August 2011
These beautiful lilies echo a major event for me as an aspiring writer. My manuscript The Sons of Cain took first place in the Sci-fi/fantasy/ category in the annual Pacific Northwest Writers Association on Aug. 6th !!!
The awards banquet/dinner was held at the Bellevue Hyatt and I estimate at least five hundred writers attended. My family was with me and I am ever grateful for their encouragement and support especially when I received my award and turned towards the audience and heard a familiar voice shout “Way to go mom!” Everyone laughed and applauded. Sweet.
Why enter this contest a friend asked? Because it is a serious endeavor and the PNWA are professional volunteers whose readers and judges work hard to give useful reviews to those who present their work. (Each entry receives 2 detailed reviews.) Those who final attend the banquet which offers opportunities to meet with agents and editors in the publishing business. I encourage any aspiring writer to enter the annual contest. It is a great way to test your skill and see where you need to improve.
At the moment I am digging in and making the second revision on this manuscript. I expect to query several agents after this second revision. Any manuscript worth its salt has to go through a number of revisions. I love revising, making changes and usually think of additional elements to add to scenes.
Meanwhile my garden in sprouting weeds .>.>.> But, hey weeding is like revising…yanking out words to get to sweet smelling lilies.
