Switching to New Blog, Ending This One

I have decided to end this blog, since who really wants to read about an aspiring writer's trials and tribulations - when there are probably 25,000 other blogs just like it.

Instead, I am starting a new blog - Kritz Bitz (http://kritzbitz.blogspot.com/)

The new blog is billed as:  A blog to illuminate fascinating ideas and noteworthy research

The idea is to discover and post about things that are interesting enough to discuss at dinner parties with intelligent people.  The posts will include stories about science, geography, human nature, engineering, technology, and who knows what else.

I hope you will check it out!

Pitchapalooza

Last night I attended an event by The Book Doctors, a husband-wife team who offer services and a book to help authors improve their chances on getting published.  They let attendees have 1 minute each to pitch a book, and the winner gets a free consultation and an introduction to an agent and a publisher.

I pitched CROSSING THE WILDERNESS.  It went well, with the husband particularly excited about the concept.  They thought I needed to paint a better picture of the main character and be more clear on the timeframe of the story (present day), but they liked it.

I was impressed by how many of the pitchers were good.  There were many children's stories, a few memoirs, a child-rearing book, and general fiction.

Two other from our writers group pitched as well - Charles and Gary.  Charles' zombie idea was well received.

The Book Doctors noted that there were far more good pitches at this event than usual, and that picking a winner would be much tougher.  The husband put stars next to his favorites and the wife picked the winner.  She picked a children's book about baking French bread (it was a great pitch).  Afterwards, he told me that mine was one of the ones he had put a star next to.

By buying the book (Clinton Book Shop owner was there to sell the book) I am entitled to a 20 minute consultation with them.  I was impressed enough by their comments and feedback throughout the event that I decided to buy the book and receive a consultation.

Rewriting the opening

I have been rewriting the first two chapters of Crossing the Wilderness. The feedback I received was that the writing was good but too sense, making it too hard to get into the story.

This time I cut out quite a bit, making it a shorter, more streamlined journey to get to the meat of the story - when the characters enter The Wilderness. I also made a few changes so that the main character Pierce is not using unrealistic intuition in order to escape from his dire predicament.

Descriptive Rejection

Here is a helpful rejection that I received today:

Dear Dave, 

Thank you for being so patient while I've reviewed CROSSING THE WILDERNESS for possible representation.  While I was intrigued by this concept, unfortunately I had a hard time getting drawn into the story.  Though the writing has merit and even points of brilliance, it is also extremely dense, unnecessarily so. Although there are many fast-paced events, it takes quite some time to get through them, especially as the scenes drag a bit with too much detail and words. I also feel there are too many convenient solutions. Although Pierce is in a life-threatening situation and running from the cops in the government bunker, he conveniently possesses a perfect intuition for knowing when to act and finding the solutions, repeatedly. 

For these reasons, I must pass.

Please don't take this rejection as a comment on your writing ability, as it is not intended to be one. I'm sure another agent will feel quite differently.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, 

I received another rejection a few days ago, with the agent also saying she had trouble getting into the story.  It seems I have a problem with my opening chapters, but I may have already burned my bridges with the agents I met at the conference.  This has me stressed...