I Always Wanted to Write a Book! Conference was a Success!

GRRWG hosted it's first ever writer's conference this past weekend and it was a rousing success!  The committee did a great job, everyone pitched in to help out and it ran so smoothly that if anything had been falling apart behind the scenes (and from my experience something usually does) no one knew about it.  Yay Team!!

Highlight for me - besides the sessions - was the agent pitch.  I lost my "agent pitch virginity" at this conference which ended with a request for the first 3 re-written chapters of The Reluctant Psychic.  Yay me!  She made it really easy for all of us and was such fun to have at the conference. 

While I’ve survived my conferences, I have a load to do this week.  First, I need to study and pass a tech exam that’s needed for work for a partner relationship that we have.  Second, I need to WRITE!  Third, I need to get a critique group scheduled with Sidney and anyone else that’s looking for a group and meet up sometime this week.  That’s on top of a meeting I’m hosting tomorrow for a bunch of techies.  I’m busy, busy, busy.

Lucky for me I have quirky pets to make me laugh.  This is Marco, our Maine Coon kitten (yes, even at 18.5 lbs. he’s still a kitten for another year).

 

Happy Halloween!!  Marco “picked” his pumpkin.  (No worries, I grew this one myself, no chemicals involved).

Agents, Editors, and Publishers - Oh My!

Still no word from Agent #2, which is fine. My sister's taking a crack at editing the book for me, so it's just as well I guess.

I've been digging through the various references that MaryJanice wrote about and am finding it a bit overwhelming. So many editors and publishers and agents to try to sift through and take a "best guess" at who to approach next. I'm hoping the Sisters-in-Crime group can give me some tidbits on that. After taxes get paid, I'm paying my membership fees to be a full-fledged Guppy and see if I can get any forward progress on this thing.

I did take some time and do a second go-round on the short stories I have for GlimmerTrain and plan to get them submitted in time for the May contest. I'm not sure my writing is in their style though, so I'll have to wait and see.

My Aunt shared one of her non-fiction pieces with me. I can see we have the same typos style, but our writing is different. Hers is more fluid, and richer in nature, whereas mine is blunt, a bit more quick and not nearly as graceful. Ann Rice has a style that is rich and dense, a type of writing that makes you feel like you're eating the book in a most indulgent style. My Aunt's is a lighter form of rich, more like a nice rich dessert mousse. (I must be hungry for chocolate.)

I'm getting ready to dig back into Collie's book in the never ending round-robin of "tag, you have to write about me next". Maybe Collie will get published first, only God in her infinite wisdom knows for certain. In any case, the girls still clamor for my attention and I feel like I'm really starting to get back into the swing of it again. Perhaps because my workload looks very light for the next few months, so I have more time to dedicate to putting their voices to electronic paper. Oh, and I can't forget the boys as Paul just chimed in that I haven't put nearly enough work into his piece of the story.

Do all writers have characters that talk to them? And I wonder, how many people actually read my ramblings? I was surprised to find that someone I have great respect for has been following a tech blog I work on, and even more so when I discovered several others who read it but don't officially "follow" it.

Waiting Anew

Well, I sent out my second query letter to my second choice agent, who happens to represent Dakota Cassidy. Dakota writes paranormal romances, that are wickedly funny and make me laugh like MaryJanice's Betsy books. Oddly enough, Dakota lives in Texas, as does Victoria Laurie, and Jess' lives in Austin. (I'm taking that as a sign). I "think" I'm a similar style, but not 100% certain of that.

Anyway, I'll be waiting for a few weeks before hitting up the next agent. In the meantime, I'm wrapping up and proofing two short stories for the GlimmerTrain contest that are due on February 28th. I may do a short story on Merie, or one of the other Chosen and submit it as a regular submission at a later date to GlimmerTrain.

I'm also debating about joining in on a contest with the SouthWest Writers group in New Mexico. But I may hold off on that as I still need to join the Sisters In Crime "guppies" group for newbies. Monica Ferris is a big part of that group and they have conferences that are close enough (and cheap enough) for me to attend from time to time. And I love her hats!

Either way, I'll be waiting, and writing, and waiting for a few folks who are taking a stab at editing the first draft (did I mention that I haven't edited the book yet - I sent a first draft to my first agent pick) of the Jess book. I'll be trying to edit that as well, but Jess, Collie, and Merie are all clammoring for their stories to continue moving forward. So, I guess I'm off to write!

Agent Hunting

I did it!  I found the agent information I was looking for...now I just need to get the letter drafted and off to him.  Patience will be much needed as their lead time for a response is anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks.  I'm hoping that because he has an author that is in the same genre that he might be piqued...especially since she's one I read anytime a new book comes out.

MaryJanice Davidson doesn't use an agent, she represents herself, but she's also well published.  So I decided to follow Victoria Laurie's route and get an agent.  And it will be her "fault" if I end up with the same agent; as it was in one of her books that had lots of links to my life that she mentioned her agent by name in the forward.  I took it as a sign.

I have to, don't I?  After all, my main character has similar abilities to one of her main characters...not the one in the book I was reading, but still it's the thought.

I was perusing another blog today that led to a link that points out the odds of being able to be a successully published author (meaning you earn enough on your books to just be a writer and nothing else) are somewhere between 1 in 200 to 1 in 500.  Here's to hoping my luck holds out!  I was accepted to the only university that I applied to (much to my mother's anguish...that I only applied to 1 university, not that I was accepted).

Wish me luck!  Mostly to getting the agent letter done...then luck that he'll pick me up...and then luck we'll find a publisher to find it.

And once I get those agent letters shipped off, I'll try to introduce you to the ladies, as well as the new Miracle Max and Fairy series children's book ideas I have.