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NaNoWriMo 2012

Though I didn't participate in National Novel Writing Month this year (it's revision time for me), many of my writer friends did. This blog is for them.

It was so exciting to follow your progress and become swept up in the unbelievable energy created when your passions for writing were permitted to override those day-to-day responsibilities that can so easily take over all our lives without us even realizing it. Congratulations not only to those of you who made it, but to all who put themselves out there and went for it! That's an incredible accomplishement in itself. Jude, Kasey, Ruthann, Ann-Marie, Adam, Tami and everyone else who dove in for NaNoWriMo, YOU INSPIRE!

Blogging

Well, as you can see by my massive number of posts thus far, I'm just not clicking with this blogging thing. But they say if you want to be published, you have to build a platform. So here I am, trying to build a platform, and so far, it's a very rickety one. My problem is, I can't fathom why anyone would care to hear from me--an ordinary person with an ordinary life. To be worthy of my own blog, shouldn't I be famous? Or have a life full of adventures worth sharing with the world? Or have some wisdom or domestic skills the general public would find useful? I have none of that. I go to work and try to wade through my world of government bureaucracy without drowning in it. Then, I come home and write--when I don't have to go to class, clean the house, do laundry, run errands, pull weeds, do dishes, clean gutters, play Frisbee with my overly-energetic one year old lab mix, spend time with my daughter before she flies the coop, or try to figure out what interesting tidbit I could possibly put into a blog.

All that being said, rather than blogging to the world (it is the WORLD wide web, after all), I'll be blogging to my friends, and anyone else can listen in. ;)

My First Face-to-Face Agent Pitch

Antioch Writer’s Workshop offered the opportunity to present a face-to-face pitch to an agent from FinePrint Literary Management.

My Thoughts:  No big deal. It’s one person, just one young agent. I’ve given briefings to rooms full of people, to colonels and generals. I’ve sat in front of firing squad panels, fielding questions flung at me in rapid succession, questions meant to judge my abilities. I certainly could have a coherent conversation about my book. It is my world after all.  Who knows it better than me, right? It’s not like I’d have a deer-in-the-headlights moment caused by some question for which I wasn’t prepared. I’d just picture myself presenting something—it didn’t matter what—in our conference room at work, briefing charts displayed on the wall over my right shoulder, stern faces following my production. Not a problem.

My Reality:  I walk in. Greetings are exchanged and I start talking about this alien. Alien? Really? Suddenly my briefing-in-the-conference-room image turns to security police escorting me to the funny farm and I realize, I’m not in Kansas anymore. I’m not presenting some mind-numbing information, cheat sheet within glancing distance on the screen behind me, to a room full of people paid to be there. I’m sitting in front of the gate keeper of my dream. At that moment, about 5 seconds into my pitch, my brain spins around within my skull and lands up-side-down, crushing its speech center and machine-gunning words out of my mouth in some not-so-coherent fashion. My shaky hands flail wildly as I tried to use their power to coax out the proper words. At that point my goal has turned from land an agent to make it out of the room with some dignity.

By the end my brain had managed to somewhat right itself and my alien world didn’t seem so crazy after all.

I’m very grateful to Antioch Writer’s Workshop and the lovely agents of FinePrint Literary Management who allowed us to pitch.

2012 Antioch Writer's Workshop

OVERALL:
The 2012 Antioch Writer’s Workshop was a great experience and worth the time and money to attend. The speakers and instructors were established and well versed in their craft, but above that, were extremely approachable and encouraging. I recommend this workshop to all writers. Regardless of where you are in your writing journey, you’ll find this annual writing workshop helpful and worthwhile. You will come out the other side of the experience empowered, feeling like a true part of the writing community, and ready to put pen to paper. The following is a brief summary of my week. I’m happy to provide further details on any of the items below. Just ask.

SATURDAY SEMINARS:

For my three breakout sessions, I attended Brainstorming presented by REBECCA MOREAN (Author of In the Dead of Winter, www.facebook.com/rebecca.morean), Interviewing/Research presented by JOANNE “JO” HUIST SMITH (Dayton Daily News Staff Writer), and Publishing presented by KATE GEISELMAN (www.kategeiselman.com). Jo Smith’s touching true-life accounts of the research and interviews she’s conducted throughout her career repeatedly brought me to tears—such compelling experiences.

KEYNOTE SPEECH AND SUNDAY MASTER CLASS:
Speaker/Instructor JOHN GROGAN (Author of Marley & Me and The Longest Trip Home, www.johngroganbooks.com) discussed the importance of having an internal journey that parallels your story’s physical journey. He also shared his belief system as a writer—read a lot, write everyday and, most importantly, live a life because, “The human experiences you have are what make up your writing.”

MORNING SESSIONS (M-F):
One hour sessions each day consisting of Fiction with HALLIE EPHRON (Author of Never Tell a Lie, www.hallieephron.com), Poetry with JEFF GUNDY (www.bluffton.edu/~gundyj) , Non-fiction with JERRY DANIELS, as well as a Professional Skills for Writers session that covered various useful topics such as How to Pitch, How to Polish Your Query, and Tips For Editing Your Own Work. I loved Hallie’s lively, frank presentations (complete with many excellent examples) and hope to see her back at the Antioch Writer’s Workshop in the future.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP SESSION (Su-F):
Antioch offered a plethora of gifted instructors for the afternoon workshops making it difficult to choose.  After much thought and research, I selected LINDA GERBER (author of Death by Bikini and Trance, www.lindagerber.com). The feedback I received from Linda and my talented classmates was priceless and served to really strengthen my work. Thanks to Linda, Ann Charles, Carolyn, Christine, Greta, Paul, Sandy, Tara, Tami and Teri!

ONE-ON-ONE:
CARRIE BEBRIS (Author of the Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries, www.carriebebris.com) graciously provided valuable one-on-one feedback of my work as well as encouragement to keep my momentum moving forward. Thanks Carrie!

AGENT PITCH:
Antioch also provided the opportunity to present a face-to-face agent pitch, a first experience for me. I’ll tell you about that in a separate post.

FOR GRANNY (9 FEB 1917 - 16 JUL 2012)

For my first blog post I wanted to tell everyone about the 2012 Antioch Writer's Workshop. However, life sometimes hits unexpected bumps. In this case, it hit a mountain. I was pulled away the last morning of the workshop to be by the side of my Granny, who passed away three days later. I was with her when she quietly and peacefully took her last breath. She was an amazing grandmother and a huge part of my life. So Granny, this is for you.

Set Free

Letting you go, I could not do,
But God had his own plan for you.
So, I'll look for you not
In your earthly bed,
But to the skies I'll raise my head.
And find you there in the morning breeze,
In the sun, the clouds, the birds, the trees.
And when I weep, know that's for me,
For yours is joy, you've been set free.

~Traci Ison Schafer, July 2012