Life, the Universe, and Everything 2015

It's that time again! Life, the Universe, and Everything is upon us once more next week, February 12th, 13th, and 14th.

This year, I'm reprising my role as Pitch Master, which basically means I get to hang out with the cool kids and boss people around. Because I'm not fond of leaving well-enough alone, I even talked most of them into expanding the format choices to include group sessions. [By which I mean I asked and they enthusiastically said yes.]

Well, except for Toni Weisskopf, Baen Editor and LTUE's keynote speaker. She's insisting on doing individual outline critiques instead.

And Peter J. Wacks, editor for Word Fire Press. He's insisting on doing a clinic on how to present a pitch.

I told them I didn't think we could handle that much awesomeness, but they were persistent.

In all my spare time, I'll also be on some panels--and I know what you're thinking, here. "What? Why is Robin Ambrose on panels when she hasn't published a lick of SFF? And that's a Very Good Question, with a pretty decent answer: I'm on three panels related to my recently-ended career as a Public Defender:

Thursday at 5:00 pm: Crime: What to get right? with Michaelbrent Collings, Eric James Stone, Al Carlisle, and Eric Swedin

Friday at 3:00 pm: Psyhology of a Serial Killer with Al Carlisle (who is the expert)

Saturday at 12:00 noon: Law Enforcement with James Ganiere and Zachary Hill

I bet you didn't even know I was a Public Defender, did you? Well, good. As it should have been. Because confidentiality. But I still know a thing or two about criminals and the criminal legal process, so LTUE is letting me near a microphone. Fun, huh? :D

I might also be on one or two other panels as a moderator (which means I have some great questions to ask, but no answers), but those are subject to change, so I won't tease you. I'd hate to have you show up and find I'm not there anymore.

So who will be there?

What Works Blogfest

LTUE's annual contest is taking it to the next level in 2014: it's going to publish the winners in the newly-created Sibyl's Scriptorium! To celebrate and to get everyone writing and drawing their submissions in time to have them polished up for the submission deadline, we're having a blogfest!


Because one of the three LTUE contests is for illustrators, I'm blogging about what draws me to a great SFF illustration.

Now, I'm not an illustrator, and my stick figures tend to look more like ants than people, but even I can appreciate the covers of Brandon Sanderson's newest epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archives.

The Way of Kings came out in 2010 and I immediately loved the cover art.



The thing that's so great about this is that, in one picture, you get a sense of adventure, heroism, war, and that the landscape and the weather will be very important in the book. I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of illustration could tell you why it works so well, but, for me, I can't ever concentrate long enough on one spot to really take it in. My eyes want to keep wandering from the swirling clouds to the flag, soldier, spear, landscape, lightning, and back up to the clouds. The intriguing figure on the distant peak is shrouded in mystery, but not quite as fascinating as the rest.



The cover for the second book, Words of Radiance, was released at the end of July and it is just as awesome. Do yourself a favor and read the article by artist Michael Whalen, on Tor.com. This cover shows something interesting happening in the skies which will excite anyone waiting eagerly for the book to come out, but the most interesting elements are the characters. Kaladin, of course, is on the front cover, holding his spear and looking poised for action. Then, ominously, we have Szeth in the background on his pile o'bodies, looking very threateningly at Kaladin. If you've read Way of Kings, this scene can't help but excite the same feelings we experienced when we put the first book down: terror, pity, giddy glee at the thought of the coming battle, and a sense that something much, much bigger than either of these two is going to crash down on them both.

Do you judge books by their covers? Do you think that's fair or just to be expected?

Also see my blog post about what I like in a short story on the brand-spanking new Sibyl's Scriptorium blog.

Best Way to Kick-Start your blogging? A Blogfest!

Some of you may know that I've rather swiftly infiltrated the LTUE hierarchy and, in 3 short years, volunteered my way from She-who-had-never-heard-of-LTUE to Pitch Master. Then, during LTUE 2013, I agreed to be the Assistant Contest Coordinator. Coooool. :)

All of which leads up to this: we're having an LTUE Blogfest to advertise the contest for next year. Next year is gonna be huge because not only do we have amazing celebrity judges, but we also will be PUBLISHING THE WINNERS! Which is much cooler than me.

To gear up for the contest, which opens to submissions in a couple months, the Blogfest will explore What Works? What sci-fi or fantasy short story, poem, or illustration struck a chord with you, impressed you in some way, or made you recommend it, go back to it, ponder on it, etc?

Get all the deets at the LTUE blog, and make sure you sign up on the Linky list.

Advice from the Pitch Master

Hi, all! Sorry for the silence (again), but I've been busy. Dealing with personal stuff (which you can probably guess), applying for a new job (why, yes, I AM nervous that my potential employers will stop by here and conclude that I'm not sufficiently dignified for the position--thanks for asking), and getting over 70 pitch sessions ready for LTUE.

Busy.

Busy.

Busy.

The good news? Two of those time-eaters are now mostly history, so I should be able to resume my regular blogging schedule. And writing. And reading, please the heavens. (How I've missed it! I had to return BITTERBLUE to the library today and I'm not done yet!)

Anyway, since I didn't get to attend many panels at LTUE--Pitch Master is a time-consuming job, turns out--I thought I'd share my thoughts on pitching agents and editors. I had lots of fun dispensing this advice to the captive, nervous pitchers as they waited for their turn with Michelle Witte and Judith Engracia (my awesome friend Wendy Knight--whose debut FEUDLINGS comes out next month!!--was monitoring the editors' room, so I got to spend ten seconds every ten minutes with two awesome agents. So fun!).

So here's the short list of what I told them:

• You bought the time: use it! Don't [do what I did when I pitched last year and] get all excited when you get a request and leave early. Especially if you haven't asked any of your carefully prepared questions. These folks are experts in their field, so ask your questions!
• Don't ask questions designed to figure out if the two of you are compatible enough to work well together. That's the sort of thing you ask when they offer representation. Which, let's face it, probably won't happen. (See below.)
• The odds of THIS agent being the agent who will love YOUR book are only slightly higher than they would be if you were cold-querying through the slush pile. Your whole career isn't riding on the next ten minutes. Your personality--though fantastic--can't make an agent like your lyrical-sci-fi-romance-adventure when she prefers comedic-sci-fi-romance-thrillers. So chill out.
• Since this agent COULD be the agent who loves your book, make sure you pitch it well! Follow the advice Howard Tayler gave about teasers this year (in one of the few presentations I made it to): You need an inciting incident, character action, conflict, and a hook. A hook is that moment when the reader starts to imagine your book themselves--to wonder what might happen and get excited to find out. (Howard usually blows my mind at cons. He's THAT amazing--and he actually remembered me this time! :) )

And that's about it for advice from me.

Two more things, but this is just general con-advice: 1) always have an updated business card to hand out. If you're wondering if you even need such a thing, ask yourself if there's a chance you'll meet someone nice, who you'll want to talk to again. If the answer is yes, you need a card. It just takes too long to write down your email on a napkin--and then they'll just lose the thing or forget who the heck gave it to them. Photo, email, blog, twitter, etc. Trust me. Get it before you think you need it. You can design them yourself with free templates on Word and print them cheap at your local copy shop.

2) Save the elastic necklace things off your con-name-tags in case the next one wants you to wear a pin instead. Necklaces are sooo much better, IMO. Also, your business cards are stored INSIDE the plastic name tag holder, right behind your name tag. That's where they live. Then, when you meet the aforementioned really nice person, you don't have to go hunting. You don't have to wonder where you left your bag. You just dig into your name tag and voila! Easy.

So who has pitched before? Any advice you want to add? Any general con advice? Who was at LTUE?

Pitching at LTUE

What is LTUE, you ask? Only one of the coolest, most cost-efficient SFF symposiums EVER. Just check out my LTUE label for all the coolness of the past two years.

THIS year, LTUE gets even cooler. First, yours truly is officially on the Writing Track Committee! Thank you, thank you. Hold your applause. My main role on the committee? Setting up our first ever Pitch Sessions! (Now you can applaud.)

We have an awesome line up of editors and an amazing agent who will be at the symposium and who will sit down with you (for the small fee of $20) for ten minutes to listen to your pitch on your book. Then they can decide if they want to read more. Which, of course, will inevitably lead to an offer, followed quickly by fame and fortune.* Cool, huh?

I'll update this link when I can, but go check out the LTUE site starting Friday morning to see who is taking pitches and to register for the symposium (only $30 for three days of awesome). Then, starting 9:00 am MDT on Saturday, January 19, you can register for your own pitch session!

I fully expect the best slots to go fast, so you might want to clear your schedule for Saturday morning. Just saying.





*Results may vary

LTUE Recap: Queries and Pitching

Okay, so I didn't get a picture of this panel, either. Sorry about that. Instead, I'm showing you a picture of what I look like when I think about querying--and what I'll likely look like when I do my first live pitch in May:

Torn-out hair, vacant stare,
lips that don't know WHAT to say

Querying and pitching are hard, yo.

So this panel was one of my favorites: you can never get too much query and pitching advice.

Lisa Mangum (author and editor at Shadow Mountain)

• Use what you know about the agent/editor: Lisa is a heavy metal lover, so if your book has that in it (and you get it right), you'll catch her attention
• Verbal pitch at conference: 
• Need to have elevator pitch down (one sentence): be able to rattle it off in one breath. 
• Also know what makes your book different from other books on the market--and don’t just repeat the elevator pitch if someone asks. 
• Be excited, show passion for book—that's easier in person than in a query letter. 
• Short and sweet: Frodo must take the ring of power to mt doom or all of middle earth will fall into shadow 
• Don't include an implicit threat in your query [Shadow mountain is an LDS publisher]
• I.E. "Just pray about this and I'm sure you'll want to publish it"
• Don’t tie your testimony to your submission 
• Write the best book you can, practice your pitch 
• Deseret Book publishes 1+ books per year from debut authors 

Chris Schoebinger (acquisitions editor at Deseret Book)

• He loves animals, so putting animals in your book appeals to him: mention it so he knows they're there
• Find someone today to practice your pitch with – if you can’t sell me in 4 sentences, you've lost me (can have more than one, but not more than 4) 
• Most surprising query: Bill Bennett: story of Jacob Marley: "how did Jacob get to be where he was and why did he get the chance to come back and warn Scrooge and why didn't he have the same chance Scrooge did… or did he?" 
• Have beta readers before you submit, Know about marketing—blog followers, networking contacts, are you at liberty to do author tours? (That will increase publisher value) 
• Taylor Whitesides: simple pitch: secret society of janitors… because he used to work as a custodian: they can use that detail in a publicity package 
• More interested in building a brand than publishing an author: want multiple bestsellers 
• There's a difference between annoying and assertive 

Jeff Scott Savage (whose querying days are recently behind him, but who will be selling his books forever)

• Started writing books at 38, had 70 jobs, plumber, mall Santa 
• High concept: take small idea and make it your hook (shoe store ONLINE): hero + DIFFERENT
• Need likeable protag, goal, obstacles, consequences: if you don’t know what those four things are, you won’t be able to communicate it to the agents/editors 
• Wants new stuff from Covenant rather than LDS exclusively (Sara Eden, regency romance) – going to conferences will help you learn what publishers/agents want 
• Having an agent/editor ask for a rewrite or to have different projects is a good thing—jump on that right away: take that opportunity 
• Don’t write Book 2 in a series while submitting Book 1: write Book 1 as stand-alone, then write another series – you’ll have plenty of time to write Book 2, but if you’re in the middle of Book 2 when Book 1 is rejected, nothing much you can do about that. Don’t focus on selling THIS BOOK. Get a career plan.  

Kirk Shaw (editor at Covenant Communications)

• Almost majored in vocal performance, loves music (mention music in your query if your book has it)
• Common mistake in querying/pitches: authors can hold back on what they give: agents/editors want to know what the story is all about, beginning to end. [I don't think he's saying you should tell the end in your query/pitch, but even if he is, keep in mind that other agents/editors say differently.] 
• Take your subgenre, find titles that are strong, and associate your book with theirs 
• Tiffany Fletcher’s agent came and said book “Tiffany’s memoir of dealing with a parent who had associative personality disorder.” At the time they weren't taking anything like that, so they decided to pass. A year or so later, Tiffany pitched it to Kirk's boss at a conference… a week after they decided to look into memoirs. Timing is everything.
• Don’t give up. Sara Eden self-published 9 books before Covenant decided to publish her books 
• If you’re writing a Rapunzel book and have long hair, that’s relevant: know what your platform is, etc 
• Keep writing while the first book is out on submission: Sara Eden had multiple books written, so they can release 2 books each year: get in the habit of writing regularly so you can release regularly 

Donna Milakovic (writer)

• Know who you’re pitching to – what they’re working on, etc. 
• Can put your in-progress books in your query letter [Again, look at the specific agent's preferences: some don't like this.]

And that's all the notes I have.

LTUE Recap: What I Wish I Had Done Differently

I usually suck at taking pictures at conferences, but this one came out okay, don't you think?

This awesome group of photogenic authors was the "What I Wish I Had Done Differently" panel. I took LOTS of notes, so bear with me.

Mette Ivie Harrison

• Stayed with writing group too long—tried to please everyone, felt like writing to committee 
• Ruined a book for her, it became something she didn't like 
• Now has to spend time figuring out what she loves before she shares it—finishes whole book before letting someone else read it 
• Brand: if you want to create a brand, you are limiting yourself 
• Publisher made her have princesses on covers, even when there is no princess in the book: she thinks the series is about the hound 
• Once compromised by changing skin color from black to white to sell more books, wishes she hadn't 
• A few agents offered to agent her, good friends reminded her that the money flows to the author: don’t pay a reading fee, etc 
• Queried 20 different novels: tried to decide if “this is really good enough” and decided it was not yet good enough. Revised #6 or 7 and sold it – wanted big agent, didn’t want to compromise, waited until she had a manuscript that was good enough to get her what she wanted 
• Don’t just keep sending out work that isn't good enough 
• Uses blog to jump-start writing every day, uses internet as reward for writing 2 pages, limits how much she can surf before more pages 
• Don’t write anything for at least a day after someone attacks you online 
• Turn off Google alerts 
• Can be hard when someone has a factual error, points out an “error” that isn’t there – rise above the fray: it doesn’t make you look good as an author 
• Stupid stuff I did: After signed with agent, sent to an editor who asked for it at a conference, the editor talked to the agent about it, he yelled at her 
• Publicity: people focus way too much time on publicity: need good product first 
• Husband doesn't read her work at any stage: need supportive spouse, they don’t need to like your work [This is really good news for me. :)]
• Can’t outline, but tries to write the first sentence of the next chapter before she stops for the day 
• Can control how many times you send it out, not whether it is published

Andrea Pearson

• People have short attention spans 
• Authors need short blurbs, quick book releases 
• Brand: get short description that describes you and all your books ("Clean YA") 
• Compromise: trend is to put certain content in books, her agent got her a contract at a big 6 publisher, she felt sick about it, she wanted to have a guarantee to have clean content, agent flipped out, publisher didn't agree, they wanted control, she turned them down, left her agent, went out on her own, has been pretty successful so far 
• If considering indie, agents can help with that, movie contracts, etc 
• Understand the publishing world. 
• Even bad reviews are good
• Husband is critical thinker, finds her plot problems: she reads books out loud to him before done with editing 
• She's a chronological structured person, everyone different, find what looks for you

Brad Torgersen

• Stop rewriting: conclude when it’s the best you can make it, then move on 
• Will learn more by writing something new than by excessive polishing 
• Brand: write what interests you, your brand will emerge on its own 
• Agents are dangerous because there's no school or vetting process. Anyone can stick their shingle out and advertise representation. Look to word of mouth to find a good one.
• Agents aren't the only path anymore: if you’re not comfortable with an agent, you don’t have to have one 
• Internet has always been a time-sink, is worse now. Get off the internet: you’ll never get that time back. Would have gotten so much more done if he’d gotten off the internet. 
• One reviewer seems to be opposite his fans: the worse she likes it, the more fan-mail he gets on it 
• Work on new stuff often: your first million words are crap – if you get stuck on the first thing and try to make it perfect, you’ll have a lot of heartache 
• Wife reads books after they are published 
• Pantser for small works, crash and burn at pantsing at novel length 
• Submit to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest!!!!

Elana Johnson

• Got advice to change something that she didn't agree with, she changed it, made it to quarter finals of Amazon contest, then changed it back and queried. 
• Brand: her name 
• When you don’t have published works yet, you are just you, her husband is funnier, but he doesn’t have a blog, so no one comes to his 
• Did a blog post on whether you’d buy a book because you like someone, lots of people said yes 
• If you want to be a career author, write lots of books 
• Compromised writing time for social networking: would not do that again 
• Queried for 16 months, 2 different books, spoke on phone 5 times with agents before got offer of representation: if you keep working at it, you’ll find your agent 
• Don’t engage in conversations with haters – find out that your book is either one people really like or really don’t like, she was getting hate mail, hasn't read a review since March 
• Held onto first novel too long: not the next Twilight. 
• Publicity: Simon/Schuester has bigger authors who get all the money, her marketing budget is small 
• She looks at her life and decides what she can find with hours and dollars and that’s what she spends 
• Husband despises YA love stories: he’ll read them in ARC form to show support, but then she endures vampire-like commentary 
• She's a pantser, has documents she’s never finished, writes lots of scenes then pieces them together like a train wreck – tried outlining, it took 3 months, wrote book in 25 days, never tried that again (but she recommends that you try each of the different ways to see what works best for you) 
• Write more. Writer’s write. If that doesn't work, write another book, don’t spend time on things that don’t advance you as a writer

Kevin Wasden (illustrator)

• (came late) Learned needs to leave 30 minutes early :)
• Agents will get you in doors with the bigger companies – depends on the market, what you want to accomplish 
• Internet feedback is cool, but doesnt necessarily advance your career 
• Always treat the little jobs as a big job 

Whew. Okay, that's it. Aren't they cool? Have they changed any of your plans / expectations?

LTUE Recap: Self-Editing

Tristi Pinkston is an amazing lady. I don't know how well-known she is nationally, but she seems to keep cropping up in all the circles (and writer's conferences) I frequent. She's published oodles of books, sets up blog tours (the book tours of the future, folks), and has her own editing service.

So, of course, it was awesome that she taught us how to self-edit.

Here's just a few of the highlights (I missed the first part--sorry!)

Self-Editing

• Big Words: Only use big words once per book 
• Also "there were myriad colors on the wall" NOT "there were a myriad of colors on the wall"
• After that you can't use myriad EVER again
• Synonyms are fine: epiphany on page 5, realization on page 57, discovery on page 134...
• Punctuation: if you don't know how to use punctuation properly, Google it: they'll give you examples
• Pronoun confusion: when you say he/she, reader needs to make sure you know what you’re talking about. Can’t just use "he" if there are two men in the scene. Any ambiguity = spell it out. 
• Speech tags: 
• “Said” is NOT invisible when it’s used every line 
• Use beats instead of speech tags . . . but not every time: characters shouldn't move that much
• Avoid hissed, grunted, moaned: don’t use hyper substitute speech tags without very good reason 
• Make sure whatever you put in there is physically possible 
• Put the action in between dialogue instead of using it as a speech tag: “There’s a spider!” She gagged. “Kill it!” 
• Mix them up 
• Use "Replied" after a question. 
• Use “Asked” if she just asked a question—not "Said"
• Be creative [My note: but not too creative. I read a story once where the MC, in a tense moment, "ejaculated" one of his statements.]
• “Mark said,” not “said Mark” 
• -LY adverbs 
• If you need to use one and you can’t think of another way to explain it, go ahead and use one 
• Don’t use two sentences to convey what a single LY word can do 
• Sentence structure
• Don’t use repetitive sentence structure (boring) 
• Patterns of speech shut brains down 
• Don’t start every sentence with speech 
• Don’t do action-action-action-description of action 
• Establishing POV 
• Whenever you start a new sentence or chapter, make sure the reader knows whose POV you’re in 
• Most easily: use character name in first sentence 
• Not: “Betty put the groceries in the car. Bob wondered what she bought.” 
• If we are vague about whose head we’re in, our readers will be confused 
• Transitions 
• Often authors will change subjects without indicating that they are doing it 
• Bad: Sara wondered what to do.  “I need lettuce.” 
• Fine: Sara wondered what to do. She decided to change the subject. “I need lettuce.” 
• [My note: I have a whole blog post on this one, though I wasn't smart enough to call it transitions.]
• BUT: Almost always but not always need a comma before the word "but"
• No one but you would think that = exception
• THAT: Don’t need the word “that” as much as you think you do: search and destroy (unless it changes the meaning) 
• OF: Avoid useless uses of "Of": she stepped off of the porch 
• Active/passive – sometimes passive is more accurate 
• She was standing by the window when he came into the room = she was already at the window when she came in 
• She stood by the window when he came into the room = she stood up when he came in 
• On to vs Onto 
• She climbed on to the stage = Climbed on is the verb, so two words 
• She is holding on to the past = holding on is the verb 
• She lifted the box onto the table = lifted is the verb 
• Awhile = “for-a-while” so don’t say “for awhile” = redundant: Can say “Sit for a while” or “Sit awhile” 
• Character arcs: Need to see some growth in the character from the beginning to the end: Learn something, progress 
• Plot Arc – the ending should be satisfying, the reader should want to recommend it, read the next one, etc 
• Need problem, resolve the problem 
• Problems should be solved by the MC, not a flaming dragon (unless the dragon is the hero or is well set-up): don’t rely on coincidence 
• Don’t waste work – put it in a separate file and use it later 
• Betas: Take what betas have to say with salt – only use it if it will improve the book 
• 'S: Mostly: James’s not James’ (this goes back and forth: just write it like you’d say it) 

Admit it: you love her too, now, right?

LTUE Recap: Breaking Into the Market

Obviously I had to go to (and go-pher) this panel. Just look at all the cool authors!

James Dashner, Jennifer Neilson, Jenn Johansson, Kasie West, Brodi Ashton

Here's what they said:

James Dashner (THE MAZE RUNNER series)

• Luck definitely plays a part: he feels like if certain events had not gone his way, he’d still be an accountant
• Every step taken in his career has been both a lucky break and wouldn't have happened without the previous steps (Hunger Games came out right after Random House bought the Maze Runner, so suddenly MR got more attention in-house, and they advertised it as "If you like Hunger Games....")
• When in a writing group, you have to be strong enough to decide what to listen to. Use the Rule of 3: if three people say the same thing, it’s probably true. You have to be strong enough to disagree, and ignore advice you don’t like. 
• When he was first starting out, he wouldn't even go home 2-3 nights a week: he'd go write in a library or a bookstore instead. Now, he makes a great living writing full time.
• Don’t get discouraged by the odds and the numbers: the vast majority of the people trying to get published suck. People at a writing conference are already ahead of the curve.

Jennifer Nielson (THE FALSE PRINCE, coming April 2012)

• You have to be ready to grab onto the luck when it happens
• She spent so much time focused on the rules, she wasn't finding her voice. She finally decided to throw out the rules, didn't care about getting published, decided to just have fun. Forget what you know, write what you are.
• In a writing group, thick skin will come back to benefit you when you’re published: taking and giving criticism, being humble, etc, will help with future reviews, editors, and so forth.
• She's a full-time writer, has a goal to have husband wean off of his career to start to explore his own dreams
• The only way to fail is to give up: if you are willing to do it, you will succeed. Find the door that answers who you are as a writer and go through it.

Jenn Johansson (Debut INSOMNIA... available soon in Germany and Italy)

• On luck: In the US, romance is the bread and butter. Europe likes thrillers. European Literary scouts look for US books to recommend to foreign publishers. One found her book, INSOMNIA it sold in Germany and Italy. Because it's a thriller, it will likely do better overseas than it will here. 
• Find what you like, then do that.
• If she could go back, she would have moved onto the next book sooner.
• Nobody can tell you what the right path is (even an agent or editor). There are more paths to pursue than ever, and no one can tell anyone else what to do. 
• It is difficult to get into foreign markets with self-published books. 
• If it’s not a priority, you won’t find the time to write. Keep writing while you’re waiting on querying, etc – don’t put it off because you’re waiting to hear back from an agent.

Kasie West (Debut PIVOT POINT coming January 2013)

• Luck is preparation meeting opportunity. 
• When she was starting out, she was too much in a hurry, trying to get ahead. She realized the author of The Traveling Pants had lots of author friends... realized later that they all "grew up" together. She wishes she had been more patient with herself.
• She found her writing group online. She read blogs she liked, of people she connects with. Their group is online: they send stuff to each other over the internet.
• If writing is something you want to do, you’ll make time for it. 
• Publishers are still paying good money for books.
• Don’t be afraid to interact with agents on Twitter

Brodi Ashton (Debut EVERNEATH. Duh.)

• With her first book, she got over 100 rejections from agents, finally got one, then revised 6m during the Fall of 2008... when the market crashed. Someone told her if she sold a book that year, she’d be right up there with Jesus. It was rejected 15 times.
• She wrote her next book, and her agent didn't like it. She queried new agents and immediately got 10 offers, then signed with Michael Bourett.
• She wishes had put her first book aside much earlier: big writers write hundreds of books, write lots of different stories, but new authors tend to think we’ll make it or break it on one book.
• Writing groups: keep trying one on until you find one that fits.
• She supports her family with her writing now (!!!)
• Finish your first book, query in batches: send out 5 queries, if no requests, tweak the query

LTUE Recap: Writers on Writing

Yes, I know. I suck at recapping. I've been back over a week and haven't shared hardly anything. I'm repenting right now.

One of the absolute best reasons to be a gopher at a conference is that you have the perfect excuse to meet all the awesome authors on the panels. So, naturally, I made sure I signed up for the Writers on Writing panel, featuring four really fuzzy guys:

Tracy Hickman, Brandon Sanderson, L.E. Modesitt, David Farland

Sorry. I guess my cell phone doesn't have the best camera.

Still, you know it's going to be a phenomenal panel when Brandon Sanderson declares that he's going to moderate because everyone else knows more than he does. I know, right?

So here's the highlights, left to right:

Tracy Hickman said:

• Talent without discipline is a waste of air
• You have not yet written your best work
• Black Swan novels can't be engineered: they are an accident of the universe. He's more interested in the Craftsman Writer, who has consistent stories to tell, and can consistently produce work that changes and moves their audience.
• After all this time in his writing career and all the apparent success, he still has obstacles he has to overcome. "You just have to rely on faith to get you through that."
• Publishers need to realize that they’re not in the business of making books anymore: they are in the business of arbitrating quality.

Brandon Sanderson said:

• Chasing trends is a bad idea unless you're really excited about the trend. If you're just chasing it, you'll write mediocre stories.
• After failing to sell over and over again, Brandon looked at why he was writing: he wanted to get published, but had to ask himself how many books he’d write even if he never got published. He decided that he’d keep writing for the rest of his life, even if he never sold a book.

L.E. Modesitt said:

• “If it doesn’t the hell say it, it doesn’t the hell say it”
• If you're a novelist, BE a novelist: Don't try to cram novels into short stories
• The editorial side of things is a lot more restrictive than the reading public: Stick with it, and there’s got to be somebody out there who likes what you do
• Every writer with every book is in the hardest time: we are only as good as the last thing we published. Beyond that, readers want to be entertained, if they didn’t like your last book, they’ll let you know.

David Farland said:

• Write for the love of it: if you have fun, you'll write better and longer
• Story isn’t a bunch of unrelated incidents happening to a person, but you need to look at what the story is really saying: what characters do I need to express it?
• His teachers in college wanted him to write literary fiction, to "let the world know who you are." David responds: "I don’t care who you are. There are 7 billion people trying to explain how they’re unique and different."
• When he decided to write what he liked to read, it became completely different. "To do anything else was immoral." He wasn’t going to be untrue to himself by trying to write something he didn’t like reading.
• It doesn't matter how you get your audience: hot air balloons are fine. 

 

Amazing, no?

Why I Love James A. Owen

Okay, so I just met the man last week, but gee wiz, is he inspirational! He was the Keynote Speaker / Guest of Honor at LTUE last week, and I hated that I had to stop taking notes long enough to count alllll the people in the room (I was gophering his address, of course).

I honestly can't say enough about his address. It was basically his life story and all the times he got kicked in the teeth by life, dusted himself off, and chose to continue to succeed.

My favorite quotes from his address:

We all have something unique to us that no one else will completely understand: our point of view. We have to decide how much we believe in what we see, even if it means telling the entire world they are wrong.

There are two secrets to drawing: 1) Making lines on paper, and 2) Choosing where they go.

If you really want something, no one can stop you. If you really don’t want something, no one can help you.

I took simply pages of notes, but there is some awesome news: you can read it all for yourself in his ebook: Drawing Out the Dragons. And, for a VERY limited time, you can read it for free. He posted today that he wanted to give away 1000 in the next 24 hours. I'm not entirely sure when 24 hours ends, but it's gotta be soon. Hurry over!! UPDATE: You can still download the ebook for another week: http://on.fb.me/JAOoneDay (Thanks, Heidi2524.)

Then, watch for his soon-to-be-scheduled Authors' Advisory Conference Call. Yeah, I'm jacked, too. :)

Con-Lagged

I spent the last three days at LTUE and it. Was. AWESOME! But I'll have to give you the report(s) later.

So.

Tired.

I drove down Wednesday in time for dinner with my mom, sister, niece, and nephew, then drove to Donna's house, chatted with her and two other LTUE house-crashing friends (whose blogs I'm too lazy to link to at this moment), then got up at 5:45 (!!!) so we could be there by 7 but we were late because parking was FREAKING FAR AWAY, then I ran around the conference all day long, left at about 7, dinner, late to bed, up at 6:30, back to LTUE at 8, more running for 14 hours, late to bed again, up early to pack my junk and get there by 8 again, running until 5:30 when I went back to Donna's house for my junk and vehicle, picked up my bro's gf, drove to Sandy, dinner with bro, gf, sister, her dh, up late talking to the fam at my mom's house, up early so I could leave by 8, drove allllll the way home in time for 12:30 church, arrived at 12:00 to find my own dh hadn't written the 8-year-old's talk, wrote the talk, rushed to church, endured a meeting then choir practice after church, home for dinner, did a little email catch-up, a bit of TV, unpacking, some reading (yay reading!) before bed, and I'll be back to the day-job Monday, and if you think this sentence is long IMAGINE how I feel.

*Sets the blog to post at 7:30 am Monday morning*

*Resolves not to read TOO late*

*Misses LTUE*

Conference Necessities

It's that time again: I'm abandoning my husband and children, climbing behind the wheel, and driving off to the wild, wonderful world of a WRITER'S CONFERENCE. If you're a writer and you haven't yet crammed yourself into a building with hundreds of other writers, REPENT! You won't regret it.

Packing for a writer's conference is an experience in and of itself. This is a partial list of the things I consider essential to life and happiness while I'm gone:

Audio Books. When hubby is driving (which happens whenever hubby is in the car), I read quietly to myself. Why should I have to abandon all that great fiction immersion time just because I also have to keep the vehicle between the lines? Even though I'll only be driving for a combined total of about 8 hours, I always make sure to have several audio books with me (thank you, public library), so I can switch the book if I decide one of the narrators is annoying or the books aren't as compelling as I thought they'd be.

Comfortable shoes. No pumps, heels (kitten, high, or otherwise), or pointy-toed death-traps for this girl. I'm there to move. Especially while I'm gophering (or fighting for the best seats), I need to be able to quickly get from one room to the next, and I can't do that if I'd rather amputate at both ankles. Pain might breed conflict, but it's a bad thing at a conference. Fashion is good if you can get it too, but my basic black shoes will serve me just fine.

Food. This particular conference doesn't provide food... or lunch breaks. So I'll need portable snacks and sandwich wrap makings so I can grab a quick bite in between panels, gophering, and hob-nobbing.

Mini Laptop. It's light, portable, has a brand-new extended-life battery, and is all ready to take tons of notes. I'll try to be better about sharing this year....

Cell Phone. Mostly for tweeting, because using hashtags to instantly broadcast cool quotes is awesome. #LTUE

Paper and Pen. Because when the laptop battery dies and the cell phone charge is in the orange, you still want to be able to take notes.

Business cards. These are a must for anyone going to a conference. If you're just starting out, don't worry about making them fancy (unless you want to). My first year I printed mine at home, with a picture of a fledgling robin (haha), my name, and my email addy. I still make mine myself at the local copy shop (which makes them look all shiny, even when I cut them out myself). You just want something you can hand people so you don't have to write your contact info over and over again. Also, the name tag necklace thing they give you is the PERFECT place to carry business cards. Slip them in behind the tag and they're always at your fingertips.

Books to Read. Just because I'll be busy from sun-up to sun-down doesn't mean I won't have time to read. Last year I stole Donna's ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and stayed up much too late reading it. This year I have a fine selection of library books that should keep my time filled.

Books to have Signed. I don't have money to buy all the awesome books I HAVE TO HAVE, but those I do have can now be signed. Especially EVERNEATH.

Okay, so I need to stop now or I won't have time to actually pack anything. If you're going to be there, tweet me and we can try to get together - I'd love to meet you in real life!

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Nothing like attending a funeral to make you ponder the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Especially when it's such a great guy, like my husband's Grandpa Frank.

Grandpa Frank's Big Fish didn't normally get away

You know what else makes you ponder that sort of stuff? Great writing conferences, like this one:

LIFE, 

THE UNIVERSE, 

AND EVERYTHING 

XXX

If you are or can arrange to be anywhere near Orem, Utah next week, you really need to come. It's cheap, it has over 100 panels and other events, and, for the second year in a row, it has... wait for it... wait for it... ME! Yes, I'm moderating again. I'll be on the following panels:

Thursday, February 9, 10:00 am

Podcasting for Writers (Perfect, right?)

Also on the panel: Daniel Coleman, Stephen Gashler, Robert J Defendi

Thursday, February 9, 2:00 pm

Tolkien and Lewis: why they are still relevant after seventy years 

Also on the panel: Michael R. Collings, Jessica Harmon, James A. Owen

Friday, February 10, 7:00 pm 

Why we love horror 

Also on the panel: Nathan Shumate, Michael R. Collings, Jenn R. Johansson

Then, in all my spare time, I'll also be gophering. Yes, you should be jealous. There is nothing more fun than getting a back-stage pass to all the conference fun. And all I have to do is carry some water, hustle hither-and-yon with an important-looking clipboard, and boss people around (five minutes, Mr. Sanderson)!

Bliss.

So who's coming?

On Emergency Rooms, Revisions, and Balance

In the last two months, my nearest-and-dearest have visited various emergency rooms (or the equivalent) 10 times:

1. My 9-year-old son lacerated and compression-fractured his toe, requiring stitches and a walking boot.
2. My 3-year old nephew broke his arm, requiring a cast.
3. The same nephew broke the same arm again, this time in the growth plate, requiring surgery.
4. The same nephew's brother fell during Nephew 1's doctor's appointment and broke his face, possibly requiring surgery on his nose.
5. My husband's father's mother had heart issues and spent the night in the hospital, prompting family-wide panic.
6. Same grandma back in hospital a few days later after putting too much energy into putting her affairs in order and not enough into resting.
7. My mother-in-law tore her knee up skiing--ligaments traumatized.
8. Nephew 1&2's mother tore her knee up, tearing ligaments.
9. My sister had an ectopic pregnancy, requiring surgery.
10. Same sister now has pneumonia, requiring an overnight hospital stay.

Apparently, bad things don't just come in threes.

Meanwhile, my own life seems charmed--I personally keep dodging disaster. (Yeah, got me some nice wood to knock on right here....) I did a 180 on the freeway in Salt Lake on my way home, ended up stopped in the fast lane, pointing the wrong way, and drove away moments later, completely unscathed. All the cars behind me managed to miss me--even the truck with the snow plow on the front. I got to moderate at LTUE, talk to more authors for Authors' Advisory, and I spend all my free time quite seflishly pounding away at my book, reading the books of those I'll interview soon, and getting to know the other wonderful writers of the World Wide Web.

And I feel guilty. My 9-year-old had to hang out with the DVD player at the ski lodge last weekend because mommy was at a conference while everyone else was skiing. When my MIL busted her knee on that trip, another driver would have been awfully handy. My husband and sons visited his grandma the same weekend... without me. When we got news of my sister, Jerry asked if we needed to head down to be with her. I looked up from the computer and assured him all would be well, no reason to fuss. I sent her a few texts and spoke to her husband on the phone. I've let my husband handle the health updates on his own family. I'm a total slacker, family-wise.

You'd think, with all I'm ignoring to revise this monster, that I'd be farther along. Instead, I didn't revise at all last week (traveling will do that, I hear) and I've spent all this week working on ONE CHAPTER! It's a mildly important chapter, sure, but really? One? I finally laid it to rest last night and I'm moving on tonight, but if next month goes at all like this month has, revision-wise, I still won't have my second draft done by the end of March.

Which is really depressing.

So anyone have advice? How long does your family tolerate your absence while you hide in your writer's cave? How do you balance the duties of a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and granddaughter while still making forward progress on your writing career? Those of you who, like me, have a day-job as well--how do you balance the precious time you have left after you get home? How often does your bathroom get cleaned? (If you don't answer that, I won't either, deal?)

While writing the last paragraph above, my sons brought me their Shrek doll, which, untill recently, was stuffed with tiny white plastic beads. They want him fixed. I think I might take an hour to watch some TV, fix the doll before he completely bleeds out... and maybe even fold some laundry.

Then I'll feel guilty about not writing, instead. *sigh*

LTUE Top Ten

Life, the Universe, and Everything was just as fun as I thought it would be. I'll never be able to summarize all the cool things I did, but here's the highlights:

1.      I got to fetch James Dashner his water, and helped him connect his Macintosh to the overhead projector (press and hold F7, apparently) so he could show us the cover of The Death Cure. Then I helped persuade him to read three chapters (instead of two--he swore us to secrecy, but you're gonna love it. I can't wait until it's out!!!). I invited him to do an Authors' Advisory conference call and he... was noncommittal. Didn't say yes, didn't say no. If you know James, tell him he should do it! He has my card….

2.      I moderated three panels and NO ONE asked why the heck I was there! Rather, I find that my voice is famous. A few attendees approached me afterward (which was really confusing—why were they talking to me?) and said they recognized my voice from the calls. So cool! I hadn’t even mentioned Authors’ Advisory (probably should have, though…).

3.      When I approached J. Scott Savage to give him my card and invite him to do a call, he already knew who I was! Neither of us was sure if we’d met before, but we shook hands and proclaimed our happiness to know each other. He said he’d be happy to do a call sometime. *Squee!*

4.      I got to see a certain book cover (it wasn’t authorized to be shown around, so I won’t say whose) that made me squeal and jump up and down. Literally. I want that cover as a poster to hang on my wall. It’s gorgeous. Breathtaking. The cover alone will sell the book, and the book itself needs no such help!

5.      Howard Tayler’s wife Sandra says he’ll do a call, too, in a few months. I confess that I am a little intimidated by Howard—not sure why—but I still managed to approach him at dinner (he and Sandra obligingly sat down at the table right behind me). I was in the middle of my explanatory spiel when Sandra pipes in with “he’d love to do that.” :) Yes, Sandra is cool—it was great to meet her, too.

6.      Being a Gopher is cool. I got to carry a clipboard, flash a bright pink 5-minute warning sign, fetch and carry water, and march around importantly. I got to know the shortcuts to all the rooms. I had the perfect excuse to talk to the authors on each panel. We got to know the conference from back-stage, as it were—which has always been my favorite place in any production—and therefore had a much fuller experience than anyone else. (So there.) Donna Weaver and I were the only Gophers over 25, but I, for one, never felt the age gap. (I think I stopped maturing at 17, anyway.) I got to meet Toad the Gopher King, Jenna-of-The-Jenna-Award is now my Facebook friend, and we got to see four teenage girls fit inside one 5X t-shirt. Best moment? Someone said “and there was much rejoicing” and the whole room gave a half-hearted “yay.” Sigh. I’ve missed being in a group like that.

7.      Dinner with David Farland, his wife, his son, and a huge table of forum-mates. You know how, in situations like that, you always want to be the one sitting across from the super-duper cool people, but you never are? (Well, I never am, anyway.) Friday night, I was right across from Dave. He regaled us with some very scary predictions about the industry and some things we’ll want to watch out for about our digital rights, but it was still amazing. He also said he wants to do another call in a few weeks. Yay!

8.      Brodi Ashton, (who wore her red scarf and got teased by James Dashner for her popularity with the agents), Bree Despain (who was on too many awesome panels to count), Emily Wing Smith (why wasn’t she on panels?), Kimberly Reid (who I’d never met IRL before), and Sara Bolton (with her adorable brand-new baby) were there. All just as nice as ever.

9.      I discovered that Twitter is a great way to take notes in a conference—especially when you’ve forgotten to bring note paper and your laptop only has enough juice for two hours. Or when you've figured out that taking notes on Twitter is just plain cool. There were tons of people taking notes that way, BTW—check out the #LTUE hash tag on Twitter for a lot of great quotes.

10.  I got to live with and hang with Donna Weaver—who is a kindred spirit. She has children my age, but we found we agreed on almost everything. After reading her blog, I suspected that I’d like her—now I know. She’s awesome. She even let me read her copy of Anna and the French Kiss (in two very late nights--AMAZING book).

There were other highlights--and other authors who will be doing calls for Authors' Advisory, but I need to get back to the one thing I didn't do at all: WRITE! I'll never feel like I've earned a permanent place in this awesome community until I have the publication cred to back it up!

Who else was there? What was your favorite part?

LTUE (or, Why I Can't Figure Out if I'm Important)

Tomorrow I will drive to my home state of Utah to spend three days with Donna Weaver at my alma mater, BYU, attending the Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium on science fiction and fantasy. Tons of my favorite authors will be there and, get this: I get to help! Not only help, but I get to moderate three of the panels. =D

What is this "moderate" thing, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.... I'm not sure (you'll see why)--but I'm excited to do it, anyway.

When I first decided to attend LTUE a couple months ago, I emailed the powers that be and volunteered to help--and not just because I'm addicted to volunteering, lately. Really. Think about it--what better way to actually get to talk to your favorite authors than if you are in charge of fetching their water bottles? "Here's your water, Mr. Dashner. No, no. My pleasure. What? You want to give me an ARC of The Death Cure? Well... okay. If you insist."

What was I talking about? Oh--the LTUE powers-that-be emailed back and asked if I wanted to be a panelist! Me! Well, when I stopped laughing (seriously--would you come to a panel with me on it? Maybe you shouldn't answer that), I had to confess that I'm not exactly cool enough to be a panelist. I mean, I'm no Brodi Ashton, right? (Not yet....) Still, I really like public speaking, I have a bit of experience with interviewing authors, and, well, combining the two is awesome, so I suggested that maybe I could help, like, moderate or something. And they said yes! Wahoo! I get to be one of the moderators! So. Cool.

Then, today, I get the official email telling everyone which panels they'll be on. (I'm in an email list with, well, everybody!) I'll be moderating the following:

Thursday, February 17, 2011
11:00 am: Poetic license vs. Authorial Obligation, with Clint Johnson, Eric Swedin, and Julie Wright.
5:00 pm: Pay it Forward with Paul Genesse, Elana Johnson, and Tristi Pinkston

Friday, February 18, 2011
Noon: What is an Agent, and What can they do for you? with Tyler Whitsides, James Dashner, and Lesli Muir Lytle

Looks like a really fun time, hey? I'm really excited to meet such great people and to spend time chatting with them about writing-related stuff. Just being at the front of the same room with them will be awesome!

So here's the kicker. At the top of today's official schedule email is this explanatory line:
Except for Robin, all moderators are also panelists.  Robin is our designated moderator.
 Check me, huh? I'm not only A moderator, I'm THE moderator. I'll Be Back er, There. 

Only... the other panels (three or four every hour, 9-9 for three days) still have assigned moderators (who aren't me)--they just have one of the authors assume the task of keeping everyone in line.

So, basically, I'm the only person LTUE is letting on a panel who doesn't have the necessary credentials to actually instruct the symposium attendees.

Which makes me very important. (I'm pretty sure.)

Either way, I'm showing up, accepting my Moderator nametag, wearing it with pride, and having the time of my life.

Maybe they'll even let me fetch some water bottles....