PJ Pays It Forward at RT Booklover’s Convention

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PJ Pays It Forward at RT Booklover’s Convention

I attended my first RT Booklover’s Convention in Columbus OH 2010. Author and good friend, Dana Marie Bell, encouraged me to attend as an Aspiring Author to meet people in the industry and to pitch to agents or editors. As a n00b, the convention was incredibly intimidating and yet the people were so fun and so welcoming – I couldn’t help but have a great time.

Kelley Armstrong took time out of her busy con schedule to sit down with me and a couple of other aspiring authors. She let us each practice our pitches and gave us solid advice on how to pitch to agents or editors plus how we could improve our specific pitches. Most importantly, she gave us the chance to work through our nerves and hopefully go into our pitch sessions with a little more confidence.

PJ Schnyder

I’d like to pay it forward.

If you’re an aspiring author, planning to pitch at #RT14 in New Orleans, I’d be happy to sit down and listen to your pitch. I can give a few suggestions to tighten up your pitch if you’d like or I can just be a sounding board as you practice. Whatever you need.

I’ll be in the lobby of the convention hotel on Thursday morning from 7:30am to 9:00am having breakfast and ready to help out as many aspiring authors as I can. Just play Find the PJ or ping me on Twitter (@pjschnyder) to let me know you’re looking for me.

Pitch practice with PJ. It could be fun and I’d love to be of help.

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My current schedule for #RT14 (times or rooms subject to change):

Intergalactic Bar & Grille

Get ready for extraterrestrial fun and adventure! Compete in intergalactic games to win prizes for you and your starship team! Shoot hostiles to defend your team, meet friendly aliens and help them find their way home, touch the hearts of handsome heroes. Win free books and high-tech swag. Party with Captain Linnea Sinclair and her stellar-class starship crew in this all-new launch of the annual Intergalactic Bar & Grille. Goody bags for all and a special $200 grand-prize gift certificate to put toward the latest and greatest in ereader tech!

Event Date:

Wednesday, May 14, 2014 - 3:45pm to 4:45pm

Host(s):

Catherine Asaro Jenna Bennett Cathy Clamp (aka Cat Adams) Maria Hammarblad Stacey Kade Lydia Kang Isabo Kelly Melissa Landers (aka Macy Beckett) Janet Miller (aka Cricket Starr) Cindy Spencer Pape Katee Robert Vijaya Schartz PJ Schnyder Linnea Sinclair Sarah Zettel

Location:

3rd Floor

Room:

Salon D – (Mardi Gras Ballroom)

FANTASY: Breathing New Life Into It

You can’t blame a homogenous cast on using history or old rules as a model. The real world has always been wonderfully diverse. Fantasy worlds should be as well! Don’t stifle your creativity by sticking to old rules! Today you can have diversity of themes, characters, and stories that you might not find in old-style fantasy. Come listen to how these authors have done just that.

Event Date:

Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 10:00am to 11:00am

Moderator:

PJ Schnyder

Panelist(s):

Kristen Callihan Mary Robinette Kowal Mur Lafferty Sarah J. Maas Tamora Pierce

Location:

2nd Floor

Room:

Studio 4 – (Preservation Hall)

SCI-FI: It’s Not Easy Being Green: Writing Non-Human Characters

From fuzzies to ‘droids to the genetically-manipulated, from telepathic felines to sentient starships, science fiction is populated with decidedly NON-human characters. But how strange can we make these characters, and how much like us do they need to be? Top authors in SF reveal how to create the unbelievable and make them believable.

Event Date:

Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 11:15am to 12:15pm

Moderator:

Linnea Sinclair

Panelist(s):

Stacey Kade Lydia Kang Isabo Kelly Melissa Landers (aka Macy Beckett) PJ Schnyder Vijaya Schartz

Location:

2nd Floor

Room:

Studio 4 – (Preservation Hall)

Clockwork Carnivale Tea

Ladies and gentlemen, gather your goggles, cinch your corsets and join us for an afternoon of revelry and delight at Clockwork Carnivale. Enjoy tea and sweets while steampunk authors entertain you with mayhem, giveaways, a steampunk costume contest and more. There will be swag bags for the first 100.

Event Date:

Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Host(s):