Crime Bake! (and more edits)
I had the pleasure of attending my first official writer's conference in mid-November, Crime Bake. Just south of Boston, famous mystery/crime writers, wannabes, agents, sellers, and fans took over the nice Hilton in Dedham and had a great time. William Kent Krueger was the delightful guest of honor, and I attended his class on "Settings." I also moderated (no work, really) a session on self-editing, did a practice your pitch with a random agent (our table had a charming YA agent), got feedback on 2 chapters from a published author (I was stunned by how cool he was--quite a character--and a fine writer), and sweated it out at the scary "read your first page" to an agent round table (we got a well-known, hard-core agent). She didn't express either scorn or delight at my reading; I thought one elderly author might cry. Anyway, I met nice people all around.
Meanwhile, waiting in my inbox, was an AMAZING set of developmental edits from my Canadian editor for my new book (same one used at Crime Bake). I'm here to sing the praises of Erin Parker. She is precise and dedicated, and more than I'd ever hoped, she dived deep into the characters and story. Now, Erin gave me many things to fix and improve, as an editor should, but all of it made sense, and I came away excited about the editing process. Did you read that? EXCITED. To be fair, this second novel is a better book--much better than the historical. The more we write, the more we learn. The lesson I also learned, once again, is make sure you and your editor are a good match for one another. That's the way to make your book better. So if you are looking for a good editor, here's an endorsement for Erin (and I'm sending one to her web page as well). Yay, Erin! We also had a 15-minute Skype chat in which I told her how much I wished I was up there in British Columbia with her. (We sighed together).
I did not pitch at this Crime Bake because I want Erin's edits to be put in place first. I hope to start pitching in January because it'll be a better book then. I may not be able to afford Crime Bake every year, but this was a fine experience as an aspiring author. I give it two thumbs up as far as the quality of the programming and the bang for your buck. If you're a crime or mystery person, give this one a try. Even though I felt like I may have been one of the only five people not from New England at the hotel, I still had a terrific time and hope to attend again.
Meanwhile, waiting in my inbox, was an AMAZING set of developmental edits from my Canadian editor for my new book (same one used at Crime Bake). I'm here to sing the praises of Erin Parker. She is precise and dedicated, and more than I'd ever hoped, she dived deep into the characters and story. Now, Erin gave me many things to fix and improve, as an editor should, but all of it made sense, and I came away excited about the editing process. Did you read that? EXCITED. To be fair, this second novel is a better book--much better than the historical. The more we write, the more we learn. The lesson I also learned, once again, is make sure you and your editor are a good match for one another. That's the way to make your book better. So if you are looking for a good editor, here's an endorsement for Erin (and I'm sending one to her web page as well). Yay, Erin! We also had a 15-minute Skype chat in which I told her how much I wished I was up there in British Columbia with her. (We sighed together).
I did not pitch at this Crime Bake because I want Erin's edits to be put in place first. I hope to start pitching in January because it'll be a better book then. I may not be able to afford Crime Bake every year, but this was a fine experience as an aspiring author. I give it two thumbs up as far as the quality of the programming and the bang for your buck. If you're a crime or mystery person, give this one a try. Even though I felt like I may have been one of the only five people not from New England at the hotel, I still had a terrific time and hope to attend again.
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