F is for Farland

David Farland (aka David Wolverton) has been around for a while. He's taught some of the greatest writers of our day and is constantly engaged in teaching more. He's the perfect example of a life-long career writer, from his win 25 years ago in Writers of the Future to his most recent book, the young-adult fantasy, NIGHTINGALE. (Where you'll find my name in the acknowledgments!)

I've never been able to travel to one of his awesome workshops (though I know those who have and they rave), but I've been able to sit at his feet at several other lectures and classes. He knows his stuff, folks. From the most basic composition questions to what books and marketing will be like in the future, he's got the experience and the flexibility to survive long after wimpy writers fall by the wayside. If you can possibly get to his upcoming Superstars of Writing seminar (with enough of his bestseller friends to make anyone drool), it's coming up fast on April 30-May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I can't talk about David, though, without mentioning his brother, Jim. Jim has been helping David for years. Jim sends out the Daily Kick (which you really should subscribe to) and, in 2010, came up with the idea to start up an online community of writer's groups, to help those without a group find one. Pure Genius.

I live in a small city. There are a few writers around here, but not enough to form a great let's-get-together pool. For over a year, I tried to get a writer's group going, if only for the motivation. Didn't work out. So I joined David Farland's Writer's Groups with rejoicing as soon as the first forum opened up.

David and Jim are also responsible for letting me host David Farland's Authors' Advisory. That's a podcast where I, along with my cohost, Mike, interview awesome authors on a conference call that anyone can join in on. I've been a total slacker for a few months in setting up guests but I love love LOVE talking to authors about writing. Plus, it's the perfect excuse to approach them at conferences! :)

In short, I owe a lot of my little place in our writing community to David Farland and his brother Jim. Without them, I'd probably still be struggling with motivation and trying to find a writer's group that fits my needs. I can't express how thankful I am to them both.

Which writers have impacted your writing / life / career?