Writing News
This was the week that my lovely sister and I have been anxiously awaiting for several months now. Girls weekend out! I spent a ridiculous amount of my writing time this week developing my one sheet and practicing my pitch. And then early Friday morning I kissed my three darling cyclones, the hunky hubby, and our beast of a dog goodbye and lept into our station wagon for the 2 hr. and 15 min. drive to The Northwest Christian Writer’s Renewal.
Some highlights. I got to pitch Overturned to an editor for the first time. He laughed at the fact that I was holding Stein on Writing in the photo on my one sheet. Of course my maniacal babbling in response probably sucked 3 months of his life away (you know, like the machine on The Princess Bride) but at least I acted normal for a few minutes prior to my breakdown. My lovely sister was sitting behind me analyzing his every expression and twitch and determined that only one of the 5 pitches made him perk up a bit. A tall quiet gentleman with dramatic cancer stories. But he was much nicer than “Simon” and for that I am grateful. Simon is the reason that I don’t ever watch American Idol. He makes me want to either burst into tears or yank out a hand full of his perfectly groomed hair and stuff it up his nose.
…Sorry, got a little distracted there. Anywho, I also got to pitch to a publisher. He was standing in for the agent who became deathly ill right before the conference. Don’t worry she will recover, I hear it was a cold not the swine flu. But my day was greatly brightened when the publisher actually formed these 5 words with his mouth: “This is a great idea.” And then I met a free lance editor who really loved my prologue about Ancient Assyrian history. So I received some much needed encouragement and got those first traumatic pitches out of the way. And learned some truly great things in the lectures.
But most of all, I had a couple of days to just be a girl. Not mom extraordinaire. Not frantic keeper of our home. Not evil wife of doom. Just Kristen the girl. My sister and I ate out and went to the new Wolverine movie and zoomed around the west side in my brother’s race car that contains 5 point harnesses instead of seat belts. Which, in case you ever wondered, chafe terribly. A glorious time indeed.
