More Workshop Fun...Ann Dee Ellis, More Jess Garrison (from Dial) and Awesome Carol

So, one night at the hotel, I had some fun taking shots of Wee Molly checking herself out in front of the big mirror...

So, cute, right? There are two Mollys!



Alright, ahem, back to this post about my writing workshop. Sorry about that. I got a bit carried away with the baby pics... 

Amy Finnigan and Heather Moore



On day two of the conference I remembered to grab my camera. So, I started snapping pictures.

Awesome Carol and I

I kept making Carol pose again so we'd get a good picture...

I guess she got a bit bored.



The fun and brilliant Jess Garrison



The Breakfast Club



Kristyn Crow and Jen White

 Alright some highlights from the second day....

*Jess did a presentation she called From Pitch to Publication using The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows as her example. It was so interesting hearing about everything from the agent's pitch to the emails she sent to Jacqueline about revisions. Jess said, "Take some risks!" and "I want the author to take what I say and elevate it." Also, "Write with your heart. Promote with your head. Revise with both." One more, "There are always hidden gems. Look at your stories. Where is the latent Potential? What wants to LIVE in your story?" or something like that...

*Sweet Ann Dee Ellis, who is charming and funny and pregnant with her third boy gave a great lecture on revising. She said, "It might not be your book. There might be a portion that is your book. Be open to change. It might not be the book you're trying to write." We discussed different revising techniques. She also said, "Be willing to play!" One I found interesting was the idea of revising one character at a time throughout the whole manuscript. Also suggested was revising the sense of place, dialogue and emotions, one at a time throughout your WIP. 

*Carol led a discussion on agents. We chatted and discussed what we expected or hoped for and people shared their experiences with different agents. Carol said, "Remember to step up and say, 'You work for me." She made this point because some people spoke about how they get anxious to contact their agent. Interesting. I don't have that problem, yet. :)

*We broke into little critique groups again. This time I brought a small portion of a WIP that I worked on the night before. I started this project YEARS ago and pulled it out just for the fun of it. I want it to be MG, but I think it's YA. I'm not sure if I'll ever return to it, but it was a fun writing exercise and those in my group had positive things to say about it. 

*They gave away books. And guess which one I picked?....

I started reading it to my handsome nanny on the way home. Mmmm, it's so good. I love the premise! Kristen. You rock.

On the way home we grabbed some burgers at In and Out and then it was back on the road! We were happy to get back to our wild bunch of crazy monkeys at home. They had LOADS to tell us.



My Handsome Nanny



It was an excellent trip. Writing chatter, books and some alone time with Ryan and Molly. So fun.