The San Francisco Writers Conference was fantastic. I met with a lot of great writers and just people in general. I learned a lot about the industry and got excellent advice. The biggest hurdle I faced was to nail my manuscript down to a single sentence. Early Sunday morning, while walking to the conference, I totally nailed it and was beaming for most of the day.
“As one who carts dead knights off the battlefield, Ari must overcome her past and the desire to remain anonymous to prevent Maribelle from seizing the throne and continuing forty more years of war and destitution.”
Now, I just have to rewrite a pitch that works with that. After the conference, I have a better aim at what the agents are looking for in a pitch rather than what I had before: the beginning of my synopsis.
But first, I am reading. I asked an agent about books that are creating a stir in the fantasy industry, and receiving a reading list. Now, instead of stumbling through the library bookshelves haphazardly, hoping to find a book similar to what I’ve written, I have references that I’m devouring with great enjoyment. N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season beautifully scientific intertwined with what is utterly human and well done. I’m trying my best not splurge on the rest of the series, but will check my library once I’m done with the others. I’m finding V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic is a really nicely paced adventure book. Both books have magic being more like conscious entities rather than tools. They’re similar to what I’ve done with the meige, only it’s more in the vein of Shyamalan’s The Happening.
You’ll be hearing more updates from me this year. I’m moving forward.
