a downright fun read. Thanks, Liz!