October 4, 2010

Book Academy: Serious Wumpa Fruitage

What an awesome week! True, the Book Academy at UVU was only one day, but how stuffed full of writerly inspiration and good vibeage was it? Did I just make up a new word? The presentations I attended were geared toward writers who have been accepted, and now what? Perfect.

The cool breakfast table: TJ Bronley, Sarah M. Eden, Me, Marion Jensen. Not pictured: Julie Bellon, and Don Carey. Look at us all trying to be cool. What's with the pockets?
 I learned more about what social media can do for me from Marion Jensen, who is so great I may just claim him as the relative everyone assumes he is.
Sarah M. Eden and Marion Jensen. He signed my copy of CHICKENS IN THE HEADLIGHTS. Too. Funny. Sarah has already signed my copy of COURTING MISS LANCASTER, which everyone should read.
 I learned how (and how not) to give a launch party and how it differs from a book signing from Josi S. Kilpack, for whom I have a ton of respect. What can I say, the woman loves to cook.
Josi S. Kilpack, Me, and Annette Lyon. See? I want to be on THIS side of the table. Josi signed DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE and Annette wished me "Happy Chocolate" in her cook book, CHOCOLATE NEVER FAILETH.
After the surprisingly delicious (and huge) lunch, my friends signed all the books I bought and we talked and laughed and I kept picturing myself behind the table signing my books. I didn't get a picture of Heather B. Moore, but meeting her was really great, too!
Me, Sheila Stahley and Shanda Cottam from LDS Women's Book Review, and Don Carey, my buddy for the day. His book, BUMPY LANDINGS, is coming out this December!
Sheila, Josi, Melissa E. Cunningham, Renae Mackley, and Annette
Me and Melissa E. Cunningham. I wish she lived down the street. We would have FUN. Her book, THE EYE OF TANUB, is coming out in 2011!
 During lunch, I met Kathryn Jenkins, the managing editor for Covenant. She handled my submissions until I was assigned my own editor. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for liking my books. She gave me the good news that Covenant liked my revisions of THE INN and has officially accepted it as my second book. It was really good news to hear!
After the lunch break, I learned about book promotion, brand, hooks, and media etiquette from my publicist at Covenant, Kelly Smurthwaite, and the author's pov from Annette Lyon. Sweet.
And then, because the 4th session didn't include any "what now?" options for classes, I chose (as did a good number of attendees) Robison Wells' class on overcoming obstacles to writing. Awesome motivation. I raised my hand a lot and Rob only shut me down once. It was a time thing. That's what he said.
You know, I really like Rob, but he can be such a pill. (I can hear Rob say, "A pill of AWESOME.") Yes, that's true.
After the conference, a bunch of us met at Chili's for dinner. I arrived after being forced onto the freeway going the opposite direction really fast. But I took an exit, started over, and still arrived before anyone else. I don't know how that happened. Utah traffic astounds me.
Authors Traci Hunter Abramson, Julie Wright, and Melissa E. Cunningham. The coolest people to sit across from EVER.
Me and Don.
The waiter kept treating us like a couple because we ordered the same thing. It was funny.
Tristi Pinkston joined us and held someone's cute baby.



Jeff Scott Savage, author of the FAR WORLD series and much more, and his wife, Debbie Lambson (Cranberryfries), and Rob. I was thrilled to overhear Rob telling Jeff about my book, REMNANT!

Sheila and Shanda. What wonderful dinner company!

A sweet couple, Mary and TJ Bronley.


After sleeping VERY HARD, I had the opportunity to meet MY EDITOR, Samantha Van Walraven, for lunch the next day. I picked her brain and hardly let her eat as she answered my questions. My cousin, Jill Hammond, came along and asked questions of her own, which was great because my head was spinning. I learned a lot, and getting to know my editor better was really great.

Later I headed over to BYU, which was a trip because I haven't been there since I was a student. I visited Annette Lyon at her book signing at the BYU Bookstore. I love her hugs! I bought three more cookbooks for Christmas presents and ate some fudge. Uh, hello, CHOCOLATE.
Annette Lyon with her very helpful daughter and her gorgeous cookbooks.
It was an inspiring, invigorating trip and I have so much to work on while I wait on a release date for THE ORCHARD. One of the things I loved the most was finally meeting all my Twitter friends. They've been such a tremendous support to me. I can't wait for my next writing conference. I LOVE BEING AN AUTHOR!

18 comments:

RobisonWells said...

Uh, yeah. It was a "time thing". Keep telling yourself that.

Congrats on the second book! I hadn't heard!

T.J. said...

Who's that cute girl with the beautiful hair and gorgeous eyes in the 2nd to last picture? Yeah, that'd be my wife!
Just had to brag.
And yeah, a time thing? I got shut down too. I'll tell myself it's a time thing as well.

T.J. said...

Oh yeah, and I was going to mention, why do Sarah, Marion, you, and I look so uncomfortable in that picture? Wow!

Don said...

Great to meet you in person! These conferences have taken their place at the top of my Best Days of the Year list.

Congrats again on acceptance of The Inn - that's exciting!

I think it's funny that those two pictures of us are both taken at the same time - with you looking at one camera and me looking at the other.

How many days until Storymakers?

Krista said...

Thanks, Pill! I mean, Rob!

TJ, because we are all introverts meeting in a large, open space, some of us only knowing one another through tweets of 140 ch. or less, and a tiny little picture for reference. And I REALLY think the pockets help, don't you? ;)

Krista said...

Don , it was a blast! If I could register for Storymakers now, I would.

Shanda said...

Sounds like an exciting trip for you! Congratulations on your 2nd book. I'm so glad we finally got to meet in real life. :)

Note to self: next time I get my picture taken with cute little you, I need to make sure I'm behind someone or something. The 2nd photo is much more flattering. Oh, and more hairspray on the fly-aways. Seriously.

Looking forward to hanging out with you at Storymakers!

Shanda :)
http://ldswbr.blogspot.com

Annette Lyon said...

It was so good to see you--both times!

Sarah M Eden said...

I just wanna say... that first picture? We are all TOTALLY hot! How can we even stand ourselves?!?!

Stephanie Black said...

GREAT pictures! Thanks for posting them!

And congrats on the new book acceptance. Woohoo!

Melissa Cunningham said...

It was SO fun for me too! I loved getting to know you. You know, we could live on the same street if you'd just move up here to Honeyville. Think about it! LOL

Krista said...

Shanda, you crack me up. And stop stalking me. (hee hee)

Annette, you are so great! I'm making something from the book tonight, but I can't decide...

Sarah, we rocked that breakfast room.

Thanks, Stephanie! Hope to see you at Storymakers!

Melissa, I still smile and say, "Awwww" when I hear the name of your town. It's like Winnie the Pooh's favorite vacation spot.

Awwww.

Traci Hunter Abramson said...

Congrats on the book Krista! It was so great meeting you. Dinner at Chili's was a blast!

Krista said...

Thanks, Traci, you found me! It was great to meet someone else who is doing this LDS author thing outside of Utah!

The Damsel In Dis Dress said...

Krista, thanks for posting this even though it made me cry a little because I wanted to be there so badly. And there you are standing by my homeboy Marion. Looking good.

Marion Jensen said...

I would just like to publicly say that I (Marion Jensen) did not attend this conference. It was Matthew Buckley who attended, posing as me (he's a poser, as most people find out once they get to know him). It was definitely Matthew who stood up in front of his class, played a You-tube video that he'd never watched before, and then had to turn it off when they said the word, "sex" three times in a row.

Definitely Matthew Buckley. Definitely not me. I would never do such a thing.

But I did hear that Matthew Buckley had a very fun time meeting and hanging out with some very cool people. I wish I could have been there.

Krista said...

Haha, Matthew, yes. I had just walked in during your mad rush to turn off the offending video. I actually thought,giggling, "That must be Matthew." But the rest of the presentation convinced me otherwise. Either way, you rock.

Miz Damsel, will you be at Storymakers? I hope so!!

Cranberryfries said...

It was so great to meet you. I'm glad we got to hang out a little bit, although I'm still sad I missed you guys at lunch. :)

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