One of the things CJ mentioned to us during our first class at Pen to Press was vision. Meaning, our vision for our story.
And while in New Orleans, I learned I'd lost my vision. I'd been writing my novel to meet other people's expectations. For example, I'd been trying to pass it off as a cozy mystery even though deep inside I knew better, because that's what a writer friend/mentor of mine expected me to write.
Then, I let others decide it was a romantic suspense. People who had never read a single page were telling me what kind of book I was writing. How silly is that?
Because of this lost vision, I missed a wonderful opportunity to pitch my novel properly. And while all isn't lost since this person and I connected on another project idea, an opportunity was wasted.
So, today I want each of y'all to ponder your vision. For your story, your novel, your writing career. Don't let the expectations of those around you cause you to lose your vision. If you discover you've strayed a bit, then get back on the path that leads to your vision.
Showing posts with label Pen to Press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pen to Press. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Home at last & HOLY MOLY!!!
I have had the most amazing week. I've learned things I'll apply for the rest of my writing career. I met some great writers and made friendships that will last long after this week. And, I met industry professionals who actually showed interest in my writing and my career goals. (Hi Tom...it really was great to meet you. So often writer's are intimidated by those who hold positions such as yours but you made us all feel appreciated and comfortable during the retreat.)
Here's a couple retreat high points.
Tueday afternoon we started classes. My instrustor was CJ Lyons. She writes great books and also teaches online classes. I'll be posting links soon for those but I'm telling you right now...if you can take any of her classes, do so.
We also had our "Welcome" banquet Tuesday evening. Very nice!
Wendesday we spent all day basically mapping out our novels and getting to know our characters better and what drives them. I can't begin to tell how much this helped me. That night, I showed my roommate all we were taught that day and she said it made a major difference for her too.
Thrusday we also had class all day. We worked on our openings and pitching. Learned more great stuff.
Friday morning we practiced pitches, had a synopsis writing workshop and then started meeting with agents and editors in the afternoon. I'll give you more details on that later.
Saturday was spent doing the pitch meetings. All total I had the chanced to talk to six people. And while several weren't in my genre, they let me pitch it to them, gave me some pointers and discussed my novel and other ways to improve it.
We had our "Awards" ceremony about 4:30 Saturday afternoon. Much to my surprise, I won the "Spirit of Excellence" award for our class. Everyone in our class could have won it. I'll post a pix of the "trophy" soon. It's so cool.
Now for other high lights...
There was a guy who played tuba until all hours of the night on the street in front of the hotel. And if he wasn't there, the guy with the drums was. A couple nights my roommate and I were working on homework at 2 a.m. and they were just playing away.
Thursday there was a "street stroll" on the street in front of our hotel. I've got a few pix I'll share of that later too.
Bourbon Street!!! Just WOW!!! I walked along Bourbon Street three times and never had any negative experiences. I saw some things I'd like to unsee but that happens everywhere.
Now, the admonishment.
I'm not sure when Deborah will have the next Pen to Press. My thought is 2012 but that's just me. However, everyone who can, needs to go. If you want to take your writing to the next level then you can't miss the opportunity that Pen to Press offers. I've already told Deborah I'll be back whenever it is, even if I have a novel out there. So, head over to the Pen to Press website, click on the "contact us" link and ask to be added to their mailing list for the next retreat. Again, you won't regret it.
Here's a couple retreat high points.
Tueday afternoon we started classes. My instrustor was CJ Lyons. She writes great books and also teaches online classes. I'll be posting links soon for those but I'm telling you right now...if you can take any of her classes, do so.
We also had our "Welcome" banquet Tuesday evening. Very nice!
Wendesday we spent all day basically mapping out our novels and getting to know our characters better and what drives them. I can't begin to tell how much this helped me. That night, I showed my roommate all we were taught that day and she said it made a major difference for her too.
Thrusday we also had class all day. We worked on our openings and pitching. Learned more great stuff.
Friday morning we practiced pitches, had a synopsis writing workshop and then started meeting with agents and editors in the afternoon. I'll give you more details on that later.
Saturday was spent doing the pitch meetings. All total I had the chanced to talk to six people. And while several weren't in my genre, they let me pitch it to them, gave me some pointers and discussed my novel and other ways to improve it.
We had our "Awards" ceremony about 4:30 Saturday afternoon. Much to my surprise, I won the "Spirit of Excellence" award for our class. Everyone in our class could have won it. I'll post a pix of the "trophy" soon. It's so cool.
Now for other high lights...
There was a guy who played tuba until all hours of the night on the street in front of the hotel. And if he wasn't there, the guy with the drums was. A couple nights my roommate and I were working on homework at 2 a.m. and they were just playing away.
Thursday there was a "street stroll" on the street in front of our hotel. I've got a few pix I'll share of that later too.
Bourbon Street!!! Just WOW!!! I walked along Bourbon Street three times and never had any negative experiences. I saw some things I'd like to unsee but that happens everywhere.
Now, the admonishment.
I'm not sure when Deborah will have the next Pen to Press. My thought is 2012 but that's just me. However, everyone who can, needs to go. If you want to take your writing to the next level then you can't miss the opportunity that Pen to Press offers. I've already told Deborah I'll be back whenever it is, even if I have a novel out there. So, head over to the Pen to Press website, click on the "contact us" link and ask to be added to their mailing list for the next retreat. Again, you won't regret it.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pen To Press Adventure - Day One
While the retreat/worshop hasn't officially started yet, it won't do that until noon tomorrow, it's been day one of the adventure involved with Pen to Press. So, since it's been such an exciting, errr...well, I'd not say exciting but since I'm not really sure of the correct word to use, exciting will have to do.
The morning started off decently enough. We made it to the car rental place right on time but it quickly went downhill from there. The guy in charge wasn't there. I did as the sign said, called the cell phone listed and he told me he had just left from picking up a person and would be back in 5 - 10 minutes. Okay...cool. I can wait.
Now, hubby is in the car waiting. He works an hour away and was actually supposed to be at work but told the boss he'd be a bit late cause I had to get rental car.
So, rental car guy finally shows up about 20 minutes later and takes care of his "other" client. That takes a few minutes so by now hubby has been waiting for about 40 minutes.
My turn...rental car guy swipes my credit card for the deposit and it's declined. Now, I know there is money on it cause I put it there. But he processed it as a debit card instead of credit then tells me "I can't run it agin for 24 hours."
Normally this wouldn't be a problem cause I have my debit card that goes right to my checking account. However, this month, someone charged about $3,000 worth of tickets to Dublin on it and I had to cancel the thing. Needless to say, my checking account is in a total mess and while I do have a new debit card...it won't be approved cause I'm still way in the red.
Little car rental guy is not being any help either so I call my banker who has been helping me straighten out the mess and after she talks to the home office and some other folks, she gets my debit card approved and I get my rental car. Thank you Nikki!!!
By now, hubby has been waiting for a little over an hour...and he still has to drive an hour to work. Not so good. But I get my stuff from the car, load rental and head out. Only thing...I only have 1/8th tank of gas. After gassing up the car, I used the credit card that had previously been declined cause rental car guy didn't know what he was doing.
New Orleans is about a 5 1/2 hour drive and I was getting started almost two hours later than I planned. Which wouldn't have been a problem except I told a friend I'd pick her up at the airport. So, I drive and drive and drive. I did manage to keep it under 80 and the cops were few and far between.
About halfway through happy hour I think I'm getting close to New Orleans and since it is happy hour, I stopped at Sonic and got a slush. While there I asked the carhop how far it was to New Orleans. She tells me about 30 minutes so I call my friend waiting at airport, let her know I'll be there really soon and head out again.
As I'm pulling out of the parking lot...I'm almost sideswiped by a truck pulling a trailed with a lawnmower on it. Thankfully he misses, I didn't spill my slush and I managed to get back on the interstate. There, I see a sign that says "New Orleans 61 miles." I can't drive 61 miles in 30 minutes. I mean, I could but it wouldn't be a good thing so I debate about calling friend and telling her it'll be a bit more than 30 minutes but decide not to. I figured I'd just blame the traffic.
About 45 minutes my cell phone rings. I figure she's wondering where in the world I am so reach for my phone. It's not where I left it. I can't find the thing. I move my map, a couple napkins left over from lunch ( a very ick lunch too) but no phone. I figure it slid off the seat in the accident avoidance thing. I found it after the call ended. *sigh*
I managed to pick up friend at airport but got turned around and got on wrong road to the hotel. Back on the right road we finally get to the French Quarter but again miss a turn.
I don't know if any of you have been here before but there are 900 one way streets and each time I wanted to go up one of the darn things, it was the wrong way. We eventually managed to circle around and get to the hotel and after a few minutes we got checked in and settle in our room.
After a bit, we met another writer friend in the lobby to go find food. The three of us stroll down the streets and end up on Bourbon Street. All I can say about Bourbon Street is "WOW." As we are walking along, we stroll pass a strip club and the "pimp" outside the door tells my friend she needs to come in and make some extra money while she's in town. She declined and we quickly crossed the street.
After we ate, we strolled back up Bourbon Street. By this time, it's dark and there are more people in the streets. Bands are playing in the clubs and music from the stores is being blasted into the street.
We browsed a couple tourist souvenier shops and I bought the perfect mystery writer t-shirt. It's black with white lettering across the front..."I'm smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet."
Things are starting to look up, I'm feeling better. I've managed to cross the street without getting run over, I didn't get propositioned and we made it back to the hotel. After checking in online with the family, I decided to get my shower and get settled in for the evening.
Now, hotel showers are always interesting anyway so I turn on the water, let it run into the tub. It's cold but it'll warm up. Since I'm wanting a shower I flip the little lever, the water stops coming out the faucet and comes out the showerhead....straight onto me. My whole front is soaked with cold water. Now tell me...who turns a showerhead so that it points into the bathroom and not into the shower? I mean really...
I managed to get a really nice hot shower and now I'm settled on the bed with my puter and chocolate. Tomorrow has to be better.:-)
And while I'm thinking about it...I forgot to put the link to the website I used to create my "newspaper clipping." So, here it is.... Newspaper Clipping Generator
The morning started off decently enough. We made it to the car rental place right on time but it quickly went downhill from there. The guy in charge wasn't there. I did as the sign said, called the cell phone listed and he told me he had just left from picking up a person and would be back in 5 - 10 minutes. Okay...cool. I can wait.
Now, hubby is in the car waiting. He works an hour away and was actually supposed to be at work but told the boss he'd be a bit late cause I had to get rental car.
So, rental car guy finally shows up about 20 minutes later and takes care of his "other" client. That takes a few minutes so by now hubby has been waiting for about 40 minutes.
My turn...rental car guy swipes my credit card for the deposit and it's declined. Now, I know there is money on it cause I put it there. But he processed it as a debit card instead of credit then tells me "I can't run it agin for 24 hours."
Normally this wouldn't be a problem cause I have my debit card that goes right to my checking account. However, this month, someone charged about $3,000 worth of tickets to Dublin on it and I had to cancel the thing. Needless to say, my checking account is in a total mess and while I do have a new debit card...it won't be approved cause I'm still way in the red.
Little car rental guy is not being any help either so I call my banker who has been helping me straighten out the mess and after she talks to the home office and some other folks, she gets my debit card approved and I get my rental car. Thank you Nikki!!!
By now, hubby has been waiting for a little over an hour...and he still has to drive an hour to work. Not so good. But I get my stuff from the car, load rental and head out. Only thing...I only have 1/8th tank of gas. After gassing up the car, I used the credit card that had previously been declined cause rental car guy didn't know what he was doing.
New Orleans is about a 5 1/2 hour drive and I was getting started almost two hours later than I planned. Which wouldn't have been a problem except I told a friend I'd pick her up at the airport. So, I drive and drive and drive. I did manage to keep it under 80 and the cops were few and far between.
About halfway through happy hour I think I'm getting close to New Orleans and since it is happy hour, I stopped at Sonic and got a slush. While there I asked the carhop how far it was to New Orleans. She tells me about 30 minutes so I call my friend waiting at airport, let her know I'll be there really soon and head out again.
As I'm pulling out of the parking lot...I'm almost sideswiped by a truck pulling a trailed with a lawnmower on it. Thankfully he misses, I didn't spill my slush and I managed to get back on the interstate. There, I see a sign that says "New Orleans 61 miles." I can't drive 61 miles in 30 minutes. I mean, I could but it wouldn't be a good thing so I debate about calling friend and telling her it'll be a bit more than 30 minutes but decide not to. I figured I'd just blame the traffic.
About 45 minutes my cell phone rings. I figure she's wondering where in the world I am so reach for my phone. It's not where I left it. I can't find the thing. I move my map, a couple napkins left over from lunch ( a very ick lunch too) but no phone. I figure it slid off the seat in the accident avoidance thing. I found it after the call ended. *sigh*
I managed to pick up friend at airport but got turned around and got on wrong road to the hotel. Back on the right road we finally get to the French Quarter but again miss a turn.
I don't know if any of you have been here before but there are 900 one way streets and each time I wanted to go up one of the darn things, it was the wrong way. We eventually managed to circle around and get to the hotel and after a few minutes we got checked in and settle in our room.
After a bit, we met another writer friend in the lobby to go find food. The three of us stroll down the streets and end up on Bourbon Street. All I can say about Bourbon Street is "WOW." As we are walking along, we stroll pass a strip club and the "pimp" outside the door tells my friend she needs to come in and make some extra money while she's in town. She declined and we quickly crossed the street.
After we ate, we strolled back up Bourbon Street. By this time, it's dark and there are more people in the streets. Bands are playing in the clubs and music from the stores is being blasted into the street.
We browsed a couple tourist souvenier shops and I bought the perfect mystery writer t-shirt. It's black with white lettering across the front..."I'm smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet."
Things are starting to look up, I'm feeling better. I've managed to cross the street without getting run over, I didn't get propositioned and we made it back to the hotel. After checking in online with the family, I decided to get my shower and get settled in for the evening.
Now, hotel showers are always interesting anyway so I turn on the water, let it run into the tub. It's cold but it'll warm up. Since I'm wanting a shower I flip the little lever, the water stops coming out the faucet and comes out the showerhead....straight onto me. My whole front is soaked with cold water. Now tell me...who turns a showerhead so that it points into the bathroom and not into the shower? I mean really...
I managed to get a really nice hot shower and now I'm settled on the bed with my puter and chocolate. Tomorrow has to be better.:-)
And while I'm thinking about it...I forgot to put the link to the website I used to create my "newspaper clipping." So, here it is.... Newspaper Clipping Generator
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Writer's Workshop & Conference
Pen to Press is a week long intensive workshop in New Orleans in May of this year. There's days of one on one instruction then a time to pitch to agents and an editor or two. I'll be there with my mystery novel. Let me know if you decide to join us. We'll do lunch.:-)
NETWO Conference This is a really nice day and a half conference. They'll have two NY agents and and editor from Berkley this year. This one is in April at a lakeside campground. I've attended the last two years and love it.
NETWO Conference This is a really nice day and a half conference. They'll have two NY agents and and editor from Berkley this year. This one is in April at a lakeside campground. I've attended the last two years and love it.
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