Jubilee Writer's Conference

On Saturday, April 4, 2009, I attended the 2009 Jubilee Writer's conference. I did not preregister since I didn't know wether or not I'd be able to attend at all with the demands of my pays-the-bills job. As soon as I received my package, I looked through it thoroughly, but could not find a schedule. The lady at the registration desk switched it out for a complete packet.

While browsing the events, I noted two major points of interest: 5 open slots to meet with an editor and 6 open slots to meet with an agent. Now, the description for the agent requested 'women's fiction only.' I have no idea what 'women's fiction' stands for. A variety of definitions I came up with include: mild to extreme feminism, strong female leads and characters, romance plain and simple, and literature with no male characters other than filler (IE, they can't have any major part in the story). So I thought, okay - I have strong female characters even if they don't always lead. I kick all dumb women from the picture if they have the gall to appear at any point. All of my completed novels have romance in them though it's always a side plot and never the main plot. I do have a couple male leads and the men in my novels do have important roles. Okay, so I failed ONE of my definitions and another is questionable.

With this on my mind, I went to sign up for a meeting with the editor (after the very nice lady - she let me bug her most of the morning - at registration retreaved it from the back room where two moderators had already slapped their name on the paper). I went into the large meeting room for the agent's presentation. After a few moments of figeting, I returned to the registration desk and signed up for a meeting with her. My thoughts: How long have you been writing? You have TEN manuscripts completed. It's time to publish one of them! You deserve this! She had no one signed up for her so the meetings lined up the agent first, the editor second.

When I went back into the large meeting room, I met another writer who mentioned the First Page Critique and that one of the requirements was to actually turn in a first page. She said I could do that at the registration desk. I sat still and tried to relax. Luckily, the meetings were right after the first presentation so I didn't have much time to work my nerves into a frenzy.

The meeting with the agent finally helped me classify my genere. Primarily, I fit in the horror category. Occasionally I touch upon dark fantasy and even more rarely science fiction. We discussed the definition of 'women's fiction' and still couldn't define it properly though it was strong in the romance element. Ah, well.

Far more satisfying was the meeting with the editor. I pitched The Legacy and Duality to her. She was very interested in The Legacy. At the end of the meeting, she gave me her card and requested I send my manuscript to her. Yes, finally. A NEW YORK EDITOR wants MY manuscript. Granted, she could read it and trash the whole thing. I was also warned she was behind in the manuscripts she had already and it may take a long while. I pulled out my calender and showed her I had completed The Legacy in 2006. I told her I could wait six months for a response. She didn't contradict my time period, so I hope it's no later than that. So, good news/bad news, right?

Uplifted by this, I went to the registration desk and pulled out the first page of Duality, the only completed novel I had on me that wasn't The Legacy. I asked her if they could ignore the second page on the back (I print my copies of manuscripts two sided to save paper) and she told me that would be okay. First Page Critique seminar requirement fullfilled.

I went to a presentation on the Creative Brain. Not only did I learn about a few interesting statistics, I won a skull! His box describes him as 'Mr. Thrifty.' Well, Mr. Thrifty will sit with me every time I have difficulty writing as a reminder and for inspiration. Many of the sessions I went to helped me out, though in small ways. I've been around this block enough times to know most of the things they were telling me. A few tips here and there will improve my style, so I don't mean to sound...arrogant.

The First Page Critique. I waited forever and thought they wouldn't read mine before time ran out. Ah, luck was with me this day. Molly Bolden, the owner of Bent Pages, remarked that my writing had great potential and was excellent, but I was putting too much backstory on the first page. Just about everyone received that criticism. The author on the panel then said everyone there had a good writing style and was suffering from technical problems.

Last was the wine and cheese social on the balcony. I met with some other authors (Aaralyn Montgomery for a short time, D. B. Grady, Payton Blaire, and Mindy Blanchard) and we chatted about various topics. Since I didn't really need it anymore and he showed some interest, I gave a copy of The Legacy to D. B. Grady.

Being a writer was my dream since 7th grade, back when writers could make a living on their works. I can't fail.