reeling, wheeling and dealing

ok, first i need to apologize because my mind is spinning so much on its own right now, that i can't be bothered to 'edit' my blogging, using proper punctuation and capitals. so, if you're a very important person reading this because i gave you one of my cards, sorry. but, i'm not sorry at the same time because this is pretty much how i talk. actually everything would be in capitals but then someone would get the wrong idea and think that i yell all the time, which i kind of do, but not in anger. whatever.

so i got here on wednesday, as you have read the other blog from wednesday. thursday morning i woke up and drove to chapters to get some good quality God time. it was awesome. i drove to the conference and registered. then i walked around so i could find where i was going but it made no difference because i couldn't find anything anyways.
so i attended the first session on: why you are here and where are you going? i already knew why i was there (to sell a book darnit!) and where i was going didnt' help much.
met two very nice ladies. one which happens to be a minister's wife from nb, and is moving to arnprior! hello? here's my card babe, i'm 20 minutes from you! she's young, is on her third child...typical minister's wife i think. love her. met another girl who writes 'historical fiction'. seriously? i had no idea what that was until this weekend. basically it's a mushy romance book based before 1950. huh. i asked what her plot was and it sounds pretty juicy and i may have to beg her to let me read it.
went to next class on 'idiot's guide to Christian fiction'. guy who wrote the book is teaching the class and there are 5 classes. i've been to 3 so far and they are fascinating.
at dinner i positioned myself right at 'important person i wanted to talk to' from zondervan. we chatted. i pitched my book. regardless of the fact that he doesn't take kids' books, he offered to read it. fabulous! and i think i made a new friend because i kept shoving my foot in my mouth and he seemed to enjoy it. i guess he likes loud, abrasive people. fabulous! inside joke being 'you're in canada!' duh.
another class...er...uh...hm...'getting your book published in canada'. which was very interesting. afterwards i hit up 'important person i want to talk to' from harpercollins. who doesn't take kids books. but after i spoke to him, he gave me his card and told me to email the manuscript to him and he'd give it to the right people. fabulous!!!
got back to hotel at 10:30, shrieking the entire way, had to take a gravol so i could actually sleep, and slept.
woke up at 7 with that wonderful 'did i just drink all night?' feeling in my mouth. found pillow in my mouth. huh. serves me right for going to bed without a snack in my belly.
got my latte (!!!) and headed to breakfast. managed to snag table with 'important person i want to talk to' literary agent guy and he told the entire table to just start pitching him. so i did. knowing he doesn't do kids books. oh! you do kids books? huh. well....blah blah. he gave me his email address and told me to send him the manuscript but to write an awesome cover letter. i have to 'SELL' the book to him. huh. fabulous!
went to more workshops. my mind is a blur. listened to 'what is a platform and why do i need one' and figured i probably don't need one.

oh, oh! i'm out of order. ok, i had my manuscript critique with fabulous Janice Dick (yes i'm including names now!) and she critiqued me very...uh...constructively. love her. said i had a 'fresh new voice'. eeee!!! told me to tighten it, fix the grammar (sorry burb!) and remove a lot of the tangents. okeedokee.

so today, i met 4 people to talk about kids book and the new 'contemporary fiction' one i've half written. except i don't know if it's contemporary fiction. maybe it's memoire? no idea. anyhoo...
met with one publisher who said no to kids, yes to adult - send proposal. okeedokee. next met with zondervan guy again, just to harass as he is now a friend, and pitched adult book. RESULTS!!! i love new friends. then met guy who wrote my fiction class book and said no to kids and told me to re-write adult with three plots and began to break it down and lots of advice and i'm not going to bore you. then met with bonnie grove to ask some questions and wow did i get answers! she grabbed my kids book and read a bit and said: awesome voice, very original and to stick with it. tighten it. fix the presentation (indents and whatnot) and gave me two books to read. told me it was a brilliant idea and the book would do extremely well. (!!!!)
then went to dinner and sat with janice dick and she said immediately "bonnie loves your book". (!!!!!)
after dinner i had to leave. i couldn't take anymore sitting on my butt and i've eaten too many carbs and meats (like i minded) so i hit the mall and after a soy chail latte, bought some stuff because i couldnt' help myself. then came back to hotel where i am trying to organize my thoughts, my papers and pack for check out tomorrow. i will be leaving at 3 instead of 5 because i really want to get home by 9 and i don't want to get lost in the dark.
so tomorrow i meet with literary agent person and we'll chat. he's the same agent who's worked with very important people! stormie o'martian! tim lahey! gaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!

plan of attack: rewrite for two weeks and send the sucker off!!!

cloud nine is coming.....

and tomorrow i get to sleep in cloud bed. :)