This past weekend, I attended the DFW Writers Conference in lovely Feet Worth, TX. (And yes, I said feet. My Tom Tom says feet worth and so shall I, dammit.) As some of you know, I moved to Texas in August of last year. The transition from Colorado was rocky, but despite all the setbacks, I found a kick ass writing workshop that I attend every Wednesday night. And from this workshop, I was able to be a part of one of the best writers conferences I've ever attended. And I mean EVER. Take that AWP!
The keynote address by Sandra Brown was funny, informative, personable and my goodness for a sixty something year old woman who has written over sixty best selling books, Ms. Brown looked like a Stepford Wife and I mean that in the best way possible. She was gorgeous!
I attended some wonderful classes, particularly Kristen Lamb's class on social media and agent Dawn Frederick's on the book proposal. Both women were nice, inspiring and willing to share their knowledge and insight with little old me. (Well, me and a couple hundred other people, but I can't list them all here because my brain has turned all mushy from all the info I learned.)
Okay, so what made this conference different than the rest? The people. Hands down this was the nicest conference I've been to. People were chatty and encouraging and genuinely interested in perfecting their craft. Okay, okay, the Query gong show was really the highlight and I'm sorry I missed the first one. George and Russ made it fun whie the agents gave the audience a peak into their thought process. What stops an agent from reading or responding favorably to your query?
What was your favorite part of the conference? Any good quotes, overheard conversations, or lessons learned? Tell me now...
The keynote address by Sandra Brown was funny, informative, personable and my goodness for a sixty something year old woman who has written over sixty best selling books, Ms. Brown looked like a Stepford Wife and I mean that in the best way possible. She was gorgeous!
Okay, so what made this conference different than the rest? The people. Hands down this was the nicest conference I've been to. People were chatty and encouraging and genuinely interested in perfecting their craft. Okay, okay, the Query gong show was really the highlight and I'm sorry I missed the first one. George and Russ made it fun whie the agents gave the audience a peak into their thought process. What stops an agent from reading or responding favorably to your query?
- One word. Cancer.
- Too many big things going on, such as murder, espionage and maybe a tsunami all before the end of the first paragraph.
- Starting out with a question such as, "What would you do if...?"
- Comparing your writing skills to a certain woman writer who happens to be richer than the Queen of England
- Vampires
- Teenagers bonding with old people. Teenagers don't care about old people. They care about boys or girls or both.
- Lost journals. Nobody wants to read a book about somebody reading a book.
What was your favorite part of the conference? Any good quotes, overheard conversations, or lessons learned? Tell me now...