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Showing posts from July, 2013

PNWA Conference Recap

This past weekend I attended the PNWA Conference. I was extremely nervous about the conference going in because A) I was going alone B) I would be pitching to agents and editors C) I was a finalist (!) in the middle grade literary contest Each of these facts turned out to be delightful opportunities. Because I was alone, I met several lovely, brilliant people and had conversations about everything from writing, to publishing, to parenting and work. I shared some of my greatest hopes and fears with total strangers, and it was incredibly liberating. In particular, I spent a lot of time with a very kind mystery writer from Japan, Charles Kowalski. (Can’t wait til he hits it big and I get to say “I knew him when”! Go Charles!) Because I pitched to agents and editors, I learned to think about my work in a different way and I practiced the fine art of “boiling it down”. In the end, I pitched to five industry professionals, (not including one very kind agent who I practiced w