It should have been a no-brainer for me to be attending the Boston Book Festival for the years that I’ve lived here. But no, I regret now that I missed 9 seasons of an amazing and FREE cultural experience.
But that’s what friends are for.
While changing over my laundry at the Big A laundromat (Names may have been changed to protect…well….me I guess) Anyway, while carefully shifting armloads of damp clothing careful to not lose any baby socks, I heard a booming voice behind me, “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I smiled to myself. Matt of the laundromat, and more importantly Matt the writer. In short order, I had apprised him of the most efficient dryers and he had convinced me to attend at least the Writer’s Idol portion of the Boston Book Festival.
And so sitting in a room jammed packed with aspiring and perspiring writer’s I calculated the chances of my first page being read and analyzed by the agents at the front. 250 submissions, and 20-25 to be read. It was certainly better than playing the lottery, or not submitting anything at all. As piece after piece was read, I gathered some important insights. For example, I was quickly schooled about cliches I didn’t even know were cliche. Sure, after reading thousands of pieces of middle and high school writing I knew better than to let “the sun shimmer” or the “water sparkle.” But I had less of an idea that I should avoid starting a submission with: a dream, the weather a flashback, how the post office works, a therapist’s office.
The most important thing of all is to write. And I’ve realized that it takes a village to do just that. So, I’m back in blogosphere, giving a big shout out to each of you amazing readers, the author over at https://candidsandwanderingwords.wordpress.com and to my writing friend’s from TMWC. So very many thanks! Now to try NaNoWriMo….
