The conference began on Friday Afternoon with a Question and Answer session with Sherrilyn Kenyon. I was completely amazed with her weekly goal of 100 pages.
Friday evening was a cocktail with a kickoff speech from Wendy Etherington. This was where you get a look at the agents and editors and possibly an introduction. This was lots of fun. People were meeting their friends from the internet for the first time. One lady I spoke with was meeting her agent for the first time. I’m a people watcher… It was fun to watch people jockeying positions to meet their favorite author.
Saturday was the intense day… intense because I had an editor appointment and intense because the day is full of workshops.
I want to say this is almost a surefire way to get a request to what you’ve got. If you have a chance to go to attend a conference, I would advise to make your editor/agent appointment for a few reasons… for the practice of pitching your story, and for the ability to write “requested material” on your envelope so your work doesn’t get into the slush pile.
In the morning, I attended the session Making Your Readers Really Care with Sandy Blair. Sandy Blair writes those “in the Kilt” books. I attended a workshop titled “Wait, I Can’t Shoot the Deputy!” How Secondary Characters Can Make or Break a Novel by Ramona Richards.
Lisa Gardner was the keynote speaker after lunch. She was a great speaker. She just told her about her own writing life… that she wrote her first novel as a child. She was younger than I expected and funnier.
Debra Dixon did a 2 hour workshop on putting GMC in Your Hero’s Journey. In the last set of workshops, I attended Lisa Gardner’s discussion on developing a great villain.
The Maggie Banquet was Saturday night. It’s always fun to watch people win and receive awards (and to see what they wear).
The next day was shorter… only morning sessions.
OK… I admit it… Sunday morning I slept late and missed the first round of workshops. But I did make Rita Herron and Jennifer St. Giles workshop on Writing on the Edge: Techniques of Keeping Tension in Your Book.
They had the autographing session midday. This is also a fun social time. They raffle off baskets of books etc. I didn’t win anything but its fun to watch. You get to meet your favorite authors and buy their books. I wish I would have taken pictures!!!!
Did I mention the goody table? Throughout the entire conference, there were 3 long tables constantly being restocked with free books, pens, buttons, magnets, bookmarks, writing tip sheets, free writer magazines, did I mention free books?? This is also a fun and exciting place to visit… and revisit ;)
It was a great time… I highly recommend the conference experience!
Happy Writing!
Mary
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