Kristine Cayne's Blog, page 23
April 24, 2011
Happy Easter! (...and a quick update)
Happy Easter to everyone celebrating this weekend! I hope everyone is having (or had) a wonderful weekend with family and friends.
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As spring approaches and the sun shines more often, I feel a renewed sense of purpose and determination. Some of you may be aware that I've started working on the second novel in my current series. I'm currently working on Chapter 6 which means I'm about 25% into my first draft. The writing is going well and I believe this draft will be much cleaner than the draft of my first book and will require much less editing and revising. The goal is to have the draft done by the end of June and revisions and editing done by mid-September.
It's a tall order but I'm going to do my best to get it done per plan!
I also wanted to add that I now have 499 followers on NetworkedBlogs. Only one more to hit 500! I'll send out an update as soon as we hit that number but in the meantime, please feel free to let others who might benefit from this blog know about it. (Thanks!)
Drop a note to let me know what your spring goals are this year.
Happy writing,
Kristine
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April 20, 2011
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--Kristine
January 7, 2011
ECWC 2010: A Writers' Conference to Remember
(Repost of 10/7/2010 due to glitch with blog that resulted in post being deleted)
Last weekend, the GSRWA chapter held their annual Emerald City Writers' Conference and it was a smashing success! Feedback from most attendees is that this was the best ECWC yet. With its vast array of workshops, keynote speakers, and agents and editors available for pitches, there was something for everyone, whether new writer or multi-published author.
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Cherry Adair - Finish the Damn Book Challenge
As many of you may know, last year I entered Cherry's FTDB challenge. I have to admit that there were many times over the course of the long year it to me to write my book and polish it that I wondered, why am I doing this? And then I'd remember how proud Cherry was seeing last year's long line of winners and I knew that I wanted to be in that line this year.
In September, I finished Book 1 and at this ECWC, I stood proudly in the line of winners. Looking like a very proud mother, Cherry hugged each of us, and handed out certificates and pins. She also awarded several prizes but the real prize was finishing the damn book!
On Sunday, I signed up for the 2010 FTDB Challenge to write and polish Book 2 by October 2011. Thanks Cherry!
Keynote Speakers
Alyssa Day, author of the Warriors of Poseidon novels from Berkley Publishing, kicked off the conference on October 1st with a hilarious yet moving speech. She had us alternating between laughter and tears the entire time.
Brenda Novak, author of over 35 novels including her new series White Heat, Body Heat and Killer Heat, closed off the second day of the conference. She wowed us with her ability to write, raise her children and run the Brenda Novak on-line auction for diabetes research.
Barbara Vey, author of the popular Beyond Her Book blog for Publishers Weekly, closed off the conference with a stirring speech about the beginnings and rise of her blog. Barbara's love of the romance genre and her drive to promote it, inspired us all. We're lucky to have her in our court!
Agents and Editors
Four agents (Meredith Bernstein, Michelle Grajkowski, Emmanuelle Morgen, and Marcy Posner) and 3 editors (Rose Hilliard, Alex Logan, and Tessa Woodward) were on hand to hear pitches from the conference attendees. According to the conference organizers, the agents and editors were very pleased with the professionalism of the attendees and the quality of their pitches.
It is said that only a small percentage of writers who receive requests to send agents and editors additional materials actually follow through. Hopefully, the ECWC attendees will blow this statistic through the roof. I received requests from several of the agents and one of the editors. I, for one, will definitely be following up on their requests.
Favorite Workshops
ECWC had so many workshops that I couldn't possible attend them all. However, among the many workshops I was able to attend, the following were my favorites:
- Margie Lawson The EDITS System
This was actually a separate workshop offered prior to the opening of the ECWC. Using 5 highlighters and and a red pen, the EDITS system can be used by the author to analyze a given scene is in terms of its impact to the reader.
- Bob Dugoni You've Got the Power
Bob showed us various techniques to improve our novels. While he focused on the opening, these techniques can be applied to any scene. Bob also illustrated some methods for adding tension and tightening scenes. This is especially useful for me because I tend to write long.
- Bonnie Edwards - My Stupid Word List or How to De-Clutter Your Prose
Bonnie provided us with her list of stupid words - words that are not needed to convey the sentence and which can sometimes dilute its impact. She illustrated for us the effect of removing these useless words and how to build our own list. Again, this is another way to tighten your writing which is very important in suspense novels.
- Laura Navarre - The Dark Hero
We all love dark heros but can we write them? Using examples from film and fiction, Laura demonstrated the elements needed to put together a captivating dark hero. In addition, she also covered other elements that can be useful in darker stories such as the dark ally, the foil and the placeholder villain. This was a wonderful workshop and I'll be trying to incorporate some of these elements into my work.
- Delilah Marvelle - Everyday Life of a Disreputable Lady
I don't write historical but I attended Delilah's workshop because her subject - sex - is fascinating regardless of what sub-genre you write. Delilah is an engaging and enthusiastic speaker and you always walk away having learned something. And this year, I was lucky enough to win Delilah's raffle basket filled with mysterious lotions and potions as well as a book on the Art of Kissing!
Happy Writing,
Kristine
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