Storymakers Writers Conference = Awesomesauce



Agent Michelle Wolfson, me, & author Kiersten White
Kiersten later told me, "You have the coolest name!
It's a sentence. That is just awesome." She signed my book,
to "Wendy, of the cool name!" Haha.

Hello, Cyberbuddies

For those of you who saw my last post, you know that I was having a rough time, but I'm happy to report that last weekend rocked.

First of all, the classes and breakouts were superb. I loved hearing from many of my favorite authors and was really thrilled when many of them knew me by name!

I also had the opportunity to meet several agents and take a photo with a few. I tried not to be too star-struck. I don't think I slobbered or anything.



Me and Agent Holly Root

On Saturday, my pitch session went well. Here's my pitch:

"In an empire where dark skinned people rule over pale slaves, sixteen-year-old Anya is an albino.

When she defies the Gods by spitting on the Queen, she is sentenced to death, but a mute boy frees her and she escapes to find the Mix, a band of rebels that live together in peace regardless of skin color.

There, she agrees to help Galen, the young rebel leader, in a daring plot to force social change, but things go terribly wrong and the king dies.

The Queen blames Anya for his death and orders her entire village culled in retribution.

Now Anya must fight to save her home from the Queen’s wrath, but a steam powered empire with lethal tracking cats and the God’s favor is not easily thwarted.

Complete at 59,000 words, COLORLESS would appeal to fans of Birthmarked and Incarceron.

Its first chapter won 3^rd place in the YA fantasy category at this conference last year. Do you have any questions for me?"

Tada! What do you think? So after that, I was already excited, and then came the first chapter contest.

My first place prize box! (I think I was still hyperventilating
 and shaking at this moment)

My story, FIREBUG took 1st place in the YA General Fiction category! How cool is that? When I read Firebug up there on the screen, a jolt went right through me! Oh boy! One of the gals in charge, who happens to be my daughter's favorite author (the awesome Karen Hoover), said that her judges said it was disturbing, but really powerful. Hehehe. *evil laugh*

James Dashner came up to me after the win and teased, "Hey Wendy, when you win a bunch of awards for all these good books someday, you'll have to say, 'it all started with that fateful dinner in 2010 when James Dashner sat at my table and bestowed his greatness upon me." We laughed--but I'm totally going to say that someday.

Thank you for being with me on this writing journey. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

What would you ask your favorite author if you could meet him or her in person? (or would you just stutter and grin foolishly?)

May The Fourth Be With You

Or at least the fourth can be nicer to me--at least that's what I'm hoping.
As some of you know, I've had a rough few weeks:

Three weeks ago, my six-year-old step-nephew was beaten to death by his biological father. It was a horrible tragedy and we drove to Primary Children's Medical Center in SLC to say goodbye before he was taken off life support. His father claimed he only hit him once, but I saw the numerous bruises all over his little body and that's bull. He's charged with 1st degree murder and I hope justice is served. I've never experienced such anger inside as I have with this experience. I'm working through it.

Two weeks ago, my Grandma Barr died. This is my mother's mother. I was extremely close to her. She was brilliant, selfless, loving, and wonderful--everything I aspire to be when I "grow up." We knew it was coming, but it's still hard.

Last Saturday was her funeral. I sang with my cousins a medley of Coming Home, and we celebrated her life. It comes in waves for me. I'll be fine, then suddenly be ticked about something random, and end up crying because I heard, saw, or smelled something that reminds me of her. This mourning cycle thing is the pits.

I'm sharing this with you because this next weekend is Storymakers writers conference. After three weeks of tears and sadness, I'm hoping against hope that this fourth weekend will be a good one.
Once again, I have a pitch session. This time, I'm pitching Colorless, my alternate history. So far, only my two cyber BFF's (Renee, & Rita) have read it, but with their comments and editorial catches, I think it's ready for queries.

In other news, Transcendent is doing really well and has a 4.33 stars on Goodreads with over 36 ratings. Woo! On Amazon, it has 19 ratings for an average of 4 stars. Either way, our little paranormal anthology is doing well!

I hope to be back next week with loads of happy, writerly good news for you all.

So, have you ever had something really bad happen to you that was followed by something really good?

Show the LOVE and Win Prizes!

It's time to spread the news!

What's better than attending an awesome writers conference? How about getting huge prizes just for talking about it! Storymakers is hosting an amazing contest, and I should know, because I WON this contest 2 years ago. I was treated to a seat at the table with some of the big names in publishing and I loved every second of it!

The following is from Storymaker's blog:
"Ah, love ... don't you just love love? The month of February is the best month of all for celebrating love ... no, not because of Valentine's Day, silly! It's time for the Show Your Love contest in conjunction with the LDStorymakers Writers Conference!

"Prizes: Three lucky people will win seats at a star-studded VIP table for Friday night's dinner. That's right - Kevin J. Anderson, Molly O'Neill, Holly Root, Michelle Wolfson, and Kathleen Ortiz will be your dinner companions. I recommend watching for parsley between your teeth. You're responsible for getting yourself to and into the conference, and we'll take care of the rest (except for the parsley) because we're good like that.

But that's not all - let me break it down for you.
First Place Prize: Seat at the VIP table, a query critique, and two-page manuscript critique

Second Place Prize: Seat at the VIP table and a two-page manuscript critique
Third Place Prize: Seat at the VIP table
Fourth Place Prize: Query critique and 10-page manuscript critique
Fifth and Sixth Place Prizes: Query Critiques
*Our special thanks to Holly Root, Lisa Mangum, Michelle Wolfson, Kirk Shaw, Kathleen Ortiz, and Weronika Janczuk for donating our prizes!"

There you go. How cool is that? For rules and details, please check out their post.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out Storymaker's website --if you put your cursor over the conference tab, it will scroll down so you can peruse that info. They are also on Facebook.

So here's a question for you. If you could sit and have lunch with ANYONE in the publishing industry, who would it be and why?

Are Writing Conferences Worth It?

I've often heard writers question the value of writing conferences. Are they worth the time, money, travel, inconvenience to attend? My answer to all of the above is a resounding yes! Let me explain.

I have been active in the online writing community for about five years, especially on goodreads. I thought I was doing everything I could to connect with writers and advance my writing career. When a neighbor mentioned the Storymakers conference, I thought it would be fun, but had no real expectations.

Me, Sheralyn Pratt & Kimberley Little

The 2010 Storymakers conference, in Provo Utah, rocked my world. I met awesome writers whose books I'd already read like Jessica Day George, James Dashner, Dan Wells, David Farland, Aprilynne Pike, Anita Stansfield, Stephanie Black, and loads more.

Me with Don Carey & Tamera H. Heiner
(with red eye, *sigh*)

I also made connections with the publishing side of things. I had lunch with Krista Marino, the editor for Random House Delacorte Press, and in 2011, I became friends with Lisa Mangum, author of the Hourglass Door trilogy and editor for Deseret Book.

The classes were helpful and extremely relevant to my needs as a writer. They have breakouts to address every stage, published or aspiring, because no matter who we are, we always have room to learn.

Me with Lisa Mangum
(People say we look alike.
What do you think?)

Me laughing with Melissa Cunningham,
Jordan McCollum (across)
& Cathy Witbeck

Another HUGE plus for attending is that all attendees are invited to become a part of Authors Incognito, a sister group to Storymakers. Now I am a part of a whole online community that I didn't know existed. Now when there are contests, workshops, conferences, and other writerly things happening, I hear about it. I have editor friends who can beta read my manuscripts, people to comiserate when my muse flies the coop, or when I get one rejection too many on any given day.
How can you attend Storymakers this year? Check out their registration here for details. You meet some of the writers who are going on this blog.

If you live too far from Provo to make the drive, I suggest you find a writers conference near you and go for it. Your writing career will thank you for it.

Have you ever gone to a conference? Or wanted to? What did you take away from the experience?