- Having now been tagged in not one, but TWO, friends’ blogs, my ass has been appropriately kicked into gear and I’m restarting this blog. Fingers crossed that life, twins, and my new writing schedule will allow me to update it a couple times a month … realistically, that will probably be monthly, but hey, I’m a sunny-side-up, silver-linings kinda girl.To kick off this endeavor, I’m going to ride in on the shiny feelings still lingering from the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association conference I attended in mid-July. Putting aside the three days and nights I had away from my toddler twin boys (I love you boys, I do, but mama needed a break), there is nothing more healing to my soul than surrounding myself with other creative people, especially writers. Seriously, all you have to do is turn to the person sitting next to you and you already have something in common.
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I totally (accidentally) crashed the contest winner’s party!
- The days were long (usually 8am-5pm, plus a dinner or ceremony from 7pm-9pm) … followed by heavy drinking until the wee (for me) hours of the night (hey, midnight IS late). And since we’re being honest here, there was usually drinking in that two hour break, too. There was nothing better than taking over a corner of the hotel’s bar with our ever growing group of new and renewed friends. I think we had 12-15 of us at any given time.
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Nothing more fun than talking about writing…
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… except drinking and talking about writing!
But back to the conference. I convinced my lovely friend Janice – an emerging writer – to go with me. Not only was it fantastic to have some one-on-one time together, but I credit her with the success I had when meeting with agents. The night before my agent session, she goaded and grilled me until my pitch was nearly perfect. I had interest from three of the four agents I met with, including one who asked for the author’s holy grail: the FULL MANUSCRIPT! You don’t know how exciting this seemingly small request is to wanna-be-published writers! (for those of you in the know, yes, this was for my long in progress novel Almost Like Magic)
- For any new writers who might be reading this, I cannot stress how important these conferences are. Even if you aren’t ready to pitch agents and small publishers just yet, the seminars and lectures are usually worth the price of admission. Add in surrounding yourself with other people who do what you do, and you’ve just found yourself the frosting flower on the cake. I left on Sunday morning exhausted, energized, and ready to dive into any of the dozen projects waiting in the wings of my imagination. (though I think my liver is still recovering).Thank you to all of my new/renewed friends, and to Janice for making my mini-vacation awesome!
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Janice, winner of the “steamy” books raffle prize!
For any new writers who might be reading this, I cannot stress how important these conferences are. Even if you aren’t ready to pitch agents and small publishers just yet, the seminars and lectures are usually worth the price of admission. Add in surrounding yourself with other people who do what you do, and you’ve just found yourself the frosting flower on the cake.
Here’s to exciting new chances. Happy writing, everyone!
~Jill
(also, I have no frikkin’ idea what’s up with the formatting on this post … sorry! I tried to fix it, but WP has its own ideas today)
