My Ohio Experience

Well, let me start off by saying this was the first time ever I was away from my family for more than a 12-hour period... which is kinda weird but that's just how things worked out. We always did stuff together.

Anyway... so I got up at 2:00 a.m. that Thursday morning (June 6) and got the stuff ready and all packed up in the car.

I go to pick up Cindy at 3:00 a.m., thinking we could get McDonald's for breakfast because it's 24 hours, right? Uh-uh. I couldn't figure out why the three cars ahead of me drove off... until I ordered that is. No breakfast until 4:00 a.m. Oye. So, I'm irritated but not totally ticked... until the cop pulls me over for not using my directional. WTF? I am adamant about using my blinkers and the one effing time I don't I get pulled over? SHEESH! They probably thought I was drunk or something, but when he saw the car all packed and I told him about the trip, he bid me a safe farewell and let me go without running me through the system. Thank God.

So, we get on the road. Milwaukee is riddled with construction which isn't too bad at 4:00 a.m. but with semi-trailers and all that, it ain't pretty. So we're cruising along... 4:30ish we stop for breakfast... I needed coffee badly.

We're cruising along again at a good pace... then we hit Chicago. I was thinking.. "Hey, we'll hit Chicago at 5:30.. how bad can it be?" Well, let me tell you... it was bad, but not as bad as I've seen it. Why the hell would people want to tackle that traffic every day is beyond me, but to each his own. Blech. We finally get through Chicago, and then through Indiana tolls, and then it's a straight shot southeast through Indiana... and the speed limit is 70 there. We're clipping along at 74-75, but man, oh man, is Indiana is BORING. We're talking yawn city people.

We stop for lunch near Indianapolis, and it's only 10:45 a.m. *snicker* I thought we'd first get there at noon. We're ahead of schedule. This is good, right? Right. So we get to the West Chester, Ohio, Marriott at 12:15ish. So I called to see if it would be okay if we checked in early seeing as check in isn't until 3:00 p.m. "Sure," she says, "we have a room available." "Thanks," I said, "we'll be there shortly." "My pleasure," she says. We quickly find that everything the personnel at The Marriott do for us is "their pleasure." They were all very nice and courteous and I liked it a lot.. well worth the money to stay there.

So, Thursday was kind of a meet and greet thing... the Lori Foster function didn't officially start until Friday. I met Sarah McCarty in person! Finally! Then I meet Linda B from Sarah's group, who is a total sweetheart. Then Joan comes in from Texas. And then come Nicole and KatieW... a beauty and a cutie : )

It's Friday morning and I'm a wreck. I've got an appointment with Cindy Hwang, Executive Editor, from Berkley at 6:20 p.m. and Crissy Brashear, owner of Samhain Publishing that day so I'm up at 7:10. For me, that's huge. I am so not a morning person. So, Sarah, Cindy, Joan, Linda, Nicole, Katie, and I go to breakfast at Bob Evans (I could hear the theme song playing in my head from the commercial..."Bob Evans, down on the farm.") The food was great, Sarah had a migraine, so after we ate, we headed back to the hotel.. Sarah went and napped, and I went to the room with Cindy to freak out some more. We work our way back to the lobby and hang out a bit, meet Kelly A and Karen B!... I also met LoriS for the very first time in person and damn if that woman isn't gorgeous. Long blonde naturally curly hair, thin, musclar body.. I wanted to smack her, but I like her to much to do that. I made a point of calling her "the skinny lady" and she said that I was her new best friend. LOL I seriously meant it... she looked GREAT! And I'm soooooo jealous of her hair. I spend lots of money to try to get curls like that, and I can't. Damn it. *G*

Then I tried to work on my pitch, everyone else supporting me through my insanity. Eventually after all the registration and stuff, I head to Sarah's room with Cindy, I'm nearly panicked because I don't have my pitch perfected yet... and it's 5:00 p.m. Eeek! Kelly A was in there with Sarah preparing the raffle baskets and Kelly comes up with something really, really good, but it's not exactly right. So, I get to my knees next to the bed and drop my head on the edge and plug my ears... and the light bulb went on. I came up with this....

What would you do if you found yourself in a situation where one man wants to buy you a bouquet of flowers, and another wants to sprinkle the petals from those flowers over your grave?

Lizzie came home to start a business not to have to deal with either circumstance, but she’s quickly she has no choice.

When Petals Fall... is a hot, sexy contemporary with suspense elements that runs about 100,000 words.

So that was how my pitch began. Whew. Not bad. I had the rest of the story summarized pretty well, I just needed to find the hook, and thanks to Kelly and Sarah, I found it. Woo hooo!

I find out before my first appointment that I've only got one appointment on Friday, and two on Saturday morning. So, okay. I can deal with that. No problem. I'd have to meet with Crissy before I meet with the agent, Emily Sylvan Kim from Prospect Agency. Not a big deal.

The first appointment was with Cindy Hwang. It went well. I was a nervous wreck and I thought I was either going to puke, pass out, or pee my pants... luckily I made it through without doing any of the three... and Ms. Hwang asked me for my synopsis and first three chapters! Woo hooo! How cool is that? Same thing happened with the two appointments the next morning! I was thrilled and stunned that all three said that my story sounded like something they would be interested in rather than the generic, "Sounds interesting."

So, now I'm working on final edits and rewrites of the first three chapters and then I write up query letters, and off they go. Woo hoo! I'm hoping to get all edits and stuff done this weekend so this can go out for sure next week. *crossing fingers*

On the way home from the trip, Cindy and I were talking about our jobs as Medical Transcriptionists and how we had a meeting on the Tuesday after we got back and how we didn't think it was going to be good because they told us it had to do with scheduling our hours. That's never a good thing. So, out of the blue, we're cruising along and Cindy says, "Hey, if they really mess up our jobs, we can always be over-the-road truckers." I laughed, then said, "Yeah! We can have a pink rig with sparkly silver letters with our names on the sides." We're seriously laughing because I can see it.. anyway... then Cindy says, "I'd have to hoist you up into the cab of the truck because you'd be too short." Then I really bust out laughing. I could just see myself, my top half on the seat and my legs dangling down the side, my fat ass trying to hoist myself into the seat. So, I'm laughing out loud as I explain this to Cindy, we're seriously laughing hard... (Hey! We were tired, give us a break, and it was funny). Where was I... oh... just when I get my giggles under control, Cindy sees a truck that we're about to pass and it says on the back, "Now Hiring" and the had a 1-800 number on the back and she says, "Quick! Write that down!" That was it. More laughing. Could you see it? Me and Cindy driving a carnation pink semi-trailer with silver sparkly lettering on the sides? Nah, me neither, but it was funny. *shrug* I guess you had to be there.

So, now I'm back, and as I stated, working away on my first three chapters and synopsis. I think I've got the synopsis pretty well done, but it turns out my chapter one needs reworking. How many times do I have to rework this damn story? This will be the FIFTH chapter I've deleted... the FIFTH opening that I've deleted. Damn it allto hell. I hope I get it right this time. *sigh*

So, wish me luck. *G* I'll keep you all posted as to what happens... (I'm preparing for rejections already, LOL)... as Sarah McCarty says... "You're not a true author until you've received your first rejection letter." And besides, then I can get my RWA PRO pin *G*

PS... Pictures will be posted soon... I'm thinking over the weekend or Monday, but whenever I get done with this writing.