Reaching for the Stars

"Until you write that story in your heart, you'll never be at peace." 

- Dorothy Hamilton, founder of Midwest Writers Workshop

I've been attending the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, Indiana this week from July 25-27. This is my first time attending a writing/publishing conference, so I'm not sure how similar conferences compare to this one. However, I do know this conference has met and exceeded all my expectations so far. And there is still more to come tomorrow when I pitch to a literary agent!

Last year I saw the caliber of instructors and literary agents that were attending this conference, and I decided that in 2013 I had to be there. Midwest Writers, which is celebrating its 40th year, happens right near where I live and work. No excuses. I needed to do this. If I was ever going to get these stories out of head and onto tablets and bookshelves, I would need to attend this conference.

Most of my first day was spent in an intensive manuscript makeover. The instructors, Holly Miller and Denis Hensley, are wonderful instructors. Before the session I had submitted the first 10 pages of my manuscript for them to edit and critique. Their feedback along with advice and tips during the session has been so helpful and inspiring. I've already started making changes and edits to my science fiction novel based on their advice.

As part of that manuscript session we were to write a short bio about ourselves. I wrote a light-hearted and slightly silly one:

Julie Tuttle Davis lives in a small town in Indiana with her husband, two sons, and fur-kid dog named Ray. She enjoys science, summer, traveling, and comfort foods. You can occasionally find her visiting NASA and hanging out with astronauts. She’s never seen an alien (as far as she knows) but hopes to one day.

Since this blog originally started out as a way to chronicle my NASA adventures, I can't help but include a photo of me hanging out with astronauts Karen Nyberg, Luca Parmitano, and Fyodor Yurchikhin from earlier this year in Houston, Texas. Right now all three of them are on the International Space Station.

Ok, so even though I've had some amazing NASA adventures, I must admit that it has been a bit intimidating and surreal to see literary agents in-person at this conference that I've followed from afar on Twitter. Tomorrow I have a pitch with one of those agents, and a different agent is giving me feedback on the first five pages of my novel. I'm not sure if either of them will request to see my work, but I'm eager for the experience. What I've loved about this conference is gaining more knowledge. No matter the outcome with the agents, I'm feeling lucky just to get more insights and feedback on my work from these experts.

I've also found it so great to meet and talk with other writers during this conference, and I hope to keep in contact with them.

To be continued...

Wins and Losses - A Year in Review

I've been quiet on this blog during this last year, but it wasn't for lack of things happening in my life.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you've already seen some of the highlights. Some of the events that happened last year were fun and inspiring. However, one event was a such a painful loss that it has taken me a full year to decide how to even express my feelings about it in such a public place.

Last year there were literal wins like when I was picked to attend a taping of the Conan O'Brien show when they visited Chicago in June 2012 (see teamcoco.com/chicago for more.) I was selected for the June 11 taping which had Jack McBrayer as a guest. I'd always wanted to see a taping of Conan, and it was a great time. I'm glad I was able to share it with my husband. We spent the weekend at The Wit hotel, and we also did some fun tourist things like eat Chicago style pizza, visit the Cloud Gate at Millennium Park, and take a sunset cruise on the river and lake.

I didn't attend any other NASA events in 2012, but I am always keeping up with NASA. Even while I was on a trip in the Bahamas with my husband and kids, I was keeping tabs on the Curiosity rover as it was landing on Mars. The trip to Nassau, Bahamas was my first time outside of the country. I had wanted to use my passport to travel outside the U.S. (and not just Canada) before I turned 40. And I did! One of these days I'll have to write up a separate post on all the adventures we had in the Bahamas or as my kids called it, Booney Island.

Then at the end of August, I turned 40. A pretty big year with just those things. However, in March of last year, I thought even bigger and better changes were awaiting us in 2012. I was wrong.

Immediately after my husband and I came back from our NASA trip to the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, I found out I was pregnant. We were excited, nervous, but mostly happy. I have two sons from my previous marriage. My husband doesn't have any children of his own. This would have been his first, our first together. Neither of us were getting any younger, so we were thrilled that we had conceived so quickly. My due date was calculated to be November 11, our first wedding anniversary.

Then at 7, almost 8 weeks, I started to have what the ER diagnosed as a threatened miscarriage. I had never experienced complications with my previous two pregnancies. And even though I knew a miscarriage was always a possibility, nothing could have ever prepared me for the emotional depths of such distressing news. We got an ultrasound of our "little bean" still hanging on...It is all we have from the life that wasn't meant to join our family.

What seemed like endless doctor visits and blood draws, came to an abrupt end on April 4, 2012. A year ago, I was rushed into emergency surgery for a suspected ectopic pregnancy. At the time, I was 8 weeks, almost 9 weeks, pregnant. Time enough for me, my husband, and a few close family members to have formed dreams, plans, and love for a new person we would never get to meet or bring home to join our family. I was also told by the doctors that they would likely have to remove at least one of my ovaries.

Only because I had such wonderful doctors am I able to say I still have both of my ovaries. An analysis of the contents from my D&C confirmed the pregnancy had been only vaginal. I was just experiencing a miscarriage and not an ectopic pregnancy. The doctor could have taken my ovaries to be safe, but he went the extra steps to save them. He sent blue dye into both of my ovaries and realized that their suspected ectopic pregnancy wasn't there at all. For that, I am very thankful. Even though recovering from the surgery was physically exhausting and emotionally challenging, I still had my ovaries...just in case.

It has been a year now. The emotions aren't nearly as raw, but the pain of the loss is still very much there. When I see pictures of babies on Facebook from all my friends who had babies last year and this year, sometimes the tears still flow. We haven't tried again. We aren't sure if we will. Perhaps our time has passed, and we waited too long to try.

I am blessed to have two beautiful sons, a loving and devoted husband, and our doggie fur-kid, Ray. I'm not sure what the future holds for us, but I am thankful to have them in my life.

In a way, it feels like things have come full circle this last year. On March 19, 2013 my husband and I both got to attend a NASA Social to Go Behind the Scenes of the International Space Station in Houston, Texas at the Johnson Space Center. I will definitely have a new blog post soon about that wonderful adventure!

I may also start using this blog to discuss my adventures in fiction writing. One reason I'm blogging less is because I've been focused more on writing for my novel. I am planning to attend the Midwest Writers Workshop this summer, and maybe one day soon I'll have another win when I'm a published novelist :)

NASA is a Great Place to Visit

I don’t work for NASA (yet, maybe one day), but it is a great place to visit. That is one of the reasons why I made a whirlwind trip to NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. on Feb. 13, 2012 for a news briefing on NASA’s fiscal year 2013 budget and then to NASA Glenn in Cleveland, OH on March 2, 2012.

I was selected by @nasasocial for a tweetup at NASA HQ where chief administrator Charles Bolden was presenting NASA’s FY2013budget. I said whirlwind trip above because I applied to attend it on Feb. 8. I was notified by NASA on the evening of Feb. 10 that I had been selected. I flew out from the Indy airport on Feb. 12. On Monday, Feb. 13, I was in DC visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and NASA HQ.

NASA’s news briefing for the media--including for the first time social media peeps like me--was also broadcast live on NASA TV. The “citizen journalists” selected by NASA to attend this event were seated among journalists representing a variety of media outlets. I was seated in the row directly behind Charles Bolden and before the press conference he turned around to briefly chat with the three of us seated closest to him. He asked where we had come from. To my left was a businesswoman from Ohio. Bolden looked even more surprised and impressed upon hearing I had come from Indiana for this event. I hope information like that makes Bolden and others at NASA see how much the public truly appreciates and respects the work NASA is doing to explore and learn more about the universe under ever increasing budget constraints.

If you haven’t ever visited NASA HQ on a trip to D.C., you really need to make a stop there next time you’re in the area. Although most areas are off limits to the general public, there is a small gift shop and an impressive “secret” information center adjacent to their library where you can score on all kinds of free NASA swag. Yes, I said free. Posters, pamphlets, stickers, clings, bookmarks, and more all free. The library staff is great and very friendly (and if you’re really nice they might even let you touch a shuttle tile like I got to do!)

I had barely returned from that wonderful trip when I got waitlisted for the NASAGlenn Tweetup in Cleveland, OH to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of John Glenn being the first American to orbit the earth. For this tweetup I was allowed to take a guest, so my husband Scott and I both got to attend an exciting day of events that started at the Glenn ResearchCenter where we got to tour hangers and experiment labs as well as meet and talk with NASA employees doing all kinds of cool research. We then moved to the official visitors center at the Great Lakes Science Center before heading to the main event at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.

We were seated on the main floor among a virtual who’s who of NASA VIPs. Speakers at the tribute to Glenn included NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Glenn Director Ramon "Ray" Lugo. Space shuttle mission STS-95 pilot Steve Lindsey who flew on Glenn’s return flight to space also paid tribute to Glenn with a moving story about how his respect and admiration for Glenn only grew more the more he got to know him. The program culminated with the guest of honor, retired Senator John H. Glenn Jr., speaking to those gathered. For a man of 90 years young, Glenn was witty, charming, and sharp as a tack. He was a very inspirational speaker who said he appreciates the need to look back and recognize achievements such as his and NASA’s, but he is more concerned that we and NASA continue to look and move forward.

Everyone responsible for putting both of these NASA Tweetup’s together did amazing work. I continue to be impressed just not by the scientific work that comes from NASA but also their use of social media to increase their communications reach.

NASA describes their vision as follows: To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.

NASA's vision inspires me to want to do and learn more too. So if you ever want to get a glimpse of the future, feel inspired, and experience something larger than your own little corner of the world, I encourage you to visit NASA too. NASA welcomes the public to visit and tour many of their facilities. Whether it is your first time or a return visit, you too will know that NASA truly is a great place to visit.