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

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

Aspirational, Insane, or Both?

I had a vision for how the summer was going to go—leisurely beach days with the kids, parks, hiking, visits to Seattle, drinks on the back porch, yoga…somewhere in there I was going to start pre-writing my next book. I wanted to take my time with this one and get it right, maybe start it in the fall when the kids go back to school, edit over the holidays, pitch it in January.

Turns out, that was just a bunch of excuses not to start because I was afraid.

The PNWA Writer’s Conference is coming up at the end of September, and I’m attempting the impossible—planning, drafting, editing, and pitching a project within a 3.5-month period. This is insane, I’m well aware. I’ve never written an entire book on such a short timeline, but when I found out there would be a live agent pitch even there, I had to try.

I could submit my two other completed books, Hedge Dancer, or Catch Me When I Fly, but of course I need to do this the hard way. Here’s the thing—the concept for this book got me really really close to landing an agent about six years ago. The first iteration straddled the line between YA and Adult, so I yanked it apart, rewrote it, and aged it up to Adult to pitch it again. Close a second time, but still a no.

I put it aside and focused on other projects. I’ve written four books since then, but this one has always been in the back of my mind. The story I needed to tell but I was too afraid to try again, because to do it right I needed to burn it down to the ground. The only part that’s the same in the book this time around is the concept, which is about a girl and her disabled older sister. The rest is completely fresh, and it’s actually shaping into something I’m really proud of.

My draft is 26,000 words so far, which is a little over 1/3 of the way. I need to write 1,000 words every morning to stay on track to finish in time. The draft will be done by end of August, I’ll edit over two weeks in September, then work on my pitch materials right before the conference. When I make the deadline, I’ll have written and pitched two entire books this year, which is pretty cool.

This book, What I Would Do for You, is lucky #7, and by doing the hard choice, maybe it’s the key to the greatest reward. No matter what happens in September, I’m confident that pulling the trigger on this book is the right call. Currently running on coffee and ice cream (yes, at 9am. Don’t judge me), procrastinating on my draft to write this rambling 500-word post, and reminding myself I can do hard things. 9 more weeks and it will be done!

Love,

Taylor