This past weekend, I attended the New Jersey Romance Writers 2005 Put Your Heart in a Book Conference. I've been a member of the NJRW for 12 years now, and I have to say, I love these conferences. Not only do I get to hang out with my "writing" friends, I also get to meet new ones. All of the attendees are gracious, friendly, and fun to hang around with.
This year there were approximately 450 registrants. This was a big conference. Our keynote speaker for breakfast was Mary Jo Putney. Ms. Putney has made all of the national bestseller lists. Ms. Putney gave an amazing, inspirational speech which I will keep with me for a long time. Just being in her presence was an honor. (Did I mention I was seated at the President's table? Well I had a front row view of Ms. Putney and it was awesome!)
Our luncheon speaker was Lisa Kleypas. Ms. Kleypas has also won numerous awards. Her speech was great. Ms. Kleypas was invigorating, funny and left me wanting to work even harder to finish my book.
These women have worked hard to get where they are today. Listening to their stories about overcoming rejection, writer's block and frustration gave me hope. Their words also gave me the desire to keep my dreams alive and to keep writing that book I'm having a hard time completing. If you don't write anything...duh...how will you ever get published? I have to keep saying this to myself. I have to work harder. I have to have discipline. Otherwise, nothing will ever happen. I'm not getting any younger here, so I've decided I'd better finish the book.
Although I didn't have anything to pitch for the editor/agent appointments, I did volunteer to help out with them. My name was listed as a "hugger/encourager". I wasn't exactly sure what this meant, but the coordinator said they thought of me as being a good person to do this. I take this as a great compliment :) So, I sat in the waiting room giving encouragement, lining people up to go meet with their respective editor/agent, and shouted "Good luck!" as they passed.
It was a great feeling when I later saw some of the people with big smiles on their faces. They had pitched their book in the 10 minute time slot they were allotted, and most of them were asked to submit a partial. I wish these people the greatest of luck! Hopefully next year, I'll have something to pitch! Actually, I will have something to pitch because I just got done telling you how I'm going to be disciplined and finish that book I'm working on.
At the end of the conference, we hold a book fair. Close to, if not over 100 authors sign their books. This book fair is also open to the public, and a percentage of the proceeds goes to a literacy foundation. I think this is great, and of course I donated half of my paycheck.
It's hard not to buy your favorite authors' books. It was also hard for me to pass by the other authors without buying their books. Especially when they would smile up at me while I was having a book signed by the author next to them. It's very uncomfortable. I feel guilty, but the truth is, I just don't make that much money. So, I'm sorry to those I passed by.
I did make a lot of new friends and contacts. I managed to line up some wonderful authors for interviews. I'm very excited about this. Although I'm not in their realm as far as being a multi-published author, they were all gracious, all loved the idea of being interviewed for the site, and I couldn't be happier to bring their expertise to you.
In case you're wondering if the interviews will all be about "romance writing", that's not true. Some of the authors write mystery, young adult, and paranormal. Some write "chic lit" which I don't personally categorize as romance. I find it to be more mainstream. I've also lined up an author who is actually two women who write together. They will give us some insight as to what it's like to have a writing partner.
Anyway you look at it, they're all multi-published authors wanting to share with others. For that, I am grateful and honored.
I had every intention of writing when I got home. I was excited and filled with a new determination. This was all crushed by the fact that I now have bronchitis. I've been laying on the couch for 3 days now. I feel lousy and the newsletter was postponed longer than I had anticipated. I did start to read one of the many books I bought, but it's just making me want to sit at my desk and work on my own novel. I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in soon and I can start writing. I did write this recap while on the couch, so I guess tomorrow morning I can sit on the couch and work on my book in between coughing and sneezing. I'm just glad I wasn't sick for the conference. I hope you enjoyed my little recap. If there are typos or incoherent sentences, blame it on me being sick. This took a lot out of me, so I'm going to go to sleep now.
Before I head off to dreamland, I wish you all the best with your writing. Keep your dream alive. Keep the faith. Keep honing your craft. Seeing your name in print is not impossible. Many of the now published authors who I hung out with at the conference weren't published when I had first met them. In fact, I think I'm the only one out of my close group that isn't published in book-length fiction. That's pretty sad...just kidding. I only have myself to blame. I procrastinated, I made up excuses not to write. My wonderful friends did it because they do have discipline, talent, determination, and they never gave up. I'm so proud of them and so blessed to have them as friends.
So people, get yourself to a writers' conference. Meet new people, pitch your book, learn from the workshops, buy a ton of books, and when you get home...WRITE!
Goodnight for now. Good luck to you all on your writing endeavors.
Sandy
