WIFYR and Other Fun Stuff!

This past week was incredible! I wanted to blog, but I was so busy rewriting and editing that I had to wait. I went to WIFYR! I told myself that I would regret leaving Utah and not going to WIFYR this summer. Turns out that I was right.

I was a little nervous as the conference approached. Writers can be an insecure bunch, or maybe that's just me. I always do this to myself, though. I start thinking that my writing's not very good or that I shouldn't have signed up. But I went, and I am so glad that I did! I was in Ann Cannon's class--basically the best class ever! Anyone who was in there will agree with me. The feedback that I received on my writing was great, I got to read through the other students' writing and give my own critiques, and I got to meet a lot of new, fun people. Unless something big comes up next summer, I'm totally hopping on a plane and heading back to WIFYR.

Some of the prominent people who were there (aside from the faculty, which was composed of published authors) were Kristin Ostby (editor for Simon & Schuster), Michelle Witte (agent for Mansion Street Literary MGMT), John Cusick (agent for Greenhouse Literary), Amy Jameson (agent for (A+B Works), and James Dashner as the keynote speaker. And of course, Carol Lynch Williams is the main start-up-gal behind the scenes of WIFYR, though a lot of people make it happen. In short, WIFYR was amazing, so why weren't you there?

After WIFYR, I went to Lagoon with my parents, sister-in-law, and niece and nephews. I can't think of a better week right before I move to NYC. Books and family, that's where it's at. By the way, my niece has this weird thing about feeding me. Yesterday, she kept abandoning her food to sit by me, and then she kept picking up my fork and shoveling corn into my mouth. It takes a lot longer to eat when a three-year-old is feeding you, but it was more entertaining for sure!

Today will be full of doing all the necessary preparatory things that one does before moving to NYC. I think I'll start a new blog too, about all my NYC happenings. I'll still write on this one too though. I really just love the word hugger-mugger, though I'm admittedly more of a people-watcher than a hugger-mugger.

Zut alors! She has emerged!

Yes, I'm back! It's been quite a while. How long has it been since I last posted on here? Sheesh, it's kind of weird that I can feel guilty about not posting, but it's kind of true.

What have I got to say for myself? I graduated! And I worked! And I did a lot of sleeping/resting. I caught up on some tv shows too. It maybe wasn't the best use of my time, but it felt sooo good to relax!

I think I came out of my tv show binge faze yesterday when I needed to have 5,000 words ready for my WIFYR group. The conference is coming up! Two weeks! I had more than that written, but I think I'm kind of an eternal rewriter, which perhaps comes from me being a sort of "by the seat of your pants" kind of writer. Essentially, I hadn't worked much more on my story, and I wasn't too satisfied with the pages that I had--at least not enough to send them in to get critiqued by my group. So, yesterday, starting at about 4pm, I wrote. By 11:30pm, I had just under 5,000 words. Even though it's still kind of iffy, it's much better than what I had before. The submissions needed to be in by the end of yesterday. I don't think I realized just how inspiring deadlines can be.

Mostly, I can't stop thinking about my move to NYC! I may start a new blog that is all about the things I discover or don't discover. Or perhaps I'll just keep it all on here. I have a ticket though, did I mention that before? I did indeed buy a plane ticket. I'll be out of here on June 24th, so just a few weeks away. I have a place for a couple of months at least (on Manhattan!). Now I'm just waiting. Good thing I have a brother's wedding and WIFYR to keep me semi-busy until I leave.

I'll probably be more regular about posts now--no more two-month gaps.

By the way, did anyone pick up on the Beauty and the Beast quote??? Extra points if you did!

Typical Tuesday

I wasn't planning on posting every day, but I was so excited last night! I signed up for WIFYR, which is Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers. It's a writing conference nearby that goes from June 16-20. I went one year for free because I was in Carol Lynch Williams' class--I believe that she's the main woman behind WIFYR. But I could only go the afternoon sessions because the morning sessions were legit classes with various authors. That's how you get some good feedback on your writing. Well, yesterday I signed up for one of the morning classes! I was so excited! I wish it were June already and I was graduated!

On another note, I got to do something fun and different this morning for my internship. I worked on cover blurbs! It was pretty fun. I got to review some things I had never read before and write the little blurbs that go on the cover as well as some short and long ads. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I liked it.