Prepping for San Francisco!

I’ve recuperated from my bad experiences with window blinds and bathing the cat.

Life Lesson 382: When on a massive cleaning mission to avoid panic, some things just aren’t worth the battle.

Been busy all week preparing for a writer’s conference in San Francisco. Getting business cards ready, printing out necessary papers, packing, and let’s not forget laundry and dry cleaning for extra outfits just in case something from the formal luncheon decides to take up residence on the front of my shirt.

There’s also the interesting concept of preparing the ‘elevator speech’. I’m not quite sure how this phenomenon originated; I think it was Hollywood. “Tell me what your book or movie is about in 30 seconds or less.” In other words, time enough to tell someone while riding on an elevator with them.

With a 350-page book, this is not as easy as it sounds. You want to give enough flavor of the story so your idea makes sense, along with adding in enough of the conflict so they know your work of art is not akin to watching grass grow. Even in a query letter, the standard is one to two paragraphs which hint at what your story is about. Reading it in print is one thing. Memorizing it to be able to say it in an elevator (while, of course, looking and sounding completely natural) is another challenge all in itself.

But networking at conferences and seeing old friends is one of those rewarding experiences which are worth all the hubbub. Plus, I’ve never seen San Francisco before and I hear it’s incredible. We’ll have a few days to sightsee before the conference begins.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer; I’ll blog about SFO when I return!