Day Four of My Musings on Writing Conference

When you attend ACFW you get one editor and one agent appointment. BUT you can hover, approach, and ask them wherever else you can catch them (except breakfast & bathroom) if they would be willing to listen to a short presentation. I did that with one editor. She'd finished up with her appointments on Saturday afternoon. I hurried into the room and asked. She consented. Result: permission to submit.

Another way to approach an editor or agent: At the tables the names of agents and editors & a few others were written on placards. If you were quick enough you could get the table you wanted to sit at and talk with that person. Results for me: Two more requests.

The third way: I went to the appointment scheduler after arriving at Dallas and asked for an extra appointment. She said the only one they had was with an editor that I wanted to talk with. That was fine with me. So, I explained to that editor that I didn't have the book written but would she be interested in such and such an idea? She definitely was. I told her I could have it ready by Spring. That was a perfect time to submit to her publishing house.

So all in all, five editors to submit to. Now, not all of them (maybe none, I'm not that naivete!) will want my manuscripts, but if just one does . . . Oh, glory!

That's in the future, but I can hope, pray and work my knuckles and brain to smidgens. And I will.

One more thing, then I'll move on: The agent I talked to was very friendly. We had a lovely talk, she wants to see my work. Well.

I've got my work cut out for me. But this is a calling. I love writing. Love the research. Love the struggle (sort of) to find the words. Love meeting my own deadline. Love finally, finally finishing that manuscript, only to discover, alas, I've got to add another 20,000 words.

Crazy? Yep, I plead guilty.

A mention: I spoke to a writer's group in West Virginia yesterday. They are such a wonderful group of people. Gave them a contest to help me out on something. If you all are reading this, don't forget about that. Send your answers and suggestions to my email address or give them to Betty to forward to me. Love to all of you!

Best to friends Sharen, Joyce, Trish, Nona.

Upcoming information:
* I'm hoping to have an interview with a new writer soon.

* An interview with a friend who won first in the prestigious ACFW unpublished contest

* An interview with a friend who just recently acquired an agent.

Hopefully, this fall and winter, these will get done. Suggestions, anyone?

MW's tip:

Today's tip will be about keeping a clutter-free home (Yeah, right!)
* Procrastination is the major obstacle to clutter-freeness. Start immediately. And, yes, I know we don't always feel like doing it. Okay, maybe the next hint will help in this area. It does for me when I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything there is to do and don't feel like doing any of it.

* Choose a small task to complete. Set a certain amount of time to complete it, 15 minutes or so. Put some music on, think about why you want to get this done. Then quit when your 15 minutes is up. Setting a specific time for a specific task is great. That out-of-control feeling gets balanced when you can portion all those tasks into smaller bits.

* Get rid of unnecessary or unwanted things. They might be your favorite socks, but if you don't plan on darning all those holes in them, get rid of them. As quickly as you can. Use yard sales, recycling, second-hand clothing stores (don't give them the holey things, please!), and pass good stuff on to friends and family members.

* Use storage space wisely. Twenty percent of items are used frequently, so keep them in an accessible area. Others: use bins, boxes, shelves, closets. Everything should have a place.


Quote:
Kind words are the music of the world.

I'll be in Kentucky next week, but I'll be back the week after. Thank you, faithful readers, one of these days I'll have time to figure out how to get those comments to work.

Blessings on a great week!