Hello all,

Friday, August 29 marks the 3-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast. While I no longer live in New Orleans, I have friends and family in the city where I grew up. Coping with the aftermath of Katrina was difficult. Not only because so many people were displaced and I met many of them who flocked to the Atlanta area, but because I was heartbroken for the city I knew, one who would never be the same.

Below is one of the poems I wrote to try and express my heartbreak for a city lost. As I read it today, 3 years later, I’m thankful many areas have begun to rebuild. Yet a certain flavor of New Orleans has vanished, many artists near Jackson Square have left for good.

Please keep everyone there in your thoughts, especially as they face another hurricane season.

The Lonely Saxophone
Copyright 2005 Elaine Burroughs

The saxophone’s melancholy notes dance in the humid air like lightning bugs flitting about in summertime. The musician is nowhere to be seen, but his music can be faintly heard along the lazy Mississippi River. The rich, slow music is the heartbeat of New Orleans, this port city surrounded by water. The Big Easy.

As the city awakens, noises fill the air but the saxophone still plays. The Creole Queen riverboat makes a loud whistle as she takes tourists down the river. Mounds of crawfish, shrimp, and spicy seafood abound here. Clapping visitors surround street performers in Jackson Square, wanting to see their favorite acts. Horse-drawn carriages make the ‘clop clop’ sound down the narrow French Quarter streets.

As my spirit absorbs these surroundings, I smile as I listen to the sad notes of a lonely saxophone, playing faintly as a constant backdrop to my home. The tunes may change, but the music goes on.

Black iron gates flank the streets in this Crescent City. Cherry-red geraniums bloom in decorative pots, and window boxes attempt to contain flowers bursting with pink, white, and purple. The flowers and the ivy cascade from the black iron balconies; they look like children dangling their feet before taking a swim.

The spirit of New Orleans – its people and its music – welcomes them all. At the time, I believe that the music will never stop.

On August 29, I was proven wrong. Katrina’s fury drowned the city’s own and the heart of New Orleans stopped beating. Cries for help and sobbing remained.

I gasp back tears as I see the rusted saxophone start to sink, its hollow insides consumed with Katrina’s waters. I hope that one day I can hear the music again. Until then, the absence of the lonely saxophone is deafening.

Hey all,

I realized I combined some of the best speakers in previous blog posts. The only thing remaining is that, on the day I was to fly home, there was a bicycle race scheduled on Market Street. This would shut down all roads near the hotel from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.–not good for flights. So I booked my flight home for 7 a.m. Yeah. Not good either.

As I walk out the hotel doors at 4:45 a.m., luggage in hand, the bellman asks me if I want to take a shuttle or a taxi to the airport. I glanced over at the shuttles, and who is standing there but VLADIMIR the race-car driver wannabe! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I smiled at the bellman, said, “Taxi, please,” and had a much calmer ride to the airport than the one to the hotel.

Below are several pics…I’ll keep posting a few of different areas.

The rickety bridge I took to tour the boat:

Alcatraz:

Vista Views:

Fisherman’s Wharf:

Hey all,

I’ll finish the San Fran blogs in a bit, but came across this video online and had to share. This is so NOT how the publishing business works, but it’s hilarious to watch!!

Jackson Pierce is hilarious. I checked out a few of her videos, but this one was classic! Enjoy!

And we’re up to Day 5 in San Fran! This was the first “full” day of the conference, meaning continental breakfast started in the ballroom at 7:30 a.m. and the panels didn’t finish until 7:30 p.m. And there was a luncheon in there, so not many breaks!

It was wonderful, though. Heard some wonderful speakers, including but not limited to:

• The writers for Guiding Light and As The World Turns soap operas. To be honest, I haven’t watched any soaps since high school, but their presentation was quite informative. A panel of sassy, smart women who are valued in their field and they offered tips on keeping the reader/viewer interested from day to day.

• Hollywood screenwriter Blake Snyder gave a 2-hour presentation on screenplay structure and how it can be applied to the novel. This was one of the best panels I attended. While Hollywood has strict rules about when certain events need to happen in a screenplay format, I still found his general notes valuable, entertaining, and worth attending. If any of you saw Disney movies in the late 90s, you might remember Blank Check about the kid who gets 1 million dollars. Blake Snyder co-wrote that screenplay.

• Nora Roberts Q&A. I’ve heard her Q&A presentations before, but I always enjoy them. She’s one of the most honest people you’ll ever meet, as well as always being entertaining with an audience.

• The Agent Cartel. This was a panel of literary agents who each gave mini-presentations along with participating in a general Q&A session afterward. This is always a valuable session to attend. Not only is it informative, but it gives writers a chance to see potential agents interact with each other, with an audience, and gives us a hint about general personality.

  As far as cool life experiences, I had dinner at the diner where American Graffiti was filmed. Such an iconic and fascinating experience being there. It was within walking distance of the hotel, and there were photos of the movie and James Dean on every wall.

  On my last night, we ate at Wolfgang Puck. Another one of those “glad I could say I did it” experiences.

  Stay tuned for Day 6 and 7!

Thanks for all the kind words y’all have sent regarding the blogs. Glad everyone is enjoying the updates!

We’re now at Day 4: First day of the conference. Sort of. The conference didn’t officially kick off until that evening, and I arrived at the hotel at 11 a.m. Hubby flew back to the East Coast and the shuttle driver (note: not Vladimir this time!) dropped me off at the downtown Marriott on the way.

To my delight, my hotel room was ready despite check-in not being until 3 p.m. I was so overjoyed that I accidentally bumped my large luggage bag into someone. After apologizing and moving forward in line, I realized the woman I bumped was a literary agent who’d rejected my first book. While conferences are a great networking opportunity, I didn’t think my clumsiness lent itself to being the ideal introductory moment. However, I did meet her in the elevator the next day, and she didn’t harbor any ill will about being a luggage target.

After getting settled, I hopped on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to go to Oakland. My best friend from high school lives there, so I spent the afternoon having lunch with her, her hubby and their adorably cute new baby. Friendships which span a lifetime are rare. What surprises me even more is that despite time, life, and 3000 miles between us, visiting with her was like being back in high school, like we hadn’t been apart for more than one school day. There are moments of closeness and busy times when we lose touch, but it’s always the sign of a true connection if you can pick up where you left off, no matter how much time/distance has past both of you by.

The visit was wonderful and at the end of the afternoon, they dropped me back off at BART and I returned to the hotel for the literacy book signing, the official start of the conference with over 500 authors signing books to raise money for literacy. I was able to meet one my favorite authors, Melissa Marr, and chat with her briefly. I attempted to say hello to an ole favorite, Sherrilyn Kenyon, but her table was surrounded by crowds of people, all dressed in black and paranormal attire. The book signing raised over $50,000 for literacy, and a good time was had by all.

The next morning, the conference kicked off with a motivational speaker and world-renowned pianist, Theresa Behenna. She was amazing. Her presentation was part motivational speech, part entertainment on the piano. At one point, she mentioned she’d met Roger Moore when playing piano in Europe, and he always requested her to play, “Georgia on My Mind.”

Confession: Despite living in Georgia, I’ve never liked that song. Until I heard her rendition of it. I didn’t know sounds could be extracted from piano keys like that. She must have had Janis Joplin and every blues musician pumping through her veins, because it was the jazziest, most energetic, most FUN version of the song I’d ever heard. Her motivational speeches were also the ideal start to a conference where we focus on attaining our goals as writers.

Stay tuned for: Best seminars, some famous speakers, and unique experiences.