First Workshop Selection Posted Tuesday, March 16th

March 15, 2010 in Etc., Site Stuff | 15 comments

The Big Sur Workshop in Monterey, CA this weekend was SUCH a blast, as always. I met great writers, connected with some new and already favorite editors and got to spend some quality time with my beloved colleagues, which is always a special highlight of the conference for me. If any writers reading met me there, feel free to drop me a line and keep in touch!

As a result, though, I’m a bit exhausted this morning and find myself unexpectedly staring at over 50 new submissions that I didn’t think I’d have to squeeze into my schedule. I usually update the blog on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but I’m going to take an extra day to put together my first workshop from the idea I posted on Friday.

In the meantime, I’ve got client manuscripts to read, contracts to look over, emails to answer and a Monday to jumpstart. See you tomorrow!

Related posts:

  1. Welcome New Readers!
  2. Submissions Closed for Novel Beginning Workshop
  3. Whoops, Questions And Chat
  4. If You’ve Sent Me a Recent Query
  5. Events and Conference Page Update

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  1. Deni’s avatar

    Deni on March 15, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Happy caffeinated beverages day!

  2. Franziska Green’s avatar

    Franziska Green on March 15, 2010 at 8:04 am

    Even Mother Teresa needed a break now and again. (At least, I imagine she did.) Cuppa tea, that’ll put you right.

  3. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on March 15, 2010 at 8:44 am

    Deni — Ha!

    Franziska — (You prefer that over Siski now, yes?) I do believe you just indirectly compared me to Mother Teresa. While I’m beyond flattered… :P

  4. Franziska Green’s avatar

    Franziska Green on March 15, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Actually I love Siski and hate Franziska but I figure I better stick with it because otherwise my future young readers (or worse, their rightly protective parents) might come across my siskigreen.com website and via that, my other adult works!

  5. Marybk’s avatar

    Marybk on March 15, 2010 at 8:58 am

    Ha–you probably deserve a coupla days break after a weekend conference like the Big Sur. I was kinda wondering how a single human could do…er, all this.

    (Don’t forget to fit some sleep into your schedule.) :)

  6. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on March 15, 2010 at 10:23 am

    Marybk — It’s either catnaps or crack, but I’ll never tell which! (Hmm, probably not the best idea to imply drug use on the blog. OF COURSE I’m kidding.)

  7. Marybk’s avatar

    Marybk on March 15, 2010 at 10:48 am

    LMAO.

    I attributed your abilities to a supernatural power. Super-speed editing, or some such.

    (And when I say LMAO, I of course mean Laughing My Ankles Off.)

  8. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on March 15, 2010 at 10:53 am

    Markbk — Of course that’s what you mean.

    And I actually do take substantial amounts of time to edit. I’d say my powers are more akin to super-speed reading. With edits, I usually end up making comments on every page and that really does slow me down.

    But I enjoy it so much and love to explain the comments and give reasons for my thinking — instead of just rattling off “show don’t tell” — so it does take a lot of care and time to put together an edit.

  9. Marybk’s avatar

    Marybk on March 15, 2010 at 11:28 am

    I believe you regarding the time/care equation for edits, and your enthusiasm for editing drew me to your blog.

    Super-human speed-reading must come in handy, though.

  10. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on March 15, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Marybk — EXTREMELY handy! It takes a lot of time to evaluate submissions, too, but I’ve always been a naturally speedy reader. (Thank goodness!)

  11. Conda V. Douglas’s avatar

    Conda V. Douglas on March 15, 2010 at 11:53 am

    Looking forward to the first workshop entry and hope you get a moment to yourself, Mary.

  12. Janice’s avatar

    Janice on March 15, 2010 at 11:54 am

    I’m with you Mary. I’m a natural speed reader; I always have been. I can’t help it, I’ve tried to slow down, but I get so excited when I read…

    My husband and I have had numerous discussions about this. He doesn’t think it’s possible to read a book in a few hours and enjoy it. He’s even quizzed me a few times on the books I’ve read just to see how much information I’ve retained.

  13. June’s avatar

    June on March 15, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    I really admire the time and effort you put into this blog. I don’t know how you do it. It’s clear you love what you do and that’s a blessing. Glad you’re having such a good time. I wish I was there. I look forward to your next post. We’re all the better for it. Thanks.

  14. Jackee’s avatar

    Jackee on March 15, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    LOL! I think you might be a sucker for punishment. No, really, thanks for all you do and give back to the blogging community. Now go and get some sleep!

  15. Mike’s avatar

    Mike on March 15, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    I was lucky enough to attend the conference this weekend. It was great; I crammed months of learning into 3 days. My brain is fried!

    It was grueling for the writers; must have been worse for the staff.

    Unfortunately, I only got to say, Hi to Mary. But Laura really went to town on a couple of my chapters (let’s just say I have some re-writing to do). I also, had dinner with Andrea and Caryn, they were great!

    I’d highly recommend the conference. Just make sure you polish your manuscript as much as you possibly can before going. There was even writers with agents getting feedback & improvement advice.