LTUE, Pinterest, and a Contest

I got to spend my weekend with some of my favorite people in the world, thanks to the LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything) conference. It was such a blast to hang out with my writer friends and to meet new friends! I even ended up doing a reading of TRANSPARENT (Thank you Jared and Lynn and Megan for coming to listen!) and subbed in on a panel with Kasie West, James Dashner, and Bree Despain. I felt so not qualified, but it was awesome all the same. I guess I'm really going to have to get used to being seen as an author person. Weird.

In other news, I have finally decided to join another social-ish networking type site—Pinterest. You can find me here if you're on there. I actually first heard of this site through my mom. She's totally up on the tech stuff, and she's been using it for awhile now to organize her quilting ideas and to find other cool things. So far it's been really user-friendly and fun. Also, it seems like a cool way to organize inspiration and thoughts, like an online filing cabinet or something. Basically, it's something I can manage, and it's been quite a long time since I felt that way about a new "social networking" site.

And finally, Kiersten White is having a Valentine's contest for the ENTIRE PARANORMALCY SERIES. I highly encourage checking it out, since it's still several months before you can officially buy the last in the series.

Okay, back to wasting time on Pinterest:)

Let's Play Catch Up!

1. I'm going to LTUE this week! If you're in Utah, I highly recommend trying to attend. Not only is the schedule packed with talent, but the price is the most affordable I've seen for a conference. If you are there and see me, please say hi! Sadly, I do not look like my picture currently, as I am pregnant and getting quite...round. So you know.

2. Speaking of the baby stuff, just thought I'd mention that I'm having a boy! I think some people may have missed that when I mentioned it on Twitter. Also, I am pregnant, in case you missed that (some people have!). I try not to talk about it too much. Like you need a constant stream of updates on my uterus, right? Anyway, all's well.

3. Publishing news! ...None of which I can actually TELL you. I know. Lame. But stuff is happening! It's cool, because honestly up until now not much has been going on since my deal back in April 2011 (minus edits). Wheels are starting to move. It's fun. I feel like the plane is just about to take off. Or some other cheesy comparison.

4. I'm, uh, kinda writing a new book. I should be editing, but after about 8 months of editing my brain rebelled and here I am 11k words into a book I shouldn't be writing. Not gonna lie—it's fun. Turns out writing is still enjoyable fourteen books in, thank goodness. And I figure I got here writing books I shouldn't have written, so why not have a little fun? (Don't worry, Editor Erica, if you read this. I am starting edits next Monday. Promise. Cross my heart. All that good stuff. [Please don't yell at me.])

5. Taxes Suck. It's my first time ever doing self-employment taxes! It's really only cool when you think about it. There is nothing cool in the actual process of doing them. But anyway, all good things come at a price, right?

6. I recently discovered Kasie West is my TV watching soulmate. Seriously. I've known her for like 3 years? I did NOT know we had such similar taste in television. This brings me great joy, since now I can discuss all the evil of Conda with someone who truly gets it. Instead of, you know, bugging my husband about it and him giving me confused glares.

7. Book-A-Week goal is roughly on schedule! Uhh, if you count manga and crit partner manuscripts, which I think should count! Especially because my friends write amazing novels that will so be published at some point. I seriously don't know why they took pity on me, because their writing makes me weep with insufficiency. But at least I get to enjoy raw brilliance, so I'm not gonna ask questions.

So what about you? Anything fun going on I should know about?

Storymakers! (And The Importance Of Asking)

LDStorymakers is one of the biggest writing conferences in Utah. I have never been, but I have heard nothing but good things about it. They have fabulous guests, master classes, and an all around solid schedule of helpful courses. I can't tell you how excited I am to be team teaching two classes at the 2012 conference!

The line up this year is pretty amazing, with bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson being there, along with editor Molly O'neill, as well as agents Weronika Janczuk, Holly Root, Michelle Wolfson, and Kathleen Ortiz. And that's not all—Kiersten White, Jannette Rallison, Elana Johnson, and many other amazing authors will be teaching classes. It's like an awesome overload, and I'm still kind of floored that I'm even part of it.

The conference isn't until May, but I wanted to let you all know now because registration starts beginning of December and there is a cap on attendees (of 450). So please see the website for more information on classes and dates, and I hope to see you there!

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Now, I wanted to talk briefly about the fact that I am actually teaching at this conference (with my dear friends Jenn Johansson and Kasie West) because it taught me an important lesson about how these opportunities really come about. I previously assumed that conference officials just extended invitations to those who they wanted to teach, but that's not entirely the case.

You CAN ask. And we so asked if it might be possible to present classes. We knew it was probably a long shot, since Storymakers is pretty significant around here and the three of us are 2013 debuts (thus we won't even have novels out), but we decided to give it a shot anyway. We contacted conference officials, they told us to write up a proposal for the classes we'd teach, and they'd let us know what they decided. So we did, and I figured, hey, at least we tried and it's okay if they don't take us. But they did! And it was exciting and awesome and all that stuff.

This was yet another reminder to me that this business is a lot about asking nicely and being okay if people say no. That aspect really never ends. Once you make it past the queries, you do that with editors. Once you make it past editors and get a book deal, you're asking for conference opportunities or bookstore signings or reviews or blurbs or, in reality, readers. And people still say no. Rather frequently, from what I've seen. And that's okay, because sometimes you get a yes, and you make the best of that yes and get excited about that yes and it always opens up more opportunities.

So don't be afraid to ask. In all honesty, you usually hear no a lot more than yes, but that's how it is for most everyone. Even most every published author that is not Neil Gaiman. You can't let the rejections stop you from asking, because you never know when someone will say yes and what that yes will do for you.

A Character. A Conference. A Contest.

1. A Character
I got in an artsy mood yesterday and decided I had to draw a certain character. I can't tell you who this character is, but she's freaking cool and I love her so much and I think about her way more than I should. Mostly, I wish I could pull off a faux hawk:

Hi, I'm a really cool character you're not allowed to know about. I like your hair like that—did you just wake up?

2. A Conference
So a funny thing happened—I agreed to present at a local conference! I know. What sane introvert who's had a public speaking fainting episode would do this? Well, I'm not sane. Also, Ally Condie will be there. I really want to meet her. Paramedics please stand by.

So if you're in the area and not attending Storymakers (which is the same day, gah!), come to the American Fork Arts Council Writers Conference. It might be small, but it packs a good bang for your buck!

Info:
American Fork Arts Council Conference for Writers
Saturday, April 24, 2010
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Location: American Fork Historic City Hall, 31 North Church Street (50 East)
To register call Lori at 801-763-3081.

PRICE: $29 or $40 after April 12. (If you register before April 12th, you are invited to a free Plot Shop the Friday night before. Also, there's a book included in that price.)

Lunch catered by Flour Girls & Dough Boys, $9 per person payable at morning registration.

Keynote Speakers:
Ginger Churchill, "What I Wish I had Known as a Beginning Writer"
Ally Condie, "My Journey to National Publication"
John D. Brown, "Aiming for National Publication"

Local Publishers: Deseret Book and Granite Publishing

There will be some great workshops for writers getting ready to put their work out there. I'll be presenting these: Crafting the Novel, Is Your Story Ready for Publication? How Do You Know?, Querying Agents and Publishers, Writing the Synopsis and Query, Marketing Yourself with a Blog.

If you're really lucky and my blood sugar is low, you might even get to see me faint, too. So. Exciting.

3. A Contest
My dear friend Michelle is having a rather fabulous short story contest. The prizes are great, and you have TWO months to enter! Go check it out. Man, for a $50 dollar gift card to the store of my choice, I may enter myself.