Picture Books? Now I'm Rethinking the Whole Thing

Wowzahs.
Yesterday was a doozie, dear reader, so please stick with me (please don't get bored, please don't get bored) as I take you through another synopsis of sorts from the writing conference. And my day. Because a lot more happened than just the conference stuff...a lot more...

First off, I got my haircut! Yep. Took off a good chunk, too, and got quite a few highlights. I hope this picture helps to show it, even though it's a cruddy picture and I look all fake and stuff. Today my hair will probably be all curly, because I don't have time (or the talent, or the desire) to do the dry-brushing thing. My neighbor, Sue, who cuts my hair, is a genius. With color, cut, style, and everything about hair, she is a genius. I love it when she does my hair. I love it even more that she's my neighbor!

My hair appt. lasted almost 3 hours (she put three highlight colors in my hair and weaved my entire head), and so by the time I was finished and made my kids' lunch (okay, my mom mostly made them lunch), I was off to the conference. The writing contest for the day was to write an entire Young Adult novel in 12 words or fewer. Here was my entry:

I ran away. I found trouble. I found love. I bungee jumped.

Of course, I didn't win. Nor did I win the letter one (see yesterday's post) --and it's a good thing, too. The entries that did win were hilarious. Hilarious. So hilarious, I was crying, and at the same time thinking: "These people are brilliant. I don't stand a chance!"

The conference sessions I attended yesterday were:
"Going Undercover with a Not-So-Secret Agent" by Stephen Fraser, Literary Agent.
"Point of View: Make it Your Best Friend, or It Will Be Your Worst Enemy" by Janette Rallison.

The next two hours were for Book Signing! Hooray! I got my nine books signed, and it was fabulous to get a chance to visit with the authors. And guess who showed up during the middle of the book signing?
Shannon Hale.
Yep! With her two kids; she came to see her fellow writer friends. I was so tempted to race back to the house and grab all of my Shannon Hale books (I own all of her books, you know) and get her to sign them, but I decided against it. I mean, she wasn't there to sign, it would have been rude, but mostly I was just too lazy.

After the book signing, my college friend (who you may remember from my previous posts about the conference) and I walked around, talked, killed time, etc. I wrote a little, chatted with some friends, etc. [Oh! And met your sister, cheryl (as in rick and cheryl)! She found me! That was cool. Really cool.]
Around 6PM, Brandon showed up (hooray!) and we attended the informal (but very, very delicious) banquet. It went longer than it was supposed to, but we stayed for the Keynote Speaker anyway. It was "My Life as a Logophile, with Ample Examples of the Damage Done to Family and Friends" by Rick Walton.
I'm so glad we stayed! Rick is absolutely the quirkiest, funniest, and most interesting person I've ever met, and his presentation was a delight. We had a great time! But by the time it was finished, it was 8:30PM.
Why should that matter, you may ask?
Two reasons:
1. My mother had taken my children up to my sister's place in SLC, and to keep the story short, we still had to drive up there to get the children and give my mother her car.
2. Our good friends from CA had just arrived into town, and so before we could drive to SLC, we needed to make sure they were settled and comfortable in the house, as most hosts are want to do when receiving guests into their home.

So...more long story short, here...our friends met us in the parking lot near the Marriott Center just as we finished the Banquet, followed us to the house, we got them settled, we drove to SLC, we picked up our children (by now it was 10:15PM), we came home, a young man in Brandon's Priest's Quorum (and his girlfriend) stopped by to pick something up via an earlier agreement and stayed for a while, everyone got to bed, the lights were off, people were sleeping (around midnight) and #4 decided to wake up coughing. I mothered him with the necessary skills of mothering, and finally --finally! --everyone slept soundly around 1AM.

Of course, I go walking at 6AM, so...you know...I'm kind of tired right now.

Good day, though. Nothing to complain about, except for my lack of blogging/emailing. That was mostly due to the fact that my laptop was broken. The "m", "k", and "i" buttons wouldn't work. Do you know how frustrating that is?! ARGH! Luckily, I'm married to a freakin' genius when it comes to computers, and he took it apart this morning before he left for work and fixed it. Thus my ability to amaze you with this eloquent post.

Yeah, it's not that great. I'm tired, remember?

Anyway, that's about it. In closing I'll leave you with the profound and intense thoughts I had during the conference yesterday:
1. Good books always have a main character, conflict of some kind, and then resolution (i.e. the main character overcoming the conflict).
2. The children's picture books I've submitted to three publishers have amazing characters!
3. The children's picture books I've submitted to three publishers have no conflict.
4. The children's picture books I've submitted to three publishers are basically crap.
5. No wonder they aren't being accepted!
6. I think I want to do Young Adult/Teen Novels (1st person) instead.
7. I really think I'm supposed to do YA novels instead.
8. This is gonna take a lot of time, writing YA novels.
9. I really like my new haircut.

That is all.

P.S. Hey, thanks for coming by and leaving me your amazing, witty, charming, and sobering comments (yes, some are sobering for me). I appreciate your loyalty! I wish I could do the same for you, dear reader, but it will have to wait a while, what with my crazy schedule and all...but you already knew that...so...whatever...stopping now...but loving you! (chuckle, chuckle)