Friday:
I went to Writing the Bestseller: Six Magic Words by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. It was great. I think she had some awesome words of wisdom that really soaked in. One of those is that editors and agents want the compelling story, not the perfect one. I struggle with making my stories perfect before sending them off, but really, we also have to focus on making them
compelling.
Next, I went to The Agent/Author Relationship with Jessica Faust and a few of her clients. Most of what they said reinforced what I've learned over past few years. I had thought about going to the pitching area during that time, but I decided against it.
I went to the Digital Publishing Q&A. It was interesting, but not as informative as I thought it might be. After that was the Luncheon with Jayne Ann Krentz. It was great. I took a picture of the lunch and dessert on Twitter that day. Chicken, chicken, and more chicken. haha It wasn't too bad though. The desserts were great.
Went to The Fire in the Fiction: Part 2 by Donald Maass after hearing him talk during the PRO Retreat. Great stuff there. Really enjoyed his workshop and the PRO Retreat. Might have to pick up his books and workbook.
Next was Spinning Straw into Gold. It was by Eloisa James and her editor. It was cool to hear what they had to say about editing and the process she went through with making her book stronger. Would have liked just a little more information about how to apply it to my own projects, but it was good nonetheless.
Active Setting was the last workshop of the day. It was really informative. I felt like I learned a whole lot in it about how to make my settings more active and real and to incorporate them without it being tons upon tons of description.
Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal's The Gathering was also that night. I went to the Prism awards ceremony, but that was about it. The conference was starting to wear me down with all of the different workshops and things once Friday night hit.
Saturday:
I went to Writing Fight Scenes first thing in the morning with Angela Knight. It was really informative as well.
After that I went to Finding an Agent as an Unpub, which also reinforced a lot of things I've already learned while giving a couple of tidbits here and there.
Next was the worldbuilding workshop, which I started getting really hungry and sleepy in, but it had great information and awesome handouts.
I went to lunch with my critique partner, Marissa, during the short break, but due to it not being a very long break, I missed the next workshop time and didn't want to walk in late.
After that was Business of Writing with Kerrelyn Sparks and her agent, and that was really fascinating. I learned a lot in it.
The last workshop was I've Got a Fever: Taking Sexual Tension from Lukewarm to Hot. It played a few film clips and really went in depth on the different wants to build awesome sexual tension. I really enjoyed it as well.
Then hubby (who had been there all day long in his nice suit, haha) and I (who also had been in her nice clothes all day) waited in the hotel's lobby until became close to time for the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony and Dinner. It was really good. We had great tablemates, and watching the awards ceremony was very much an inspiration. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to count myself among the winners (or at least finalists!).
That's about it. I'm really looking forward to 2011 Nationals in NYC! I've never been to New York before.
