Wesleyan Writers Conference 2014 (Pros & Cons)

For almost 60 years the Wesleyan Writers Conference has been held for several days on the Wesleyan University campus in Middletown, CT and this year was my first time attending. When applying I was aware of the distinct format of this conference in that workshops were not conducted. Instead there were classes on craft lead by faculty for an hour and fifteen minutes over the course of 4 days. In addition, attendees registered for the entirety of the conference would get a one-on-one manuscript consultation with someone on faculty in your genre of choice (poetry, non-fiction, or fiction).

So let's break down the Pros of the conference:

• Community. As I told many other attendees one of the best things about a conference is that I have met many dear friends, fellow artists, and critique partners through them. For several days I get to engage with other artists who are serious about their craft, interested in discussing it and learning more about you, and also enamored with all things literary. I had great conversations with people and learned much from doctors, medical assistants, and students about life that I may not have otherwise.
• Atmosphere. The Wesleyan campus is beautiful, clean, and green. The spaces on campus were open and had many windows. The last two days of the conference it was bright and sunny so as to truly reflect the expansiveness of the campus while also taking in the quaint community that is quiet overall and very residential.
• Faculty. In the classes the faculty structured for these few days there was a lot they wanted to pack in a short amount of time, which I admired. Each member really wanted you to get the bang for your buck in trying to not only examine texts to better your own but also giving exercises to hopefully get those neurons firing. The one-on-one consultation I had with Roxana Robinson was quite helpful. While Roxana may have 'rules' for good prose she also stands by seeing what the writer's intent was. It was one of the first things she asked me when we met. "What did you intend at the end of this piece because this is what I got." And that is key for me.
• Staff. Anne Green was quite friendly when she and I spoke. There had been delays and mishaps in terms of actually getting things settled but Anne is very kind and you really feel like she knows and cares about what you are doing, which is evident since she's been running the conference and the writing department at Wesleyan for years. When she and I met late Wednesday evening she gave me a big ole hug.
• Food. Depending on your dietary restrictions this may or may not be a positive. I would like to note that there were vegetarian options at every meal. Vegan was a bit harder only because of the cheese element in many dishes, but otherwise it was decent. However, if you are gluten free it may be a bit harder as breads were available at every meal and for the first two breakfasts this was a large portion of what was available. But there was always fruit and yogurt and grains as well, as well as vegetables, and sweets! The cost per day for food is over $60 and this, as I was told, was because they pay the food staff very well at Wesleyan.
• Downtime. Because there are no workshops there's no pressure to read and critique a handful of manuscripts prior to the conference. So there's more time for you to go to classes or to lounge around and do your own thing. By days 2 & 3 I did more of the latter to return to an empty suite and write. In classes you did get readings (short ones no longer than 6 pages) and perhaps even a writing assignment but overall there was no need to carry a stack of pages and go through each one repeatedly to discuss them each day.

Other specific highlights for me were Tracie McMillan's talk--which I had hoped would be better attended or better advertised--about Food & Writing and turned into more of a discussion on how to use food to write about other things like ethics as Tracie does. Amy Bloom's reading and talk where she kept it very real insisting on persistence when it comes to being successful as a writer (meaning getting published). Another was Wesleyan alum Alexander Chee and former Wesleyan instructor Paul La Farge's reading on the last full day as their pieces had lots of humor in them. Also Salvatore Scibona's class, which delved deep into the lines and how to edit them better while focusing on specific attendees work kept people enthralled and returning to his class each day.

Moving on to the Cons:

• Connection. Since this isn't my first conference I did have something to compare it to. And again, I applied with the knowledge that there'd be no workshops. I was glad for this particularly because I'm in a workshop at home and steadily reading my CPs work. So a break was nice. However, I did notice that in not having a workshop there was a lack of connection. Yes, I met many cool participants who are fun people and we had great convos but I also realized how much you connect with other participants as well as the instructor in an actual workshop. Often, I was simply a story to a person until we met at the conference and felt like we knew each other more. I have connected with authors I admire because they read my work and heard how I discussed others in class. There's an impression made when you sit with a group of people for several hours a day reading something that they're passionate about. And in Wesleyan catering more to one-on-one sessions than the workshop environment there's a disconnect that I realized I missed. Roxana Robinson was helpful in reviewing my work and was happy to discuss it for as long as I needed (within the 30 minute time frame) but it felt as though I had handed her a check to do a job.
• Boarding. I will also admit that I am biased. For my undergrad and graduate degrees I lived with my mom and later my (now) ex-husband and commuted to and from classes. So whenever I go to a conference and they have boarding it is often on campus and this is when I'm introduced to dorm life. The boarding was a nice set up at Wesleyan. It's a suite with a living room, kitchen, and five separate bedrooms (that lock). Oddly the toilet is separate from a sink that is separate from a shower. Don't ask me why. And in no way will I ever think that sharing one toilet or shower with five people is a good thing. No matter if you are in an industrialized or indigenous society, there should be limits. The beds: hard as rocks. The pillows: so thin they're non-existent. The walls: thinner than those in any NYC apartment I've lived in! The locks: in stereo. You could hear everything your suitemates did from pulling out a chair to turning in bed. Now, we were warned about the thin pillows but the beds were insanely high for all except for one writer who had the build of an Amazon. Before this becomes a Yelp-type rant lemme say that  there's not much that could be done because this is a place for teens. I'd say if you can't adapt to your surroundings, then don't do the dorms.
• Scheduling. Things ran late. And it seemed that the focus was on faculty and their thoughts and not on the participants' work. The participant reading was held after 10pm on the last full day of the conference and fellows yet no faculty and only the collegiate staff members were in attendance. Even those who were there for support steadily drifted away after the third or fourth person read tired and ready for the hard mattress. Faculty readings were at 8pm, fellows at 9:30pm and mind you we still had some work to do in classes. There was always something from classes to panels to a craft talk to dinner to a reading with little time in between to do it all. At other conferences I've been to participant readings were in the afternoon so faculty could attend and spread out over a couple days so more people could read. Since this was one of the few times I could hear other participants work I was interested in learning more, not less and not drifting off to sleep while someone was in the middle of a sentence or stanza.
• Organization. Once here, for the most part, it seemed that things were in order. Beforehand not so much. I went weeks before knowing if I got aid and then there was confusion on what aid I was getting and how much. And then I had to get everything together within 3 weeks when I should've had 2 months. There was also confusion in the dissemination of information once here in terms of when things would be available, if I'd get more toilet paper in my suite (thankfully one of my suitemates found some [Thanks, Jane!]), where was this class, how many handouts were needed, did everyone know that the location for dinner had changed, what room was this in, can I use a phone?!? So some hiccups along the way. But Anne always availed herself if and when she could and the staff of Wesleyan students and grads tried hard to accommodate even if they weren't sure of what to do.
• Diversity. In terms of faculty it was lacking, and this includes the fellows who aided in reviewing manuscripts and had craft talks. Johnny Temple (publisher of Akashic Books) was one of the only people to bring up the diversity issue mainly in terms of the lack in publishing as an industry as well as writers. Even the panels, lacking. Beyond Alexander Chee there was not much in the diversity department and it showed. I'm not saying all conferences I've been to have been better at this but there's been at least some indication of such and in showing more diversity in faculty and panelists I can guarantee there'll be more diversity in registrants.

I also want to add that Wesleyan offers scholarships and it's through a very generous one that covered half of my tuition that I was able to attend. In terms of whether or not you'd want to attend I think that comes down to you and your wants/needs. As an introductory conference it may be a good one with classes from faculty that serve as mini MFA or English Lit/Craft sessions for anyone who may be unfamiliar with some details and authors and how people do specific things in their work. I think for anyone who really wants to focus on their work it may not be as helpful depending on who reviews your manuscript and how much time you'd like to delve into it if you feel it needs work. Sometimes hearing a few opinions rather than just one can be more beneficial. I am glad I experienced this conference and met funny, cool, and talented writers. And, despite the pros and cons, getting time in this community and away from the hecticness of home is never a waste.

#ArtistTherapy: Subjectivity Can Be Hard to Understand

"Maybe I'm not your audience..." You've heard this or said it. Let's not argue, I'm sure you have.

This is subjectivity. The thing that makes people wonder why books that are lauded get so much praise when he/she may think "It's alright." Subjectivity is what allows some books to be critically praised and not sell well and vice versa. It's why many things aren't made public and why others are. And subjectivity is not an easy thing to come to terms with as an artist.

Say you've workshopped a piece of writing or got feedback on an illustration or arrangement that was helpful. You revised as far as you could and ultimately got the "okay" from those whose opinion you trust. The work feels finished. So you start sending it out to others for publication or showings/shows (what some of us will call 'validation') and you get back 'no's. And not necessarily concrete ones either. You are not necessarily getting back reasons for why this isn't working or being accepted, but more so you're seeing a trend of "not for me/us" or "I can't champion this the way I'd want" or "didn't grab me" and with that "perhaps someone else may feel differently as this is a subjective business."

Now, you may hear/read this more in the writing world than others but subjectivity applies in all things. Where some like romance novels others like action, where some like their thrillers dark some like them PG-13 with some humor. Where people like sarcasm others like friendly humor and so on. We have our tastes and in all honesty nothing is universal. There is no universally amazing film, book, song, painting. Yes, the Mona Lisa is loved and revered my many. Shakespeare is a man whose work will more than likely always be taught in schools and honored and adapted. And don't even get me started on The Beatles or the Jackson 5.

My point is when I submit work I have gotten the "not for me/us" "not our market" "someone may feel differently" "I like it but..." and where you are attempting to champion it it seems as though you're getting sucker punched repeatedly when there's a non-distinctive reason for the rejection. But why you may be wondering and hell I do wonder it myself. As artists we're used to getting concrete feedback for how to improve, so what is this "subjectivity" business? What do you mean you can't tell me why? From one end it is hard to comprehend. You've put months, years, decades into this work and it's good. You know it's good. It's won contests, gotten praise, portions may have appeared elsewhere, so why is the whole not working? And it comes back down to the S-word and also the L-word (love). It wasn't until I became an even more voracious reader that I would sort books I read into categories such as: like but didn't love, LOVED--tell everyone(!), didn't like, okay and I see the merits of it, and so on. When you absorb as much work as you're producing you can see that there's a precedent and that even you do it as well. If given a book you liked would you champion it? Nope? Well then you can't ask someone else to either.

I'm not going to get into the other aspects like the monetary or the "trends" or otherwise. I'm looking at this as someone who's gotten (and will get more) rejection but who has also had responses of "loved this." I'm here to tell you that subjectivity will be something that keeps you back but will also push you forward. The phrase "there's something for everyone" is not moot, it's real. People fall in love with new work all the time.

So we come back to the L-word. Do you love it? Because that's what matters. I understand, believe me I do, that putting time and effort into something you love but others don't seem to may feel like a waste. It may seem like your time is not being put to good use but it is. Truly it is. Author Maggie Stiefvater revisited a work she had an idea for and attempted but it did not work at the time. Years later and with success in other works she pursued it again because, you got it, she loved the idea and also felt better equipped to make it something that worked. There are authors who shelve that first book (or books) and sell their third, fourth, or fifth and afterwards whip those other ones out and say, "Hey! Happen to have these too. Wanna look?"

Subjectivity can be a somewhat ugly word or a disheartening one to an artist. But it doesn't mean you work doesn't have merit, it simply means you have to push harder to find a home for it. And maybe the home isn't clear but the progress and work put into it is because when you next create perhaps subjectivity won't be what you see in responses but "yes," a resounding "yes."

#BEA14 & #TheBookCon: Not Such a Great Marriage of Events

Post-Memorial Day weekend people in the publishing/book industry had to mentally and physically prepare to go into Jacob Javits Center with guns blazing for Book Expo of America. Book Expo took place from May 28th to May 31st, with the exhibition floor opening on May 29th for signings and events. This year I took a much more mellow approach than in previous years having worked the event and attended. I have to say this experience allowed me to get out of tunnel vision and get into the show more widely. I'd recommend this to anyone. Scope out the authors you're really interested in seeing or getting books from and go from there to panels or reviewing the exhibitors and what they're doing. Add that in by going to sit-down lunches with former coworkers and friends, viewing the entirety of the floor, attending panels all made it a much more full experience than standing in line after line after line or running all around trying to make attendees happy.

Book Expo (aka BEA)

Let's talk scale. I've been going to Book Expo every year that it's been in NYC since 2003. This probably accumulates to six or seven times and in the span of one decade it has changed considerably, and, in some aspects, for the better. The single exhibition floor was put in place a few years back and serves as a better way to move from booth to signing to panels on the main stages and so on rather than splitting the difference.

The panels, I must say, were a bit disjointed to me in that they seemed very cursory. Understandably one has 50-80 minutes to educate a crowd on a specific topic and the info is really industry specific, however, in panels such as How to Market Authors Who are Inaccessible or How to Better Tag your Metadata, if you're already familiar with this and do it in your day-to-day job you more than likely learned nothing too groundbreaking. Yet, for self-published authors, as it was good to see, this is information that can be significant to how to better establish your platform and understand what's being done on the production side of your book.

Some more technical events happened on Midtown Stage and I was glad to go to one with a co-worker with the head of Adobe InDesign on updates on how to utilize this software to make ePub files in the new Creative Cloud. More technical aspects of the digital world may have you better suited to register for IDPF which often runs a day or so before BEA in Javits on the lower level.

Pavilions can be hit or miss. One can assume that many of the digital vendors are in the Digital Zone when others are spread out in other areas of the exhibit hall. Same can be said for university presses (whose appearances in booths at BEA have been steadily dwindling due to budgets and wondering if the reach is as wide as it is for trade). Vanity presses like Month9Books made appearances on BookCon day but there were many smaller booths that weren't around or were overwhelmed by lines winding through and around their booths from some of the major trade publishers.

When we discuss organization during the event, publishers seem to have gotten hip to the ticket craze. Even in-booth signings have tickets requiring this traded in for a signed book/blad/ARC. Learning from the overwhelming response to Rainbow Rowell's appearance last year Macmillan had tickets for those who wanted a signed copy before her signing guaranteeing you a book and hopefully a shorter wait. Random House had initiated tickets last year and signs held high with author pictures in addition to the listed time of their signings for easy location and no drama or worries.

The autograph area is always somewhat of a zoo, especially for big names like Libba Bray, Ann M. Martin, RL Stine, Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and others (yes, those are all YA authors and their lines were insane).

What else is of note is that more and more Book Expo seems to host additional celebrities in conjunction with established authors. Celebrities jumping into children's books or picture books, cookbooks, and memoir. Anjelica Huston and Neil Patrick Harris signed blads of their upcoming memoirs. Debi Mazar signed cookbooks with her husband Gabriele Corcos thanks to the popularity of their Cooking Channel show Extra Virgin. Dominique Ansel signed recipe cards and offered chocolatey treats for an ever-growing line for his "secrets" to his desserts. And Jason Segel co-authored a middle grade series with author Kirsten Miller for Nightmares a book based on a screenplay he wrote when he was 21. But the celebrities don't get all the love.

E. Lockhart's new novel We Were Liars cause chaos among bloggers and teens alike with the continued hype of this book. Ann M. Martin's return with a new series Rain/Reign had people of all ages lining up for a chance to see her. Carl Hiassan and David Mitchell, James Patterson and James Frey, Sylvia Day and so on.

While Book Expo is industry specific with bloggers, librarians, booksellers, distributors, media, and others in the industry attending it does reflect the overall excitement and intrigue of an industry that aims to please it's best customers.

BookCon

This year BEA's Power Reader Day became BookCon. Sadly, BookCon was not worth the hype and what anyone who attended last year as a Power Reader remembers was stripped from BookCon customers.

BookCon (formerly Power Reader Day) opened BEA up to those who weren't in the industry but who were book lovers. It allowed them to get access to an event they wouldn't have been able to see and get freebies and learn more in the same breath. BookCon tix were for one day, May 31st which overlapped with the final day of BEA and they were $30 for adults, $5 for kids. And apparently, there was no cap on how many tickets were sold or how many attendees could fit into Javits.

But let me back up. Javits for BookCon was not the same as Javits for BEA attendees like myself. Oh no, BookCon was cordoned off into a section a bit over a third of the size of the entirety of Javits' main exhibition hall. Many publishers/exhibitors were cut off from BookCon and many, many more BookCon participants were not able to see the rest of BEA. Bulky security in red shirts and black pants loomed over those areas that drew a line between the two conventions. Yes, we were segregated.

I don't know if all exhibitors were made aware of this or not but of those that weren't they seemed surprised, especially with so many families around and potential for sales. In terms of the scope almost 10,000 (or more if reports get solidified) people came to BookCon and in a space significantly smaller than all of BEA this proved a hard maze to navigate through. And it most certainly felt like a safety hazard.

Lines for panels happening in conjunction with uPublishU were not lines but clusters of people positioned in front of a door to try and guarantee them a seat. Others at the Main Event Stage wove through the ground floor and around the registration desks. The line for BookCon attendees to get in was reminiscent of several cronut lines back-to-back. It was insane and the separation to get tickets for autographs in the autograph area was not clear.

As a BEA attendee I had access to BookCon but it did not go the opposite way, which caused much concern and irritation among those who originally purchased a one-day BEA ticket to have that magically changed to this new thing called "BookCon." Friends of mine in attendance for BookCon only insisted that they would not return to BookCon as is. And that they barely got anything due to the numerous lines making it hard to even browse. Another issue seemed to be that there were more publishers selling things rather than giving them away. In the PW BEA Edition organizers wanted to see how BookCon fared in order to decide if they'll have BEA/BookCon happen over 4 days with BEA going from May 28-30 and then BookCon from May 30-31. This, I imagine, would give anyone working these days in both areas reasons to curl up and rock themselves back to sanity.

There are many improvements to be made for BookCon and one I strongly suggest is not having it overlap with BEA if it means cordoning off an area for the attendees and scrunching so many people into a small(er) space. Also, monitor sales! Exhibitor attendance for BEA has gone done yet that doesn't mean attendee numbers should significantly rise!

A highlight for me of BookCon were the panels. Namely the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign that had a packed house of intrigued and supportive parties. However, BEA also had a panel held at the same time questioning why there wasn't more diversity with African Americans in publishing consisting of agents, editors, and entrepreneurs. In the BEA program there was a list of some, yet not all BookCon events meaning you had to get the BookCon material day of to discern what was happening. And the apps! The BEA app nor the BookCon app speak to each other making it hard for those who are BEA registrants to be able to see everything in one seamless page.

Oh, I could go on, but a blog post should be but so long. Next year BEA will be in NYC again before leaving after several years in my hometown to go to Chicago. I don't know if BEA will return to NYC or stay in Chicago for awhile, but what I sincerely hope is that if BookCon stays it becomes better organized for the safety and happiness of those who love books. The last thing anyone wants to do is antagonize book lovers because they are what keep the publishing industry going.

#ArtistTherapy: Tortoise & the Hare (Things Take Time)

"I write so slow..." I've heard this numerous times from various writers. I've even said it myself. At a writers' conference several years ago I bemoaned the fact that my linked anthology (now in year 7) was taking a long time. (Then I was 3-4 years into it.) The instructor for my workshop did a "real talk" moment. "You're acting as if writing should be an efficient process, Jennifer. It's not."

True words. It's the Tortoise and the Hare scenario of what wins out. Fast or slow and steady? I've met artists who have complained or regretted that they didn't initiate their art sooner. Ones who were frustrated that their art wasn't as good as it could be and why, oh why, was this the case? I have friends who joked that their novel is in it's pre-adolescent stage. I've had critique partners who could draft, revise, and again revise a book in a year or less. And others who've taken a couple years. And several who've taken a decade or more.

I know I am not a fast writer per se. When it comes to short or even flash fiction it can take me months if not years to revise a piece to a point where I (and my critique partners) are satisfied. I have stories that are years in the making and still don't make sense. I have pieces that feel done and may very well not be but we're going to set them aside for now while I work on something that requires some TLC.

Susanna Daniels took 10 years to write her debut Stiltsville. She noted that this was because she wasn't writing the whole time but because life happened amidst her writing. She got married, had a baby, worked. . . . Those outside of the creative world may wonder "Why does [this] take so long?" Perhaps they're picturing you sitting at a desk, on the floor, in the middle of a studio with your creative tool of choice and working on it every day, day in and day out, non-stop. This is not the reality. Even published authors for the most part have jobs. And emerging artists especially, unless blessed with financial backing of some sort, are more than likely working full-time jobs in addition to pursuing their art.

Writing for me is work. It's a job that I do not yet get compensated for. I have bills to pay, a grad school loan, and parents who will not cover my expenses. So guess what? Sometimes work that pays wins out over work that doesn't. And this can stretch into time that is not focused on creation or editing, but on maintaining the life you have. That's the reality.

There are also other realities. Like being stuck. Like not knowing how to follow through on an idea you like/love. Perhaps you don't have the community around you that would help you to follow through on a project (or projects) and this takes away some joie de vivre from the act of creating when there may not be anyone to readily share it with. What if you have no critique partners? What if you're intimidated by the ones you do have? What if you get a slew of rejections that takes some of the wind out of you? What happens when family commitments, tragedies, unexpected occurrences, and so on come into play? And that thing you do, the one that's more than a hobby but is a passion and a need, may get held up.

There are so many factors of why the work itself may not be done in a time allotted. Not everyone has the opportunity that author Harper Lee did where a friend said "Hey! I'll support you for a year but you better finish that book." Not many of us have the knowledge on how to fix a work so readily that we will meet a deadline. It's simply not in the cards for us all.

But what about the market? Timing is everything in the market, right? That's true to an extent. Even recent National Book Award winner James McBride said that timing does play a role. But so does talent. And in the end what do you want out there reflecting your work?

An artist will rarely, if ever, ask, "What's taking you so long?" because they'll understand what can be keeping the work from progressing. Be it personal, professional, creative, or other. Another artist will not pressure you to finish soon, but to finish, period. Hopefully you can relinquish the burden of being fast, of seeing all the sales and figures for people selling things now, of those striking while the iron is hot, hot, hot. It takes how long it takes. Creation is not fast or slow. It's a pace that works for the creator. Supposedly, God created the world in seven days, but I'll tell you what, I bet God wasn't on a deadline or anything.

#MyWritingProcess Blog Tour

Maybe you've heard about the My Writing Process (Blog) Tour, maybe you haven't. If not consider this your intro. The tour's been going on for a few months and I'm delighted to have been asked to join in by my writer buddy overseas Laura Rueckert, whose answers on her process you'll find at www.laurarueckert.com. And here's my contribution to this fine tour we have going on:

What am I working on? 

Lots. My baby, so to speak, is a linked anthology about an interracial family that spans several decades and three generations. This collection has been my "White Whale" in a way in that I've been working on it for several years and it's gone through a complete metamorphosis making me a much better writer over the course of the process.

Last fall I started drafting a contemporary YA suspense. And I have a few flash fiction pieces and essays that I am either refining or drafting as well. I tell you, there is simply not enough time in the day.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?  

Short answer would be the diversity aspect as it is, unfortunately, not numerous in the literary realm (in all genres). I don't necessarily focus on race and racial tension as a person of color, but I think there is a need for literature to reflect reality and reality is quite diverse. My whole world has been an amalgam of various races, people, sexualities and such that my prose will always reflect that. I am also a very character-driven writer and I like to mix it up in terms of elements. I like to focus on people, psychology, and sometimes a slight twist on our reality and history. It's fun to rethink history and create it anew, for better or worse.

Why do I write what I do?

I wrote very bad poetry in high school and undergrad. It didn't fit me. I'm a bit long-winded at times, but the short form (and long form) is something I very much enjoy. Point blank: I like making things up. I also like detailing what I see, hear, and feel. So fiction and nonfiction/journalistic fits more for me because I feel like I have more space to truly expose, or explore, what and who is around me.

How does my writing process work?

My process is to sit down and do it. It's usually a burst when it comes to the drafting/writing phase. Just get words down on paper/screen, is my focus initially. And I can sit down for hours in a comfy chair with my laptop writing. This past Christmas while visiting my grandmother, she consistently passed the room. I had sat in a La-Z-Boy for up to seven hours with my laptop on my lap writing. "You okay?" she asked a few times. "Yup!" I shouted. When I'm in the zone I get stuff done.

Molding and refining my work is what I do after the fact. I keep every draft I write (I date each one), sometimes it helps to go back and see what I did earlier in the process or see what may or may not be salvaged. But yeah, (1) write like a fiend, (2) refine like the fiend you were previously, (3) get feedback, because invariably there's always something that needs more work than you thought.

That is my process, in a nutshell.

I've invited (or tagged) the following writers whose work I admire and enjoy to also participate and I'm glad they're up for it! You can see their posts on their process next week.

I present . . .

Megan Cooley Peterson is a writing-reading-pizza-coffee addict from the frozen tundra, aka Minnesota. She has written a YA contemporary, a YA romantic thriller, and an upmarket women’s fiction manuscript. She is currently drafting a manuscript about witchcraft that she can’t stop obsessing over. When not working on fiction, Megan writes and edits children’s nonfiction books about topics ranging from gross animal facts to urban legends. She lives with her husband and darling daughter.

Megan and I met via Twitter and she is one of the sweetest and supportive, and most dedicated writers I have ever engaged with. And after reading one of her manuscripts I can attest she's going to be a force to be reckoned with in the publishing world.

Karen McCoy first got the writing bug when she read The Babysitters Club series at age eight, but almost gave up after a bad grade during a creative writing class in college. Fast forward years later, to an HR training for her librarian job in 2008. She got out a pen and started her first novel, in her head, ever since that first writing class. She's currently studying for her MFA in creative writing at Northern Arizona University. She not only blogs at her site Writer Librarian, but also contributes to Operation Awesome on Mondays.

Karen and I met at the GlenWest Conference in New Mexico a couple years ago and her tenacity and excitement for writing inspire me all the time.

Thanks again Karen & Megan for joining in and I look forward to hearing more about your process(es)!

If you've done a post for the My Writing Process blog tour lemme know so I can read it.  :-)