Monday Recommendations - Conferences (Oh, and I'm Alive!)

This Monday I'm recommending writers' conferences.

First off, I want to apologize for my absence. I've been writing like a crazy woman! The past two months have been insane. I attended the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference and the Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI conference (back-to-back weekends). Needless to say, I'm worn out, but it was worth every bit of exhaustion.

Both of the conferences were fantastic. I was immersed in the art of writing for a total of five days and each day filled me with motivation, encouragement, and inspiration. I came home and applied everything I learned to my manuscript (and I'm still applying, hence my absence). I received two requests for pages and after attending Sara Megibow's First 30 Pages workshop, I realized I needed to make my inciting incident stronger, and I'm rewriting the first sixty pages (give or take) based on her workshop before I submit. It's amazing how much stronger my story is now. Don't get me wrong, my novel had been rewritten, critiqued, workshopped, edited, etc., but after hearing Sara Megibow's talk, I knew it could be stronger, and it is.

Then I started thinking, "Does anyone ever think their novel is 'finished'?" Even if several close, trustworthy critique partners tell you, "It's good! Submit already!" You've studied the craft, taken classes, sought advice, etc. At what point do you take the plunge? I often find myself getting in my own way. What about you? How do you know when yours is ready?

Hope everyone is having a fabulous start to the week!

World of Writing Wednesday - WriteOnCon

This week is WriteOnCon - a free online conference for writers in children's literature. It is a fantastic source of information for published and unpublished writers.

The conference hosts different live events such as:

• Query critiques by agents, editors and authors
• A first 250 word critique of your manuscript
• Vlogs of authors sharing valuable information about writing and the publishing industry
• Posts from agents about what they are looking for, submission guidelines, how they know the right piece when they read it, etc. 
• Live Q&A with different agents
• SO MUCH MORE

If you haven't checked out WriteOnCon, you should. Even if you miss the conference you can view the archives. This conference is so unique and professional and FREE. You can donate to help support next year's WriteOnCon. A minimum donation of just $5 you could win a query critique from literary agent Jim McCarthy, a query critique from literary agent Sara Crowe, or a ten page critique from literary agent Roseanne Wells.  Here is the link to donate