Chris Riggan
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My Five Goals for the RWA Conference
August 10th, 2007by Christina J. Riggan
I attended my first Romance Writer’s of America Conference in Dallas, Texas this July of 2007. Since I don’t know anything about anything, and am a first-timer, a virgin, a novice; I thought maybe my perspective might offer some help or insight for a newbie like myself who may be considering attending the next conference in San Francisco, 2008. First to know: wear comfortable shoes, and ship your free books back the first day if you are not staying at the hotel.
I have been writing for about five years and have a completed manuscript so my five goals were:
1. to learn something about publishing, the business, contracts, agents
2. meet new people,
3. score some free books, meet some cool authors, and get some autographs,
4. pitch to an editor or agent,
5. try to decide if I should have a web page and how the heck to do that.
I stayed with a friend in Dallas who kindly offered her home to me and free transportation to and from the Hyatt on Reunion Blvd. Since driving in downtown Dallas is like trying to wrestle a snake, and I had not visited with my friend for over twenty years, I accepted her offer. She was delightful and gracious and I loved every minute of it.
But I have mixed feelings about staying at the hotel where the conference is being held. I have heard that some of the best contacts are made in the evenings after the workshops are finished and the relaxation occurs- usually at parties or the bars.
Maybe after San Francisco I will have a different viewpoint. I am not much of a drinker-either I get sleepy, silly, or cranky, not much for a first impression on an editor or agent. Frankly, I am too old and tired to stay up carousing around until midnight and then get up early the next day for workshops or appointments. .those were for my younger days. As a former teacher, I really do love learning and this event was not a social occasion for me during the day. It was a commitment I made for myself to further my professional career; and one of my career goals to accomplish for the year to convince myself that I am a serious writer. So I wanted to go to the workshops and learn the whole time. Nothing ever works out like you intend it to.
I attended the Pro Retreat first and loved it except for the chatty women in the back who kept me from hearing everything the speakers had to say. My advice: move to the front and practice your evil look and your best frown.
The speakers were spectacular. Sherrilynn Kenyon’s story touched me so deeply that I bought one of her books, and one she recommended by Anna Campbell. The PRO session alone helped clarify my direction for agents, contracts, publishing, and web pages. But I was in the back for a reason. I had cancelled -ten days prior- my appointment with the head editor of a large publishing house. Believe me, I had a good reason, and it was the right thing to do. So I wanted to slide in and out of the PRO session to sign up for an appointment. I was desperate, and desperately confused. Should I sign up for an agent appointment or an editor appointment? Ultimately, I slipped in and out for two short intervals and snagged the luckiest break of my writing life…so far.
On the first day and for every day that I attended thereafter, I met one truly cool author. Two were published, and the others were unpublished but like me searching for the right break, the best agent or editor to ask to see their work. Three were from Chicago, and just delightful. One of the authors from Chicago wrote westerns and I loved talking to her, especially. The others wrote suspense, and YA. One author was from Japan and a teacher overseas who usually taught literature but had been teaching math to diplomats’ and executives’ children. She was a photographer, writer, and teacher and about 21 years old. I met an author who wrote comedy and asked me to come to her free book signing- which being a newbie, I didn’t know about. I went to the signing and got some great books from authors I had read about or had taken a class from.
One of the best classes I took was “The Hot Historical…” There were two agents and two erotic authors on the panel. I really wanted to know what was too much, what was not enough, when a writer knows he/she has traversed the line between sexy or passionate, and just pornographic. Most advice was that no one really knows except when they see it; and don’t write about dogs and other such. A session with Harlequin Spice actually stated they want sensual, graphic but heterosexual only. I went to the Spotlight Session because a lovely lady at breakfast suggested I try attending one. It was also one of the best sessions.
The luncheon with Lisa Kleypas as the speaker was truly all-encompassing- a laughing, crying, and inspiring speech. I guess everyone thinks they have it made when they are a best-selling author. But troubles can darken anyone’s life. Lisa shared with us a truly tragic moment in her life and how she and her mother both picked up a romance book as part of a survival kit to make it through those dark times.
I bought the workshops on CD’s for myself, telling myself this is for professional growth and I simply couldn’t go to every session I wanted and hearing them at my leisure over time is a better learning style for me.
But my best moment was my pitch to the editor. I lucked out and got an editor appointment at the last minute. I swear a guardian angel was by my side, and the forces of Karma swirled around me at just the right moment. I nervously sat with the other group of women. I wondered if I should go throw up first, my stomach was roiling with anxiety.
But she was the best I could have hoped for. Witty, she put me at ease immediately. After a short introduction, she asked what my book was about. I asked her if she wanted me to read my mini-synopsis. She offered to read it herself. When she finished reading it, she said, “Beautiful.”. I have to tell you, whether rational or irrational, that was one of the best moments of my writing career. Silly, isn’t it? To be so pleased by such a simple word. But from the mouth of such an esteemed lady, who is known for no BS, I floated for a second. She asked for my full manuscript, and I sent that puppy immediately when I got home. Now, I may get rejected, or I may not hear from her for months but I think I can wait and I think can handle it. What a perfect end to my first ever pitch and my first ever conference.
So if you are debating whether Conferences are worth it, I humbly offer my opinion that it was a great experience, and worth every moment and penny.
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Christina J. Riggan, twenty-five year veteran of public schools, turns writer in old age.
Currently she has a published nonfiction book How To Be A Great Teacher and is searching for an agent for her finished manuscript In A Single Breath – a spicy historical fiction.
ARWA’s Newest Pro: Chris Riggan
May 10th, 2007Congratulations to Chris Riggan – our newest PRO member!! [5/10]
My Five Greatest Fears
April 10th, 2007By Christina J. Riggan
I wish I could offer sage advice about how to be a successful writer, author, wordsmith, or anything relating to those fields. But I feel I am best suited to writing about the fears that grab hold of me and shake me like a terrier on some days.
Actually on many days, since I am trying to be truthful here. So what follows is a lament of worries.
1. The thing I fear the most is that I am a faker, fake, charlatan, and imposter.
“Faaaaker!” The face whispers to me on mornings when I look in the mirror reassuring myself I can do this—like so many “cheer up and get some guts” programs out there. I argue with myself a lot about this.
“I am not a faker,” I mumble. “I can do this.”
“Liar,” she hisses back. “Then you would already be finished and published, and on the New York Times bestseller list. You think you’re a Nora Roberts?”
She sneers gleefully at me. If you doubt my sanity, you are not alone. That specter of fear sits on my shoulder every day when I try to write, contemptibly laughing at my choice of words, my purple prose, my clichéd or hackneyed phrasing. She wonders why I drink…or eat chocolate to block her out.
And curses when I keep writing anyway.
2. The second fear is paralysis. Not physical, but on second thought that would be even more horrific.
No, my fear is the evil identical twin sister of “Faaaaker!” She prances with vile glee around me every time I face a lank computer screen and eats all the words in my brain, freezes my fingertips over the keyboard, and halts the pen or pencil before it touches the paper.
I decide she likes it, thrives on it, gets nourishment from it like a parasite attached to a great white shark’s eye. Along for the ride…just to grab morsels when she can, always out for herself. She has a close cousin—Narcissus—who works alone of course, and spends a lot of time and money on mirrors.
I walk vigorously every morning shaking off paralysis. When I can’t walk, I work out on the Total Gym, mentally houting at her to go away…bother someone else. Begrudgingly, she snickers at me and leaves for a while, returning s regular as clockwork for an early fight the next day. Sometimes when she has a hold of me so vigorously that I can’t write, I read, smell flowers, plant bulbs, or work in my garden. But often she lingers anyway, twining around my heart until the sun shakes her loose. Like a wraith, she disappears for a time only to return when she wishes.
3. The third thing I fear is rejection. The parent of faker, she is hissingly insidious, a snake in the Garden of Eden.
“No one will ever buy your work. Who are you kidding? Only your mother thinks you’re “gifted”, she sneers, contempt sliding over her face.
Faker and rejection work in concert with paralysis to create a deadly cocktail of do nothingness. Rejection assures me I can’t write a query letter, a synopsis, acquire an agent, or…anything good.
“No one wants to read your ##%&*. Look at real writers around you. You’ll never be a James Joyce, a Nora Roberts. Give up now. Don’t wait until someone says something hateful and nasty.”
She sidles up and taunts me in my left ear—my good one.
4. The fourth thing I fear is acceptance. It is like the unacknowledged “white elephant” in the addict’s or dysfunctional’s home. I am afraid I might stumble over it and fall into it on my way trudging sleepily to the kitchen for my morning java.
Would I recognize her, him, it—when I saw it? Is it even real? Maybe it is all an illusion, a mirage, a trick.
What form shall acceptance swirl into? Will her shape be recognizable to me? Enough to beat back, faker, paralysis, and rejection, sending them to their closets of my mind to hide in the dark. Would she draw a sword shiny enough for even me to see it? Will I have sense enough to see acceptance as a reward enough, or must I have more to stoke my ego?
5. The fifth thing I fear is success. I claim to want it, need it, strive for it, but when she arrives knocking on my mind, my door, in my inbox, or mailbox–what will I think? Will she change my life?
“Maybe I won’t like what happens after success arrives,” I mumble to myself. “What if I lose my family and friends, r worse gain new ones that are suckups and I can’t recognize them because they are so good at what they do?”
Maybe I will become arrogant, forgetting to be humble and grateful for what I have. What if I can’t ever write again?
“I’ll be a one-book wonder!” I cringe.
Maybe that book was the only one I had in me. Fingers of self-doubt slither into my spine.
My God. What if I have to write six novels a year? I can’t do it. Already imagining myself, hair askew, papers sliding off desks, folders crashing to the floor, hard drives crashing and me losing everything, and drinking heavily.
So friends and acquaintances, if you have any fears like mine. I assure you, you are not alone.
These fears haunt me and if they ever leave me alone, I hope they don’t come knocking at your door, demanding to be let in, winding themselves around your heart and mind, invading your soul, ruffling your courage and determination.
In the meantime, just be glad they have such a good home.
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Christina J. Riggan, twenty-five year veteran of public schools, turns writer in old age.
Currently she has a published nonfiction book How To Be A Great Teacher and is searching for an agent for her finished manuscript In A Single Breath – a spicy historical fiction.
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