Met lots of interesting people this weekend at the San Francisco Writers Conference and heard some wacky stories - testaments to the writers' gumption, moxy and general chutzpah. Like El Newmark who wrote "Cascadilla Falls." Determined to do the first ever virtual book tour, El promised sponsors 100,000 hits on her website the day of her launch, and her coup was getting Helium.com (who?) to sponsor her with their list of 500,000. The news hit Publishers Weekly, and boom - seven agents (none of whom were talking to her before this stunt) called. She ended up with a two book deal! Voila! (Or, could this be Urban Legend #9,975? I didn't find El Newmark on google, that's all I know for now...) Then there was Ishmael Reed, who inspired poets to sign up at the Jazz School for a 'writing for music' class and Brad and Andy, profs from UC Davis who sold us on the "40 Poems in 40 Days" concept. At night, I assisted Donna Levin, a kick in the pants editor/teacher who went the distance with the late night open mike and gave fabulous commentary and feedback. Much ado about everything writing - about keeping going, reaching for finer levels of craft, overcoming fear and dread of NY and bonding with the home team. Oh yes, and things to be grateful for: The writers strike is over, and one out of four agents was 'very interested' in seeing my manuscript. I'm not naming names or holding my breath, but it's a start...Now, on to my real obsession - the Academy Awards!
Technorati Tags: Authors, creative process, Fiction, jazz, Literary Agents, poetry, puppy, Writers, writers strike
Comments