Why can't my muse give me a story in order? It's always like a Cordy vision, minus pain and puking, mind you.And I've nsm got an internal Wesley(hmm, that sounds dirty...) to help me connect the dots. What I have is brain damage and tense issues.And a whodunnit overwhelmed with flashbacks and stuff...I tell myself it'll fit together later but maybe not.

P-C, I'm still not sure what the heck Shaun of the Dead is.

We make about two non-kid movies a year, these days, and maybe two kid movies. They're so expensive, and we need a babysitter. Frankly, we'd rather go out to dinner together, than the movies (most of which, imo, are not worth the price of admission). We rent 'em, later. That way, when we invariably fall asleep during them, we can watch the end later, without paying again. *g*

t /shakes cane

P-C, I'm still not sure what the heck Shaun of the Dead is.

It's a romantic comedy. With zombies.

Aren't they all?

So. Writers conference. I'll talk about some of the workshops I attended, and then go back to the editor/agent panel and my editor and agent appointments, since the former is just useful and interesting info, while the latter is all about angst and choices and Where I Want My Career to Go, despite the fact I don't technically have a career just yet.

Oh, first a really random comment--I'm feeling a lot prettier than I did 72 hours ago. One person I met commented that she was remembering my name by associating it with "great hair and cool glasses." And someone else commented I looked way too young to have a baby--they'd had me pegged as early 20's. I'm 33.

OK, interesting tidbits from workshops:

1. If you're busy with life stuff, commit to a minimum of 15 minutes a day with butt in chair, writing. You'll be surprised how much you get done, because you'll be anticipating that 15 minutes all day.

2. I went to a workshop using psychological and theatrical techniques for getting to know your characters. I did all the exercises as Jack, because I realized he really was a bit of a Marty Stu. Not anymore. Now I'm not sure what to do with his newly discovered dark side, even though he's still far from being a particularly dark or angst-filled character.

3. Presenter at workshop on writing sex scenes also has Southern Baptist Southerners in her family. She told me I basically have to give myself permission to risk offending them, but from her own experience they probably won't freak out as much as I expect.

4. Nice workshop on promotion. I'm already plotting where I could do booksignings and who I could finagle to show up in each city.

Editor/agent stuff in next post, because, let's face it, that's the big stuff.

So. Saturday morning after breakfast we had a 1-hour editor/agent panel. We had two editors, one from NAL and one from Tor, and two agents, one who does all romance and another who does romance, mystery, general fiction, nonfiction, and maybe more that I've forgotten. She's also a lawyer specializing in literary contract law. I'll call the agents Michelle and Elaine, because those are their names.

Got further confirmation of it being a bad time for trying to break in as a historical author. Angst, angst, angst. However, no one thinks the historical is dying, and there's always room for someone with a good story and a unique voice. What's selling really, really well now is anything paranormal and chick lit or romance with a chick litty vibe. Which does me no good whatsoever. It's not like I can drop everything and write vampires or chick lit.

(That said, I loved the Tor editor so much I was half tempted to turn James into a vampire and Jack a werewolf on the spot so I could pitch to her. (Tor being a fantasy/sf publisher, that's the only kind of romance they buy.))

I also really liked Elaine--I'd had a good feeling about her ever since I looked at her agency's website, and was delighted to hear that as a reader there's nothing she likes better than a good historical. Michelle seemed really nice, too, and she represents several authors from our chapter. But she was almost too happy and bubbly for my taste.

So. Panel over, and it's pitch time. The pitching was in 20-minute group sessions that went on throughout the day Saturday. I'd requested early sessions, since I had to leave mid-afternoon to make it to the M's game/Edgar farewell/Ichiro worship session. So I pitched to the NAL editor at 10:30 and to Elaine at 11:00. I'd revised my pitch on the fly into a succinct, hooky description of both my books, with a closing statement on why I think romances with a Napoleonic War focus are an underdeveloped niche within the popular Regency setting that could have a really strong reader appeal.

There were five of us in the NAL session, and as luck would have it, she went clockwise, which left me to go last. Two of the first three writers used a good 7 or 8 minutes each, and when the moderator came by with the 2-minute warning, two of us hadn't even started yet. (I don't blame the writers, BTW. They hadn't realized the pitch sessions were going to be group rather than one-on-one, so they hadn't known to prep a punchy pitch.)

So I have now discovered that if I really have to, I can pitch two novels and talk about my general vision as a writer in approximately 45 seconds. And, if the comments two of the writers made to me at lunch are to be believed, do a pretty darn good job of it. Apparently the editor thought so, too, because she wants a partial of Lucy to see if it'll fit their traditional Regency line. Unfortunately, she wasn't so interested in Anna, because they're really only looking for new writers doing the traditional London Season/country house party/ballroom/drawing room story. War-torn Spain with a commoner hero, NSM. More on that later.

Incidentally, of the five of us, she only requested two partials. The other was from the other person who had to pitch in 45 seconds. Coincidence? Maybe, but I still say the moral of the story is Don't Ramble, even if you have time to.

Five minutes to catch my breath, and I'm right back in to pitch to Elaine. There were only three of us, so it was a much more relaxed session. She had the opposite reaction to the NAL editor--she wasn't that crazy about Lucy, but she thought Anna sounded like a really compelling story idea. Since Anna isn't finished yet, I'm to send her a partial and synopsis of Lucy as well as a synopsis of Anna. I could be overly optimistic here, since she only has the capacity to take on a handful of new clients, but I have a really good feeling about her.

I'm feeling discombobulated over the NAL editor's preference for Lucy, because everyone else who heard me pitch--other writers in my sessions, the group I practiced with on Friday afternoon, etc.--prefers Anna, and my marketing plan, such as it is, is to finish revising Lucy, finish writing Anna, and use the latter as an initial hook that might lead to the sale of both novels. I was sure that if I had to sacrifice one book for the sake of the other, it'd be Lucy. It never remotely occurred to me that the reverse might happen. I angsted over this for most of Saturday, but decided I should save the angst unless and until NAL asks to see a full. If they reject the partial, I worried over nothing. And if they request a full and eventually offer me a contract, well, then I'll be in a better position both to talk with them about my other work and my long-term goals and to get an agent to advise me.

(Amy, deb, or any other expert types--let me know if I spoke too freely anywhere above and I'll delete/edit. I'm still learning what's kosher and what might get you into trouble.)

Susan roooooooocks.

It sounds like a really worthwhile conference, Susan, and go you on the 45 second pitch.

(BTW, was the Tor editor Anna Genoese? From interviews I've read with her she comes across as a very cool person.)

Yup. Anna Genoese--very smart, snarky, and funny.