It’s the first official day of the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference (2010) and once again I am amazed and humbled by the marvelous blessings that God pours out during this event. Here are a few highlights (for me) so far.Last night I got the nerve to volunteer during a earlybird session for “pitching practice.” And no, that doesn’t have anything to do with baseball. Pitching is where you give a quick synopsis of your writing — carefully worded and practiced so that you knock an editors socks off and force them to offer you a contract. Well, maybe not exactly, but you get the idea. My pitch wasn’t spectacular, but I think I get some points for getting up in front of a crowd to try it. I think you could hear my words over the sound of my knees knocking.
Today I spoke with an agent who had the joy (ahem) of reading my material before the conference and she asked to meet with me tomorrow. That sounds promising to me. It’s at 10:30 am Pacific Time, if you’d like to pray for me. I could definitely use it.
At dinner I sat with author Bill Myers, who has written hundreds of children’s titles, including the Wally McDoogle series (aka the “My life as…” series) and an animated series for television “The Adventures of McGee and Me.” It was fascinating to listen to him talk about writing for children and how the market has changed in recent years. He had good suggestions for all of us (at the table) as to how to improve our writing and our pitches.
Our keynote speaker is legendary Christian musician Charlie Peacock. He is an amazing speaker, but when he turned to the piano, it blew us all away. He wrapped up the session by singing one of my favorite songs, “In the Light.”
It’s been a full day — and I’ve only given you a taste of everything I’ve experienced. Tomorrow, besides meeting with an agent, I will begin my mentorship sessions with suspense author Brandilyn Collins and get to attend several workshops. I hope I get some sleep tonight so I can actually look and sound intelligent tomorrow! I’ll let you know what happens!
It sounds like you had a wonderful time at Mt. Hermon! I got to go to the writers’ conference once (in 2001? I think) and have very fond memories 🙂 Best of luck in all your follow-up work with publishers and agents!
I did have a wonderful time, Lynn! Thanks for your well-wishes, I know I’m going to need it. Do you think you’ll ever return to Mount Hermon or have you found other wonderful conferences to attend?