So I just got back from the 2014 Cascade Writers conference, held this year in beautiful Kent, Washington. Wonderful, glorious Kent, where they have a Denny’s and a Mitzel’s.
But aside from the wonderful (not really) location, the conference itself was quite lovely. I met some new people and cemented some friendships from last year. I went to pitch practice and accidentally brought down the house with a better than expected pitch that later nabbed me a pair of manuscript requests when I got to try it on actual agents. My writing plans, so fuzzy and unsure before I departed have now solidified into solid game plans for the rest of the year and beyond. I’m going to finish the two sequels I’m currently working on, and then start on a new, unrelated project that’s an expansion of the short piece I submitted for workshop this year.
Also, I have become the Twitter goddess for the conference, and am now in control of fully half of the Cascade Writers convention’s social media presence. My reign of terror shall know nothing but triumph, I am sure. Next year we’re going to have the convention at a much better location, and will hopefully have both larger attendance and a functioning hashtag. (This year’s tag got crushed by a wielder’s conference that was about a billion time’s our size and using the same tag.) By that time, I should have the new project’s first draft finished, so we shall see what–if anything–I submit from it next time. If I still haven’t picked up an agent by then, I may pitch for the new project as well.
All in all, a successful trip.
Another bad hotel, huh? I feel like there should be a committee that stays at the hotel for a weekend and tries out all of the amenities. But that would cost a chunk of change.
The hotel wasn’t bad, exactly, so much as unsuitable for our needs. I’m really looking forward to the next one.