Monday, August 31, 2009

Write On!

Professional: Someone who works at a job in which they have specific skills and tools.

Amateur: A sloppier imitation of the professional, i.e. a wanna-be writer getting advice from a professional writer at the Writing for Charity event.

Yes, I admit it. I am an amateur.

I had the opportunity, ahem, privilege to work with the great J. Scott Savage, author of the Far World series. I brought in the first page of my novel, read it outloud and received a fantastic critique from Mr. Savage. I want to thank those in my group; Donna, Jenn, Ryan, Taylor, and two gentlemen who's names I dont remember (my apologies), and a huge, gut-splitting (but in a good way) thank you to Mr. Savage, who not only offered ideas to improve, but also took the time to tell me what he liked about my page.

My group had some interesting, and fabulous, characters. We had an empath, a potential murderer, a criminal, a man in space, a monster, a stranger, and a bully...these were the characters on the first pages, not the people themselves...I hope.

I had a few great conversations with other authors including Brandon Mull, Dan Wells, James Dashner, and especially (my new favorite person) Bree Despain. Bree has her debut novel, The Dark Divine, which sounds AMAZING, coming out in December. Bree, thanks for the chat, and I sure would love an ARC to blog about (wink, wink).

I had a great time, but missed the Inkers (and the honorary Inker) who couldn't make it. Kirk, Arlene, DJ, and Graham. Your absence was felt.

But at the end of the day, good times, good times!

16 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you had a successful conference, Deb! I wanted to tell you that I loved your first page, too. I'm curious what Mr. Savage had to say about it.

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  2. I just barely met Bree at the Writers and Illustrators for Youth conference. She is a rising star, for sure.

    I'm glad you had a good time at the conference, Deb.

    Jeff Savage is a great guy and good author. I've worked with him on his Shandra Covington series at Covenant, and those are awesome reads if any of you get the chance--especially House of Secrets.

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  3. Hi Deb! It was so nice to meet you at Writing for Charity. Your group made my day. Thanks for the shout out. I'll see what I can do about that ARC . . .

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  4. I love how our writing group represents!

    Bree, so sad I missed meeting you! Hopefully we'll meet at the next conference. :)

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  5. Post #2 What you didn't see post #1? Well, that's because I took it over to Bree Despain's blog and put it there. I realized just before I hit the 'post comment' button that it was really a post for Bree and not my fantastic friends here.
    So Deb forgot to tell everyone that Mr. Savage, whom I can't help but think of as Jeff for some reason, said that he really liked her main character and her very clear voice. That is a lot to accomplish on page one. Way to go Deb. The conference was a blast...I think I already said that on Saturday's post. Hmmm. It's worth repeating.

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  6. It was a great event. I've got clarity in where I want to go with my picture book after my rewrite last week and then the critique group feedback.

    The best giveaway was the hot purple nail polish Bree gave us (you will understand when you see her book cover).

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  7. It's really DJ...it's just too slow to log out and repost as me. :)

    I am so happy for you all and green with envy. But I can't wait to hear all about it.

    I am LOVING Forest Born. I'm struggling getting anything done . . .even when I am doing other things my mind is wondering what will happen next. THANK YOU FOR IT. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!

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  8. Forest Born is Shannon Hales new book. DJ got a signed copy as compensation for totally missing the conference due to being a good mom and watching over her sick kids.

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  9. Donna, I'm noticing the time of your post. Please tell me you were waking up and not still up at that time. I was up then too--helping a crying kid. I didn't see my kids off to school today (Steve was home).

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  10. Deb,

    Thanks so much for the great post. I had a ball at the Treehouse event. One of the best times I've ever had at an author event. I totally want to be an honorary member of your illustrious critique group if what I saw was any indication of the things you are all writing.

    The only bad thing was knowing I should be finishing my latest Shandra edits and getting it to the amazing Kirk. But the good news is this week is all Shandra until I turn it in!

    Thanks for letting me see your work.

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  11. Thanks Jeff!

    We do have a pretty great and talented group...although we have to humor Kirk a little :)

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  12. Sorry I couldn't make it. I was busy wrecking a motorcycle. In retrospect, I should have gone. :-)

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  13. At least you probably didn't wreck your head along with the motorcycle...?

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  14. No. In fact the only things I DIDN'T wreck were my phone, my head, and my "Mistborn" t-shirt.

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