Writer’s Friends—Conferences and Contests

Yikes! It’s a new year and I’ve been so busy editing that I’ve neglected this wonderful blog. Never mind. I’ll bring you up-to-date. I finished off the year with a writing conference. Every writer should avail herself or himself of the chance to mingle with like-minded individuals, and published authors who offer educational insights as well as personal advice. Some conferences for 2016

Crime Bake!

Once again, the November conference put on by Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America was wonderful. Elizabeth George, the guest author, proved to be witty, friendly, and happy to share her writing knowledge and experience. All the authors made themselves available and the panels were informative and humorous. The Master Classes provided up-to-date information on a variety of subjects and made time for Q and A. It was also a great time to catch up with all those writers I haven’t seen for a while.

Conference Opportunities: One of the perks of conferences is pitching your manuscript. This year, Crime Bake held a pitch slam or the chance to pitch to multiple agents. What an opportunity. Two agents asked me to send in partials. Another perk is a manuscript critique. I had an excellent twenty-page critique with Lucy Burdette, who gave me an in-depth review and a written assessment.

Contests: For the Crime Bake Flash

Words contest, a story having to do with crime, and no more than 150 words with 10 chosen from a list of 20 (ashes, blood, body, careless, consequences, death, deception, edge, enemy, evil, hiding, memory, missing, murder, payment, pursuit, shadows, traitor, vengeance, witness).  I was a winner for the fourth year in a row. What an exciting moment, especially sweet after reading all the other excellent submissions. Here is my winner:

Sweet Thing

I was at the River’s Edge Café when he spoke to me—the same chilling words that dogged my nightmares, “Hey there, sweet thing.”

Memories flooded my mind. I was thirteen years old, hiding to spy on my sister and her date. She’d always been careless about boys, and Mom had warned her of the consequences. That night, payment came due, and I was the witness. From the shadows, I’d listened. I’d listened as she laughed. I’d listened as she died. Since her death, I’d thirsted for vengeance.

I blinked and looked at him. The fire in his eyes almost undid me. His honeyed tongue dripped evil. “I was just headed outside for a smoke. Care to join me?”

I sucked back the fear and followed him. Tonight would be different. Tonight I was the one with the gun and the badge to back it up.

###

I’m beginning the new year on a high note with a Submission. On the heels of Crime Bake, I sat down and began re-editing my manuscript, Trace of Evil, to send in to a Ghostwoods Books, as they were accepting submissions until the end of the year. That done, I’m working on a synopsis for the same book to send to RWA’s Golden Heart contest. Once that is out (before 1/11/16), I will work on the changes one of the agents suggested in “Watcher Clan”. Some excellent free writing contests 

This is the year! I'm going to be published. All I have to do is keep on writing.

Going to Crime Bake

The temperature this morning was in the 40's. Brrr! Almost too cold to type. All right, maybe not that cold, but I had hoped that, by this time, I'd be in the toasty, warm climate of southwest Florida instead of the cooling temps of Massachusetts. We just can't seem to sell our house. Something always happens. The Universe speaking to us? 

One saving grace, however, is that I won't have to take a plane to get to this year's New England Crime Bake conference.

The weekend of November 6th, I'll be driving to Dedham with my writing cohort, Dianne Herlihy. We've gone together for the past four years. 

This year's theme is Murder by George with Elizabeth George as guest author.

If you've never been to a writing conference, you're missing a great opportunity to schmooze with your peers, take writing classes that range from setting up Chapter 1 to promoting sales for your published novel, and, oh yes, speak to agents.    

I've already submitted my twenty pages for a manuscript critique, sent in my 150-word flash story to their competition, put in my name for a manuscript pitch, and signed up for the banquet where everyone is encouraged to dress up as an English crime solver. 

I'm on the fence about that last one, but I know I'll have a wonderful time. Last year's award winning guest author was Craig Johnson, whose books were made into the television series, Longmire. Dianne and I dressed the part.

Positive attitude! This conference may be the one where my work finds an agent or publisher. So, instead of worrying about selling the house, I'll be worrying about choosing my vacation home.

Remember, Keep Writing!
                             

Crime Bake 2013

Another year schmoozing with writers, learning new tricks of the trade, and having fun! Crime Bake, New England's mystery-writing conference is over, but the memories linger on. Excellent classes, seminars and panels were coupled with a long list of prominent writers in crime-based genres. Our conference guest of honor this year was Meg Gardiner, whose thrillers, beginning with her Edgar-winning novel, China Lake, have delighted readers for years.

The classes I enjoyed over the weekend included: Creating & Sustaining the Series Character, Practice Your Manuscript Pitch, How to Create a Career That Lasts, and High School Murder: Writing the Young Adult Mystery. Generous with their experience and knowledge, and knowing how important it is to encourage writers to keep working, the authors made the time during the conference to speak to anyone who needed help.

Another important facet of any writing conference is the interaction with your peers. Published or unpublished, it is important to talk to someone who has your same aspirations and dreams, your same insecurities and fears. For me, this connection with other writers supersedes the rest. 

Yes, I love the education and who doesn't enjoy a good party? Limbo lower, now! (I'm guessing some knees were not too happy Sunday morning.) 

More important, however, is the knowledge that I'm not alone out there. Spending so much time by myself in front of my computer, I sometimes get discouraged. Belonging to a group like Sisters in Crime and attending writing conferences reminds me that I'm part of a huge group of writers who are either striving to make it or who have already made it. That realization gives me the positive reinforcement I need to keep on trying.

Yesterday morning, I received an award for my 150-word crime story. For the second time in as many years, I'm a FLASHWORDS winner! 

I'm getting there! Look for my picture in the coming week. 

To Pitch Or Not To Pitch

This weekend, I’ll be joining hundreds of mystery writers and readers at the annual New England Crime Bake conference held in MA. This will be my fourth Crime Bake.

Although Mystery isn't my main genre, it’s a large part of what I write. Both of my books, the Paranormal, A Trace of Evil, and the Fantasy, The Watcher Clan, keep the reader guessing until the end. I haven't found genre to be a problem because most Crime Bake workshops are specifically geared to the writing process.

This year, I’m looking forward, albeit with a little trepidation, to one of the most helpful aspects of the conference, the Pitch session. Here is where the writer has a chance to pitch his book to agents and editors. Although the idea is wonderful, the reality is terrifying. In five minutes, the writer has to pitch an evocative summary of his book and be ready to answer questions about the whole thing.

During my first pitch session, the agent listened to my summary and then asked about the plot points throughout the book, including the ending. I tried to tell the whole story in what was left of the five minutes but kept forgetting parts I thought she needed to know. I felt sick.

But, here’s the good news. Agents/editors are not looking for the writer to fail. They want us to succeed because they’re looking for new writers. When I finished my pitch, the agent gave me a great deal of positive reinforcement and excellent suggestions. She then asked me to send in a chapter of the book.

To be successful, all I have to do is prepare. I've been trying to list out the high points in the story that will give the best overview. The whole exercise has my nerves singing. This will be the fourth time I’m pitching and it feels as scary as the first. When I signed up for this a few months ago, it seemed like such a good idea. Now, a few days away from the reality, I’m having second thoughts.

Despite my previous brave words, I’m beginning to feel the angst. I guess the process of pitching my baby to someone will never be easy. I’ll just have to rely on the fact that I've done it before and lived to talk about it.

How about you? How do you feel about pitching?

New EnglandCrime Bake 2013