Six Sentence Sunday (March 25)

Jeez, people... This is the last SSS for March. Where's the year going? Happy Spring for you all, and thanks for visiting!

Taking up where we left off last week... Remember that "brown paper package tied up with string"? Sorry about putting that song into your head again :)

The paper crackled as I folded it back. There, nestled in sand, sat three small shells, delicate and intricate. 

“Michael, they’re beautiful! Where did you get them?”
“I found them,” he said, “and since I was thinking of you when I saw them, they’re yours.” 

Acapulco beaches are notoriously empty of shells--finding these must have taken some serious luck.

So there you have it--Michael's little offering. Cute or dud gift? What do you think? Are you the type to prefer to receive (or give) diamonds and gold, or would seashells melt your heart?

In any case, it's not all Michael brought back for Alexia :) See you back next week!

Thanks for your visit, and remember to visit the other Six Sundayers for more fun snippets. Have a great Sunday, y'all!

Happy music for today

Crafting Wickedly Effective Prose: SFWC

One of the sessions at the San Francisco Writers' Conference that I found not just ultra useful but super entertaining was Constance Hale's "Crafting Wickedly Effective Prose". Visit her site for more resources (seriously, writer heaven) and info on her book Sin and Syntax, whose tagline is--taah-daah--How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose.

Connie turned out to be one of those wonderful people that do great in front of a crowd. She came across as natural and funny without seeming to try, and the content she shared was not just interesting and relevant, but also practical and hands-on.

Here are my notes on Connie's session. I hope you find them useful, if not as entertaining and alive as the session itself. Should have recorded her :)

Six Sentence Sunday (March 18)

Another Six Sentence Sunday!

I'm skipping forward into Chapter 12, because I'm afraid after all this time you might have forgotten about Michael--the American that crash-landed into Alexia's life a few days ago, in the narrative timeline. He and the other American students spent the weekend in Acapulco, but Monday evening they're back.

He stopped just before we stepped outside. “I brought you something.”
He withdrew a little package from a pocket in his cargo pants. Brown paper tied with string.
"One of my favorite things," I said.
"Huh?"

Looks like he needs to brush up on his Sound of Music trivia :) Next week I'll do my best to choose six sentences that show Michael's gift.

Now--off we go, you and I, to visit the other Six Sentence Sundayers. Happy Sunday, everyone!

The Art of Pitchcraft--Katharine Sands (SFWC)

The very first class I took at the SFWC, which wasn't even part of the conference at all (it was on Thursday evening, and cost extra) was a session with Katharine Sands, a literary agent with Sarah Jane Freymann Agents, on pitchcraft.

Seven

I've been tagged by Gwen of Fulfilling Dreams for the Lucky 7 Meme--thank you, Gwen! Got to confess, I don't know what a meme is. Yeah, I know--what world do I live in, right? And honestly I was never curious enough to even Google it. But--this is fun!


So what do I need to do?

Six Sentence Sunday (March 11)

Yay! I'm back for SSS after a long hiatus. I missed you--did you miss me?

Had a blast at the San Francisco Writers' Conference (you can read more about it here), and learned a lot. The results include a superstar editor interested in helping me with the novel, as well as six agents that asked for samples. I'm waiting on the editor before sending stuff out--don't want to burn my chances, as all six are great GREAT choices for agents. We'll see :)

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we? Alexia is spending a Saturday afternoon at her boyfriend Dan's place, with his family. Caro is Dan's mom.

Caro was easy to talk to. During the seven years Dan and I had been together, his mother and I had built a comfortable friendship. She was easier to talk to than my mother, and I looked forward to the day we’d be officially related. Yes, I’d be one of those lucky wives that had no issues with the infamous mother-in-law. 

“You’re a little distracted today, m’ijita,” she said, her hand on mine. 

I smiled, trying for a lightness I didn’t feel. “Am I?"

Hope you liked it! Next week I'll share a bit more of this conversation that is so momentous (for Alexia), and then we'll move on to the next chapter. Thank you for your visit, especially for your comments, and I hope to see you here next week, too. Remember to visit the other Six Sundayers!

Happy weekend, everybody!

I, uh, dropped the ball

February was a crazy month. Yep, my first writers' conference, my first experience of pitching to agents. Since the beginning of January, I worked hard on getting the WIP (Restoring Experience) into the best shape I could in order to pitch it at the conference. I read articles and books on writing, pitching, and querying that I should have read months ago. It felt like cramming for SATs. Then, at the conference, a brilliant editor (Alan Rinzler) asked me to send him my book, so for a solid week I did nothing but revise, revise, revise (yes, again) to get the MS ready for him.