Conference Notes

You thought I WROTE notes? Okay.. I did.
But they weren't that interesting. The sketch above was at the beginning of the Friday writer's intensive. We were seated at tables of about eight other writers and an agent or editor. The idea was for each writer to read 500 words of their work and then get feedback from the professional at their table and the other writers. In the afternoon we switched writers and pros. At the morning session I had Michael Bourret who is a very nice, funny, and no airs guy. He gave great advice to all of us. The other writers at the table were quite insightful and accomplished in their own right (Hi Jeff! Hi Kipp!). Same goes for the afternoon. I was very pleased with the advice I received. It drove me to really assess the way I began my WIP and took me even deeper to adjust a few key plot points.

The second sketch is super agent, Rosemary Stimola. Not sure I captured her likeness very well except for her outstanding hairdo! She is one cool lady and I wished she talked longer. Sadly I cannot post the sketch of the gentleman who preceded her on the grounds it might incriminate me. I plead the fifth. Anyone who was there will know exactly what I mean.

It was a very useful weekend. Allyn Johnston, whose breakout session was on picture books, should get a prize for "most prepared". This woman put together about 250 hand-stapled dummy books so we could "turn the page" with her. Her joy and love for what she does was evident in every word.

Oh ..and how can I forget! I MET LIBBA BRAY!!! Okay. For two seconds; but I love that woman! She is very down to earth and lots of fun. And an awesome writer as some of you may already know. She is a rock star.

So all that aside, the high point for me was when me and my other two critmates (aka Team Munchkin Cudas) found a cozy corner in the Hyatt and tore the throats out of our WIPs and stitched them back together in the space of two hours. Cath and Dhonielle—you guys are AWESOME!

For my new followers, Cudas is one of my online crit groups. Kate Milford and Lindsay Eland are Cudas. Then there's my other crit group The Wordslingers, of which Heidi Ayarbe and Christine Johnson, (whose books I will be featuring in the upcoming months) are members.

Okay. That's all. Would love to hear from others who were there, too.