I attended LTUE this past weekend. I spent a lot of time with some really talented friends and writers. It was inspiring in the deepest sense. Not just the quick emotional high of wanting to get home and write immediately. Instead, it was inspiring on a lower level, a slow burning coal of "I can and want to make this happen." Good times and good people.
Some names to mention: I spent a lot of time with some really good friends: Isaac, Janci, Cavan, Lisa, Eric (x3), Heidi, and a host of others. I also made some new friends: Dennis and Bradley among them. And some really good, friendly writers with whom I have spent enough time that I might venture to call them personal acquaintances. You know, when you can't really call them friends yet, because of lack of time and the professional barriers that you haven't quite climbed, but people who are genuine and with whom I enjoyed meals and such: Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor, John Brown, Dan Wells, and a few others.
Then there were the friends I just didn't get to spend nearly enough time with: Julie Wright, Karen Hoover, Ben, Alex, and a bunch of others. Just too busy.
Ok, so there were too many to name all of them--sorry if I didn't mention some of you.
But I had a blast learning, getting creative, and thinking of my future. I also spent a lot of time promoting the magazines, teaching how to write for us, and soliciting articles.
So, here's a cool piece of info: I'm teaching a class at the LDSStorymakers conference this April, 2010. My class is 10:00am Saturday morning, April 24th. I'm teaching on the why's and how's of writing for the magazines. Should be a fun class.
And if you haven't thought about going, you should! It's going to be an excellent, excellent conference. Lots of writers, published and aspiring, agents, editors, and so on. And lots o fun, too.
Here's the link (I hope it works, I'm still new at this): http://ldstorymakers.com/conference_2010.php
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Saturday, October 31, 2009
World Fantasy Con 2
Another great day at WFC. Yesterday I mostly hung out with new and old good friends. Attended on session for about 2 minutes. Here, I think the game is mostly the socialization the occurs in the halls. One of the more enjoyable moments was discussing with Isaac and Janci about writing for the magazines. Who knew we'd come to a fantasy convention and end up discussing writing for a faith-based magazine and sharing our testimonies and convictions? These are some awesome people!
Today, I'll buy a book, keep my eyes peeled for a few agents I'd like to meet, and then enjoy the rest of the day. Success rating thus far: Huge.
Oh, and I had a great conversation with Beth Meacham, an editor from Tor. She explained that it's best for unagented writers to send their ms to the general editing team rather than to a specific agent because someone will read it much more quickly that way. So I can relax about trying to meet specific editors and chill about that. What a blessing! That's exactly what we did. So the Lord inspired this process even more wonderfully than I knew. Cool
Today, I'll buy a book, keep my eyes peeled for a few agents I'd like to meet, and then enjoy the rest of the day. Success rating thus far: Huge.
Oh, and I had a great conversation with Beth Meacham, an editor from Tor. She explained that it's best for unagented writers to send their ms to the general editing team rather than to a specific agent because someone will read it much more quickly that way. So I can relax about trying to meet specific editors and chill about that. What a blessing! That's exactly what we did. So the Lord inspired this process even more wonderfully than I knew. Cool
Friday, October 30, 2009
World Fantasy Con 1
Arrived yesterday at World Fantasy Con. It's been an excellent convention so far. Stumbled into several editors and agents. Totally blew it with one editor, one agent seemed diffident to begin with, but made a nice connection with Joshua Bilmes and Eddie Schneider from Jabberwocky. They are not actively seeking epic fantasy, but the connection is great, especially because I spent about two hours hanging out with them and some of their signed clients.
Spent much of the time meeting people, going to dinner with Jim Frenkel from Tor (that's the editor I mentioned), and hanging out with some good friends. So far, it's been very successful. I'm learning a ton about interacting with people, polishing my pitch, and learning to relax. At the end of the day, I've realized that editors and agents are just people, like you and me (hey, I'm an editor--shouldn't surprise me), and I can be more relaxed. If my book doesn't sell, I'll just write another one.
Spent much of the time meeting people, going to dinner with Jim Frenkel from Tor (that's the editor I mentioned), and hanging out with some good friends. So far, it's been very successful. I'm learning a ton about interacting with people, polishing my pitch, and learning to relax. At the end of the day, I've realized that editors and agents are just people, like you and me (hey, I'm an editor--shouldn't surprise me), and I can be more relaxed. If my book doesn't sell, I'll just write another one.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Busy Month
Yeah, so my trip to the Marshall Islands and Tonga was fantabulous. Of course, I'm still behind in every conceivable way! Including letting so much time pass between posts. I have some amazing stories to tell about that trip--but that will have to wait for another post.
I've been submitting queries to agents and feeling the pain of rejection. Wondering if my query just isn't up to par, or perhaps my ms, my first chapter, really, starts too slow. Major action takes place about 10 pages in. I had developed a slower point of entry to get the reader acquainted with the world setting and the imminent problems, but that may not be the best approach. I've been toying with starting just a few paragraphs before the major spell is cast--really get to the point where all is set in motion--but haven't been brave enough to make the edits permanent.
And when I was feeling dejected, I had this feeling, a spiritual feeling, that said to just relax and be patient. So I'm taking some time off pushing for agents until I see a little bit further down the road. The ms has been off to Tor for about 3 or 4 weeks now. Still too early to hear their response. I'm hopeful, but not planning on anything great. I do want to submit a short story to Writers of the Future, so perhaps I'll turn writing time to that, or to my next book. But for now, I've got plenty of articles to write for the magazines, and others' works to critique. So perhaps now is the time to focus first on those things. Feels like a good decision.
I've been submitting queries to agents and feeling the pain of rejection. Wondering if my query just isn't up to par, or perhaps my ms, my first chapter, really, starts too slow. Major action takes place about 10 pages in. I had developed a slower point of entry to get the reader acquainted with the world setting and the imminent problems, but that may not be the best approach. I've been toying with starting just a few paragraphs before the major spell is cast--really get to the point where all is set in motion--but haven't been brave enough to make the edits permanent.
And when I was feeling dejected, I had this feeling, a spiritual feeling, that said to just relax and be patient. So I'm taking some time off pushing for agents until I see a little bit further down the road. The ms has been off to Tor for about 3 or 4 weeks now. Still too early to hear their response. I'm hopeful, but not planning on anything great. I do want to submit a short story to Writers of the Future, so perhaps I'll turn writing time to that, or to my next book. But for now, I've got plenty of articles to write for the magazines, and others' works to critique. So perhaps now is the time to focus first on those things. Feels like a good decision.
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