30 April 2012

Megan's Excellent Adventure

Today's post will be mostly green, as I mention all the lovely people I met at the New England Chapter of the Romance Writers of America Conference. Click away if you want to learn more about them!


Here I sit with my friend, Golden Heart Nominee Colette Auclair. Colette and I were finalists in a contest last year (she won), and met in person at the RWA Conference in New York. It was a lovely surprise to see her in Salem! Colette is my Mack truck--I'm drafting behind her as she blazes her way to glory! She'll get all the awards but I'll get better gas mileage. Don't laugh--gas is pretty expensive these days.

This photo was taken by my roommate, Kate George. I'm telling you, I've slept with some outstanding women at these conferences! Last year, I roomed with Delia Moran, and I shacked up with Deborah Blake at National. I'm making my natural hussy tendencies work for me.

It was fantastic to see my friends Serena Bell and Ellen Dean, who is social-media phobic but effervescent in person. You should remember their names, folks, because you will see them on book jackets soon. Rebecca Rose and Meg Maguire are already published, but were pitching books at the conference. While we waited for our appointments, I quizzed them on their projects and whether Meg's chicken hat from the previous evening was a rooster or a hen. Because romance writers are an incredibly supportive group, Rebecca volunteered to be my critique partner, and Meg told me where she bought her hat.

The conference workshops were informative, the panel discussion lively, and the presenters inspiring. Kristan Higgans made me laugh and cry--no easy feat at an early breakfast! And when a presenter offers to help, they mean it, as evidenced by Jen Talty's willingness to sit and discuss her digital publishing business with me. She's the mother of three hockey-playing boys, so I felt an immediate kinship with her.

One of the reasons I attended the conference was to meet LaToya Smith, an editor with Grand Central Publishing. I submitted ten pages of my manuscript, along with my query letter, for her to review before our appointment. It was an opportunity to get constructive feedback from someone in the business. LaToya was kind and enthusiastic, and at the end of our meeting she asked to see my full manuscript!

Now you know where you can find me for the next few weeks--polishing BIG SKY until it is so blindingly brilliant LaToya will scramble to snap it up!

It was an excellent weekend.


27 comments:

  1. Bad puppet?

    It looks like the conference was awesome. Wish I could have been there! Beautiful photo, and of course she asked to see your full. She's not stupid, you know.

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    1. "Bad Puppet" will be my next blog post. It requires many paragraphs.

      We missed you at the conference! I kept expecting to see you. I thought of you as I wandered Salem (Well, hello, Bunghole Liquors!), and of course when I pumped my own gas.

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  2. I've been waiting for the blog to find out how it all went and I'm not disappointed. I agree with Delia. Smart woman this LaToya. Now, polish, polish, polish. Do I get to see it before it's shipped off? VERY excited for you. See you Friday. XXOO

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    1. Of course you can see it. You and almost anyone else who wants to proof-read!

      Can't wait for Friday!

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  3. I shall repeat my tweet. I am so excited for you (and your future readers) I can hardly contain myself. WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

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    1. Truth be told, I'm pretty excited, too!

      Thanks for repeating the tweet, because I've decided I kinda suck at twitter.

      Delete
  4. This is wonderful news, Megan. Congratulations!!! Getting asked for a full manuscript is awesome. Sounds like the conference was great. Can't wait for you to be published and to get my hands on your book. : )

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    1. This is my second time there, and it feels like NEC is my home chapter! Everyone is very welcoming, although I've found that to be the case of all the writers I've met.

      I can't wait for Anaheim for you!

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  5. Anonymous30.4.12

    The Lone Woman will need to post about Bad Puppet. It WAS an epic fail and five could not be consoled. I used every Jedi mind trick at my disposal and all he kept saying was "Dad, just look at the puppet and you'll know what I mean. It's horrible and embarrassing". Oh well. He'll laugh about it 15 years from now(with luck). Signed,
    The Captain

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    1. I should have put the puppet in the memory box for the day of laughter. Or so he could show the therapist.

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  6. The Captain30.4.12

    One more thing - is my wife not the sexiest and most awesome person in the world? Of course they want her full manuscript. I can't wait for you all to be able to read her. This is The Captain - again.

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    1. I think The Captain may be biased. But thank you, dear.

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  7. ZOMG YOUR FULL MANUSCRIPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock. Squeee! Of course we all knew you were brilliant but this has to feel soooo sweet. Mazel tov :)

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    1. I keep tempering my response, because it's not SOLD, she just asked to see it. So I was pretty mellow for the rest of the day after the appointment. But I smiled for the whole ride home, and sang extra loudly in the car!

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  8. You are the best roomie in the world! And you got to room with the other best roomie in the world, Kate! I'm so sorry I wasn't there. (You know, someone has to be in charge of the chocolate.)

    Yay for the full request! YOU GO, GIRL!!!! I am so rooting for you.

    And the Captain is very sweet (and, since I met him in person at RWA Nationals, I can vouch for the cute, too). *waves*

    I'm glad you had a good time with such a lovely outcome. I hope you missed me just a little bit...

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    1. Nothing will ever compare to last year, when I met all my Betty friends, and first felt like a real writer. It was strange-I didn't miss you and Delia because it felt like you were there with me, but just off in another room!

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  9. What happened to the puppet? It was going so well.

    Yes, the Lone Woman is fantabulous, as is Big Sky. Some very lucky publisher is going to sell many, many copies some day. Perhaps it will be LaToya.

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    1. The puppet was going well when it was still a paper mock-up. Then the head of Creative changed his mind, and it all went to Hell in a handbasket. More to come soon...

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  10. yay for you! Can't wait to read Big Sky. also can't wait to hear the story behind bad puppet. :-)

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    1. "BAD PUPPET: the story of one young man's heartbreaking struggle to bring the joy of reading to life through art. Unable to forge the creation himself, he must overcome language barriers to gather the necessary materials and direct a disabled seamstress in a race against time."

      The New York Times says:

      "BAD PUPPET captures the universal struggle all artists face in bringing their creations to life. Not for the faint of heart, but necessary reading for anyone who has ever lost their muse while on deadline."

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  11. I am so happy for you I just want to cry. And one day soon I'll be going on amazon to buy Big Sky! Can't wait.
    Lucky you to have a husband who obviously adores you. I know from things you've said previously that the feeling is mutual. Very refreshing.

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    1. I feel blessed to have so many supporters!Chief among them is the Captain, whose hard work makes it easier to do mine. I want to make you all proud.

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  12. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points for my excitement! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. And I will remind you that you're MAGNIFICENT!

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  13. I just sent you a letter with some pictures of Dan half dressed. Wait, that's not what I meant.....

    Dear The Captain,
    that was NOT what I meant. You should totally look at those pictures on her phone so you know this, for SURE!

    Lone Woman, truly, there is NOT enough punctuation on the planet to express how thrilled we all are for you. And us! Because it means WE GET THE BOOK! With a half-dressed lawman! Wait, not what I meant there either. Oh, yeah that WAS what I meant this time.

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    1. Thank you for sending your half-dressed lawman to be my guide. Wait, that's not what I meant...

      I can see the acknowledgment now:

      "...and Daniel Olsen, for undressing."

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  14. Congrats on the full!

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