Posted by Christine on Apr 30, 2010 in Follow Friday |
This week my follow Friday goes to another wonderful and motivating author Vicki Pettersson. My first year at SiWC (2007) I got to meet so many incredible authors, one of which was Vicki. I will never forget my meeting with her for several reasons. First off, because I was very nervous. It was the first time I was showing pages of my work with a “real author†while sitting across the table at a blue pencil. Also, this was a published author, and I wanted to be like her when I grew up. What would I say to her? Ms. Pettersson immediately put me at ease. How? She recognized the color of my nail polish. No seriously. I had gotten a manicure specifically for SiWC since I won the contest that year and she recognized the brand and the color as soon as I sat down and complimented me on it. I was needless to say tickled. The other reason I will never forget my meeting with Vicki, and why I find her such an inspiration, is because of the advise she gave me. When I met with her she was kind, caring and inspirational. She was also very honest. We talked for several minutes and I shared how I won the contest and had come to the conference for the first time to hopefully help improve my writing. She asked me what I was pitching this year and I explained to her that I had not brought anything to pitch and did not have a finished novel ready to pitch. She told me that conferences where great and they were wonderful for inspiring writers but she also warned me not to become a conference “junkyâ€. She challenged me not to come back to SiWC next year unless I had a novel ready to pitch. I am proud to say that I did go back to Surrey in 2008 with a novel ready to pitch and with the beginning of Red and Grey. Then I went back in 2009 with Red and Grey ready to pitch. I’m not sure that I would have had the motivation to do that if it hadn’t been for Vicki’s encouragement. So thank you Vicki Pettersson for being a wonderful author who both my husband and I enjoy reading and for being an inspiration to me in my...
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Posted by Christine on Apr 16, 2010 in Follow Friday, General |
Today my Follow Friday goes to Kelley Armstrong. Not that she needs me to tell you to follow her – she is an amazing author as the New York Times has already recognized that. But the fact is she deserves it. Kelley Armstrong was the first of many authors who has inspired me on my writing journey. My story starts when I wondered in the fantasy/sci-fi section of my local book store preparing for my husband to go out of town. I decided to start in the A section and look for authors I had never read before. I picked up Bitten and Stolen. At the time I was the mother of three (still am), working full time, and a graduate student getting my Masters of Education. My husband was doing a lot of traveling getting his Masters as well and we were considering where we would be living when he finished. I also harbored a secret dream to write. I had started and stopped writing a few stories that only my best friend knew about. I figured I didn’t have the time or the talent to put into the pursuit of writing. One night, I went on the wonderful inter-web and looked up Kelley Armstrong. I found her brief bio. Something about it struck me. She has three kids – I think at the time I read it she was still working as a programmer – or maybe she had recently stopped. But something about how real she was… maybe the fact that her child took her picture struck me. By the way – it’s the same picture now that it was then. Something in my mind went CLICK – if she can do it, so can I. But, that’s not why she is getting my Follow Friday. We settled on moving to Seattle and because of that decision I ended up with the chance to meet Kelley Armstrong at SiWC in 2007. In 2006 I finished my first novel, a science fiction YA novel. In 2007, I sent about 10 queries on it – all rejected for very good reason. Had I known then what I know now I would never have sent queries. 🙂 However, in 2007 I wrote my first short story which took place in the same universe and with that story, “A Decade of Scottsdale†I won the 2007 Surrey International Storytellers Award. I also got to meet Kelley Armstrong that year and tell her the very story I just shared here. Not only did she listen, she let my husband and I sit with her at dinner one night. She accepted me as a friend on Facebook, and she returned my e-mail when I sent her a request for a favor. (And granted the favor I might add – thank you so much Kelley!) Later when I took my sister to one...
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Posted by Christine on Apr 9, 2010 in Follow Friday |
This week my Follow Friday goes to the one conference I make a point to attend every year. Not that I don’t attend some other events or conferences in the year but so far there has not been any other event that has drawn me back year after year the way SiWC has. Why is it such a wonderful event? There could be many possible answers to this question, the food, the hotel, the area of Canada where it is held eh? But in reality we all know the real reason… it’s the people. Surrey is put on by some of the best people in the world. Last years coordinator KC Dyer was fantastic and this years coordinator Kathy Chung promises to be just as wonderful. They arrange each year for amazing presenters who come and share their knowledge and experience with the many attendees. Some of the past presenters include Kelley Armstrong, Vicki Pettersson, and, C.C. Humphreys. Several presenters who come every year include Diana Gabaldon, Jack Whyte, and Anne Perry. Want to know what exciting presenters are coming this year to SiWC – check out their Blog here, they are already sharing details on this years line up. But it isn’t just the presenters that make SiWC wonderful. It’s the amazing writers you get to meet and hang out with. Share meals, drinks, stories, laughter and nervous looks with during SiWC Idol’s. The ones you might only physically see once a year but you keep in touch with virtually all year and you root for as we all progress on our path to publication. So if anyone out there is looking for that one conference that is worth going to I would like to highly recommend the Surrey International Writers...
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Posted by Christine on Apr 2, 2010 in Follow Friday, Kudos |
Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I am borrowing a concept from Twitter. Each Friday I will share with you someone’s Blog who I read and I think is worth following and reading. It might be another author, an agent, a conference Blog, or just a random person who does good in the world or whose blog I enjoy. If this person also happens to be on Twitter they will be my getting my Follow Friday there as well. To start things out I want to share with you the blog of my fellow writer and competitor for the Crown of Rejection Queen: Deb Anderson. Deb writes historical fiction and I have really been enjoying reading her blog lately. In addition she gets congrats today for getting a request for her first 30 pages from an agent. YAY Deb. She has obviously written a kick @ss query letter. 😉 Still she is currently leading in the competition for the crown, so I need to send some more queries. So go enjoy her...
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