On a Conference High!

I'm still coming down from my conference high.

This past weekend I attended the LDStorymakers Conference and had a blast!

Here are some of the highlights:

-Spent six hours in a super thorough crit group. Who was the host? The fab Elana Johnson! I would like to get inside that woman's brain (maybe). Her ideas on how to shape our manuscripts were fabulous.

-Got to meet so many of my blogging buddies. Seriously, does everyone who blogs live out west? There are too many to even name...because I just tried and it was over 20!

-I got to have breakfast with most of my online crit group.

-Did my first ever in person pitch to an editor. Yes, I did get a request. No, it wasn't a full. Yes, it was still cool. Just being able to sit down (once the nerves left my body) and chat with her, was priceless. It's true people. Agents and editors are people too:)

-The learning. Unbelievable how much I was able to pack into my brain about writing. If you haven't been to a writing conference, you really need to go!

-Some quality time with my lil sister. She's sixteen and an aspiring writer and it was because of her that I was able to jump on a plane and go to this conference in the first place. Oh to have the perks once more of living at home and getting awesome Christmas presents. At least she included me in this wish of her:) Thanks Caity!

I would love to post some pictures, but for some reason I can never find my stupid sd card reader when I want to. I'm sure you've seen a lot of them just from the other blogs though, so yeah.

All in all, it was a blast.

Now, it's time to get to work!

Have you ever been to a writer's conference?

Conference Updates

This weekend I was able to attend my first ever writer's conference. It was the SCBWI conference in Nashville, TN and wow is all I've got to say! Okay, it isn't even close to all I have to say. If you haven't been to one you REALLY should try to go. It was not only a wonderful learning experience, but being around writers...and not just any writers, but writers that write for the same age and genre, is almost zen-like:)
Not only did I leave feeling I learned more, but I left with a sense of, I can do this! No, it isn't always easy but it is possible.

Some highlights that I constantly want to sqee over:

-I did a class with agent Tina Wexler (I love her by the way!) called First Pages where a person randomly reads submissions of first pages and then Tina crits them. Well I got there late and had to sit in the very front so I got a great view of what she was pulling out of the box and wouldn't you know, the first one was mine! Yep, I literally felt like I was in a scene from a novel. My heart was thumping so hard it was in my mouth. I've never had my work read out loud before so this was just crazy! What was even crazier was her response. She was smiling as she took the microphone and said something along the lines of, "I guess you can tell when I like something from my smile." Nuh uh! She liked it! Then she said my descriptions were evocative and so on and I don't remember because I was about to explode from the inside out:) She did have a crit about the grammar in one sentence and stupid me was so freaked out by the whole experience that I don't ever remember what it was. Oh well. I'll figure it out.

- Another class just like that but with queries, done by the fab Erin Murphy, had my query at the end of the stack. Not nearly as mind boggling that way just so you know. Well, low and behold, she had great feedback too! Said it was an ambitious story and my personality showed through and it was a good personality and that's a plus and that she would request more pages. Woot!

- For lunch Erin Murphy came and sat at our lunch table. She is just cool people how laid back she is. One tip I learned from her at lunch. Don't EVER slide a manuscript under the bathroom stall of an agent when their doing their biz:)

- I took part in my first face-to-face crit group and got amazing feed back and some things I know I have to work on.

-I made awesome connections and gave out loads of business cards for beta reader hook-ups.

The whole weekend was made of cool. And guess what? I didn't puke once:)

I can't wait to go to another one!

Until next time...
Keep writing. Keep learning.

Conference Here I Come

I swear I feel like this is the first day of a brand new school. It's a school I want to go to but I have these visions of no one liking me or everyone being way better at the craft than I am. I know. Stupid. I need to quit.
I also keep trying to go over a conversation...or elevator pitch just in case some awesome lady like, say, oh I don't know, Erin Murphy wants to know what I'm writing about. Everything I keep coming up with sucks. Maybe because I keep stumbling over my words like I stutter. Maybe.
Anyways, wish me luck! I can't wait, but I may puke. Good times.

Before I leave a big what's up to my 401 followers! Very cool:)

And don't forget to sign up for the fantastic blogfest E.R. King and I have planned for you. Killer Characters Blogfest be the name, fun be the game. Elana Johnson is helping us out with the prizes so you really, I mean really don't want to miss out!

Until next time...
Keep writing. Keep learning.

Write it and go to a conference!

With the recent WriteOnCon just having ended and my first writers conference weeks away, I thought what better way to start this Monday off than to go over some musts you need to take to a writer's conference. Since I am as green as they come when it comes to these things, I have left you some links that I found waaaay helpful. Maybe you will too.

Do you know what to take to a conference?
Writer's Conference Tool Kit

Along with the tool kit we have to remember the dos and don'ts once we get there.
Tips Attending Writers Conference

Natalie Fischer is a pretty awesome Asst. lit agent with Bradford Lit Agency and she has some killer advice on conferences HERE, the pitch session HERE and networking at a conference HERE.

And lastly, here is smorgasbord of about all you need to know when going to a writers conference from Absolute Write.
Writers' Conference- Are the all they should be?

What about you? Have you been to a conference? If so what did you take away from them? If not, do you think they are important for a writer?