Month: September 2023

PNWA

This entire summer was a sprint, and now the finish line has come and gone. Was it worth it? YES. Do I have an agent yet? TBD. My pitch got some great feedback at a few workshops, and a lot of people were really excited by my story. I presented myself and my project as well as I possibly could during my in-person pitch session (The bar was low for this; I was just hoping not to burst into tears from being overwhelmed!) I got requests for more material from 3/3 agents (2 partial requests, 1 full manuscript request), but I’ve also sent some email queries this week to cover all my bases. Mostly, I’m just super proud of myself that I set this crazy goal back in June and actually freaking DID IT.

What absolutely floored me, though, was the response this weekend from so many amazing people in my life. I received videos, messages, and phone calls asking for updates and sending me love this entire month. You guys have so much faith in me, and I am beyond lucky to have a support system like this. Writing is an isolating career, one where I keep the door shut most of the time. I am usually stuck in my own head with self-doubt and criticism. A lot of it centers on not feeling ‘good enough’, especially to attend a conference like PNWA where there is so much talent. Your little messages kept me going, and I was able to make a few new writer friends and get the most out of the seminars.

One of the biggest eye-opening courses was the one on turning novels into screenplays. I’d never given much thought to presenting stories through a different medium, but I think this might be a goal of mine for the future. My takeaway from this weekend was that there is no one path to storytelling success, and I should be open to other options besides strictly novels. I had never written a short story before becoming the Pen Parentis Fellow because I always thought I just wanted to write books. Turns out, I didn’t give myself enough credit!

So for the next few weeks, I’m in the waiting phase while agents assess my work. I promised myself I’d take a little break before starting my next project, but I’m already turning ideas around in my brain while doing the school drop off and pick up routine. This next one might need to marinate for a while, but maybe I’ll be ready for NaNoWriMo this year?

Love,

Tay

2nd conference with the lovely sci-fi writer Anna Schroeder!

Pen Parentis Fellowship

When I started drafting book #7 at the end of June, I did so to try and finish in time to attend the PNWA conference. However, nobody else knew that I quietly submitted a short story back in April to a literary organization that supports parent writers, Pen Parentis, for the chance to win a very prestigious fellowship. The odds of winning were miniscule, one in hundreds of submissions. I told myself that was fine, that writing my very first short story was prize enough in itself. This short story is what got the wheels turning to conceptualize my current novel.  

As I worked away all summer on this novel, a tiny voice wondered what if. What if I actually won? What if I could go into the conference in September with not only a new book to pitch, but also with an award-winning short story of the same topic? The 1/1,000 shot I could take the momentum from that and run with it kept me to my summer deadline. In case luck met opportunity, I wanted to set myself up for as many advantages as possible.  

Y’all. I got a call THE DAY AFTER I finished the first draft of my novel (70,000 words) informing me that I am the 2024 Pen Parentis Fellow.

I will pitch my book in front of an agent panel in ten days. I’ve been trying to get an agent for almost ten years. Is this the final sprint?

Love,

Taylor