It's been two weeks since I returned to my home in the coalfields of Southwestern VA from New York City. I was asked by my publisher, Abbott Press, to blog about my experience. I am sharing that blog below. I have added pictures! The link on the Abbott Press Website is: http://blog.abbottpress.com/country-girl-takes-a-bite-out-of-the-big-apple/
Dare to dream. I did, and I ended up in New York
City. Granted, that may not impress most people, but to me, a woman
who’s lived her whole life in the coalfields of Southwestern Virginia,
it felt like somebody handed me the moon.
I’m talking about my recent trip to New York City to attend the
Writer’s Digest Conference.
For three days I went to workshops, listened to the experts in
publishing, met literary agents from the top agencies, and heard author
Adriana Trigiani
give a keynote address that was as entertaining as it was
inspirational. Because let’s face it, writers need editors, agents and
publishers, but they also need inspiration.
Spending three days surrounded by fellow wordsmiths filled my bucket
to the brim with inspiration. For a while, I will have enough to sip on
while I write and when I run low, I’ll seek out another gathering of
folks like me — people who soak up words like other folks breathe air.
It doesn’t matter what you write or which genre you claim as your own,
what matters is that you write.
 |
| Central Park |
I didn’t just meet writers; I met a myriad of storytellers. Some were
fledglings just beginning the writer’s journey, like the 17-year-old
writer who was there with her father, and others had made writing their
life’s work. Some were there because they were self-published or were
considering self-publishing,
some were traditionally published, and some hoped to be published. Many
were there to experience the Pitch Slam and perhaps find the perfect
agent.
All in all, no matter how diverse the conference members were, they
had one thing in common — each had a story to tell. Each person had
dared to dream that somewhere in the world, an audience waited to read
their story. Some of them may have been like me, the daughter and
granddaughter of coal miners, finally realizing my dream of publishing
my first novel and taking a bite out of the Big Apple.
