Monday, June 21, 2010

Meeting with William Morris and Harper Collins!

The Aspen Writer's Foundation is having its summer words festival this week! I would love to attend every single moment of it, but it costs quite a bit of money. I looked longingly at the professional consultations parts of the program, which are $35 for 15 minutes, and you only get them AFTER you apply and are approved.

What an amazing way to get a break. I have all these projects that need an agent or an editor, and a stack of books called "How to get an agent for your children's book" and "Your guide to turning your Blog into a novel."

They are all at least five hundred pages long, and having worked at a talent agency, I know how slim the chances are that any stack of paper will ever make it through to someone that can actually do something with it. I know its possible, but I also know first hand, having worked the circular file, just how much attention your material actually gets.

So I wrote them an email last week, well past the May 22 deadline, just to see if they had any open spots, because now I have $35.

And they did. And they gave me three of them. Two agents and an editor. And then they wanted a manuscript! And I thought, oh, shit, I have material for sure but its EVERYWHERE!

Meanwhile, Bodhi and I have been telling stories and slacklining a lot together. Suddenly, last week, I was telling him a story, and he stopped me.

"Mom, this is a good story." he told me.

"Thanks!" I said, pleased that he liked it. He likes pretty much any story, but he was really into this one.

"You should go inside and write it down because you always forget the stories you tell after you say them out loud."

I kid you not. He said this to me. So I went in and then I spent a few days writing this story, and when I got stuck, I went outside with Bodhi and went slacklining, and he laid on my tummy in the grass and we worked on the story together.

The result, turned in tonight for the consideration of William Morris and Harper Collins, along with 220 other pages of material, is here, should you care to read it.

Its called The Boy Who Lived in the Wind.

3 comments:

paul macfarlane said...

GOOOOD for you!

Hey pssst..if you ever get around any movie types, I have a screenplay ready to change the world. and make a ton at the box office. ; ( keep me posted on y9our books!

Aspen Real Life said...

I too am attending the conference but could not get my shit together to apply to meet an agent so I will try last minute and if they say yes, I will be the whirling dervish gathering it all together!

Wishing you all the good luck I can muster!!

Liat said...

I can't wait to hear how it goes! Let us know as soon as you can!
xoxo
Liat