Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break – Melinda Carroll

This afternoon N.L. and I hit the road for the Yosemite Writers Conference. Along the way we talked about writing, writers, blogging, social change, social networking sites, local media, the conference, and even rocks and geology all while the Killers blasted from the radio a song about a Las Vegas casino called Sam’s Town. We both agreed that it takes more than just being a great writer to get published. It’s about the connections you make, your author platform, and self-promotion. All that networking along with your great writing might just be the luck you need to connect with a literary agent or editor at a writer’s conference to become a published author.

Luck is hard to come by in the literary world on the quest to be published. You can’t wait for luck. You have to make things happen. You have to take risks. You have to put yourself out there.

At the time we didn’t know a casino up the road and a little luck would be the beginning of our Yosemite Writers Conference experience.

Not big gamblers N.L. and I are not big fans of casinos, however, the Chukchansi casino on Highway 41 seemed like a great place to stop for a bathroom break.

We walked through the casino past zombie-like gamblers feeding slot machines as the festive sounds of the spinning slot machine wheels filled our ears. It was intoxicating. Those bells and whistles, the spinning numbers, the chance to be lucky, the dream of a big jackpot, everyone was hypnotized.

N.L. and I decided to spend five dollars on the Wheel of Fortune dollar slot machines. I only had three ones so I put them in a machine and hit “bet max credit” the wheels spun around and I lost my three dollars. That was enough gambling for us. We decided to check out the restaurants.

We walked past a few restaurants when a slot machine with flying spinning balls caught our attention. It was a Big Spin Slotto (lotto) dollar slot machine. The flying balls were cool we decided to waste a few more dollars. I put ten dollars into the Slotto machine and bet one credit at a time to make the experience last longer than three seconds. On my last dollar the wheels spun around two sevens and a triple space, I had won. N.L. and I watched the credits add up to $454! We both hit the cash-out button and found a cashier.


That face is one of total shock!

Luck?

I’ve never been that lucky before, but by investing thirteen dollars I had just covered my conference expenses. I would call that luck.

Basking in my lucky winnings, we ate dinner at an Asian restaurant in the casino. At the end of the meal, the fortune in my fortune cookie said: “You will gain money by a speculation or lottery.”

A strange coincidence?

I wonder what Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Cosmopolitan’s bedside astrologer, author of Born on a Rotten Day and Love on a Rotten Day, and a presenter at this year’s Yosemite Writers Conference would have to say about it.

Perhaps this stroke of luck will continue through the conference and the connections N.L. and I make for Noveltown and for our own writing careers.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

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Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

This entry was posted by Matildakay, on Thursday, August 23, 2007. You can leave your response.