BookingIt

Get Better . I'd had all my appointments on Friday so Saturday afternoon, I wandered into the appointment room at the ACFW conference thinking that it would be smart to see if there were any more openings. There was one, a mentoring appointment with longtime editor, Andy Meisenheimer . I decided to do it though my plan of what to talk with him about was pretty sketchy. Appointment time came. I popped into the room, shook his hand, sat down (maybe not in that order but I can't remember now) and then frankly told him I wasn't sure what to be mentored on but it seemed like a good idea. I asked him for whatever advice he thought a new author should have. The poor guy seemed startled at first but he recovered and gave me some of the best advice I've ever heard. Get Better . I highly recommend a mentoring appointment if you ever go to a conference. Meisenheimer was knowledgeable, encouraging and I just overall really enjoyed talking to him. I left the meeting with...

When I went to the ACFW conference, I had an editor meeting. I'd heard that particular editor liked scenes to be fleshed out at the beginning. Because of what I'd heard, I gave her my prologue to read instead of my first chapter. Sure enough, the first thing she said was that she liked how I'd set the scene rather than jumping into action. This isn't to say we shouldn't start with action. We should almost always start with action that's appropriate for the genre. But before you jump into the action, set your scene. Orient the reader. Give them a visual of where the character is. This definitely doesn't need to be a paragraph-long thing. A few sentences often are fine. Every new scene needs to be set somehow, and early on. Do you set your scenes? Does too much description in a book bother you? Or do you like heavy description?

On my last post Deb mentioned wanting to hear about the good stuff from the conference. So here we go: 1) Amazing networking. I met many of my blogger friends, plus new bloggers. 2) I met my wonderful and generous crit partner. Also roomed with her, which was awesome. 3) Books, books, and more books. They gave away a whole bunch too! 4) Seeing editors and agents and realizing many of them are my age. Kind of a funky feeling there, but good. 5) Delicious desserts 6) Tree Climbing 7) Being surrounded by other writers is one of the biggest supports I've ever felt. It's incredible. So that's the good stuff from the conference. There's so much more I could write about, but others have covered it better than me. The links below are for fellow bloggers who did more detail on various aspects of the conference. Katie's Post Jody's Post Krista's Post .html">Eileen's Post Jeannie's Post Any links you all want to add?

I tried hard to keep my foot on the ground, but gravity didn't cooperate and my size ten got stuck in my mouth a few times. The worse faux pas was when I saw an author whose name I recognized and since she was standing right next to me, I told her how much I liked her book. And then I paused, horror filling me as I realized that I couldn't remember which book of hers I'd read. And then I tried to fill up that awkward silence by saying I knew I'd read a book of hers, but I couldn't remember which...uh, yeah. Not quite the right thing to say. That was my worst thing, I think, especially because I didn't know whether I'd maybe hurt her feelings. The last thing I'd want to do was make an author feel like her book wasn't memorable. The second blooper was less serious. I'd just met some fellow bloggers and we were talking and I threw out the word heroine in our conversation. The blogger (wasn't it you, Katie ?) looked at me funny and it dawned on m...

If there's one thing that hammered home some reality for me at the conference, it was hearing horror stories about agents or editors. And what reality smacked me upside the head, you ask? They're human. Yep. Fallible, exhausted, excitable, annoyed, happy humans. At a conference it can be easy to get caught up in the rush of meeting someone who can make one of our dreams come true that sometimes editors and agents tend to take on celebrity status. I was shocked when I heard the first story of rudeness, but then I took notice of my surroundings and slowly, slowly drifted back to Earth. Pitch appointments were all day long for these professionals. About five sit in a big room at different tables and in fifteen minute increments they listen to us pitch, they read our work and they (hopefully) give their opinion. One agent whose class I attended could barely speak in the evening, her voice was so hoarse. Lesson learned? They're at the conference for work, not play (well, not too...

The biggest, most wonderful part of the conference was meeting all my writing friends. My feet still hurt from walking in heels and my heart is still happy from bonding with these lovely women. It was cool to see who these ladies are, and hear their voices, outside the cyber world. Left to Right: Eileen , Jeannie , Jaime , Me, Katie , Jody Done anything lately that was somewhat painful but you didn't care because you were so happy? Ever met other writers? Or someone who had a similar passion to yours? How'd it go?

I didn't get my teeth as white as I wanted, but I've been working on other things. Here's what every writer needs to have in their arsenal when heading to a conference (if they've completed a manscript): Fiction Proposal : Harder sounding than it actually is. The toughest part for me is the comparable books section One-Sheet : Kind of fun to make, actually. Here's some examples . Pitch : Blech. You know how I feel about this. Flash Drive : Just in case anything weird happens, like my beautiful papers get soaked, or an editor wants to read the full, ASAP. (lol) Folder: Buying one at Wal-Mart on Sunday, to hold all my stuff in. Business Cards : Not sure who will keep them but from what I gather, they're a good idea. Maybe you've gone to a conference, maybe you haven't, but have you needed any of the above? Created any? What's the hardest part for you? On Monday the fourteenth, I have a guest posting about a new, very cool writing opp...

Oh Vanity of vanities.... In preparation for the conference I'm going to put my body through some painful things. Eyebrow pluckings, teeth whitening and mustache removal. Anyone else interested in adding to my confession of vanity? Have you ever gone through a painful experience in order to look good? What's the craziest thing you've ever done to yourself?

You all may know that I and several other bloggers are going to the ACFW conference in three weeks. In preparation, I've been working on my pitch. There's a little problem though. I can write it fine, but when it comes to talking....my tongue messes up. When I'm nervous, I talk too fast, I talk too quiet, I use the wrong words or I *gasp* stutter over my syllables. Or worse, come off sounding as nervous as I am, maybe even arrogant. *cringe* Have you ever verbally pitched someone? Does trying your pitch out on friends/family help? My hair feels like it may turn gray (I know the day is coming, blech). Any advice for this pitching newbie?

I wanted to find a funny video but couldn't, which stinks. Basically, writers do some crazy stuff. I've heard it before and I heard it again last Saturday. When you're at a conference, be POLITE. We're all polite on here and I doubt any of us would do anything too weird... LOL. Remember, no following an editor or agent in the bathroom. Ever. When I was at my one and only conference, I heard a woman talking through the stall door to a magazine editor. The editor was the one on the toilet. It made me cringe, and I was a relative newbie. Then the authors told a story about an editor being followed to her room by a writer. Eek! No, no, no, no.... Have you ever witnessed bad manners at a conference? How about crazy behavior?

My biggest concern right now is what I learned at the meeting about conference apparel. Flip-flops are a no-no. Eek. I wore them often at my first conference. So now I have to buy some new shoes because all I own are flip-flops, nasty tennis shoes and open-toed heels. Business casual, that's how we're supposed to dress when we go to a conference. For me, it's helpful to remember what I wore when I worked at a bank. Slacks, nice capris, pretty shirts. If you've been to a conference, have you ever dressed too casual? Too fancy? What does business casual mean to you, and do you think it makes you look more professional?