Spain and a Few Patronus Moments

Apologies for my resent absence from the blogosphere. I’ve been in Madrid with my best friends Annie and Tina, and took a nice extended break from all things internet related. But I'm back now, and before my life becomes a little too normal, I’d like to take a quick moment to talk about something I like to call Patronus Moments.

For those of you who haven’t heard me talk about this before, a Patronus Moment is an occasion or incident so wonderful it would evoke a Patronus. (For those of you who don’t know what a Patronus is, go read Harry Potter. Immediately.) Extraordinarily, while I was in Spain I experience not one, but two of these moments, and I thought I would share them.

The first happened during one of our day trips to Toledo. Called the City of Three Faiths, it’s home to one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. Nearly every wall displayed vibrant stained glass windows, the ceiling was high and vaulted, and in the center was one of the largest organs I’ve ever seen. I’ve long thought the organ one of the most visually arresting instruments, and this one was stunning. I spent several minutes walking around, observing it from every angle. And then, just when we were about to leave, a priest sat down and began to play.

In all my years of travelling I've never heard anything more beautiful. I've been to more cathedrals than I can count, but never once have I heard the organ played while inside one. It was such a surprise, and more moving than I can describe. It seemed to rise up to the very highest reaches of the vaulted ceiling, echoing across all the sightseers and worshipers and pouring right through me. There's really no  words that can capture what I felt at that moment, but I know that I'll remember that feeling for all my life. 

The second Patronus Moment is somewhat less surprising, but no less extraordinary. After a long day of sightseeing and a short rest in our hotel room, my friends and I were working up the energy to go out for dinner. As the three of us discussed places to eat while we surveyed the clothes we’d laid out, I felt more and more worn out. But still I tried to rally for Annie and Tina’s sake, not wanting to disappoint them. I therefore could not have been more thrilled when Annie tentatively suggested that we could always just order room service for dinner and stay in the watch the Spain vs. Ireland EUFA soccer game (which, as a fan of both Spain and Ireland’s national teams, was exactly what I’d wanted to do).

We wound up having the best time eating peanut butter sandwiches, hamburgers and fruit in our pajamas and cheering on our favorite players. For all the amazing places we went during the trip and all the amazing sights I got to see, it really might have been my favorite moment of the trip. In the end, it’s nice to know that I can be just as thrilled looking at palaces and cathedrals as staying in with my two best girlfriends and shouting at a soccer match.

Anyway, it’s back to normality for me. But here’s a few memories to hold onto until my next great adventure . . .

Annie, Tina and I at Madrid's famous Plaza Mayor 

Madrid Palace just before sunset

Annie and I taking a break (and revealing our true colors) in Segovia

My newly acquired palace in Segovia 

The beautiful organ in the Toledo Cathedral I mentioned above

Tina and I in front of an awesome mural in the Madrid subway

Me, Annie and Tina in front of the Roman Aqueducts 

The incredible Toledo Cathedral 

The Top 11 of 2011: Memories

In my previous post, I listed my top 11 "finds" of 2011. But there was something else I wanted to pay tribute to. Memories. 2011 was a spectacular year, and life-changing, year. I have so many incredible memories that it was really hard to chose from. But here they are, my . . .

Top 11 Patronus Moments of 2011:

*** Patronus Moment: A moment so wonderful it would evoke a Patronus. (For those of you who don’t know what a Patronus is, you should be deeply, deeply ashamed. Go read Harry Potter. Immediately.)

1. One of the best things that happened in my life during 2011 was meeting Julie, Terry, Jay Jay and Kristi. Up until this year, I didn’t have very many “writing” friends. Now, not only do I have four AMAZING writers who push me, support me, and make my writing better, I also have four new friends who I just flat out enjoy being with. Occasionally when we meet to critique one another, we get so caught up hanging out with one another that it takes us an hour before we even get to our writing. Each time I meet with them is a Patronus moment.

2. In May I attended (along with my awesome writer friends), the Houston Writer's Conference. There I met some amazing editors and agents. It was perhaps the very first time I felt like a "real" writer. Furthermore, one of the editors I befriended the first night of the conference over obscure garden gnome, Princess Bride and The Terminator references invited me out to dinner with another editor and two agents (including the agent who eventually signed me as a client). Though it was obviously an incredible – and fortuitous – networking experience, it was also just plain fun. They enlightened me with lots of insider literary gossip (which sadly I cannot share), and gave me tons of advice and encouragement (which I’m more than happy to share). It was one of the best weekends of my life.

3. I must admit that when I attended the writing conference, I had not yet completed my novel (shameful, I know). After pitching it to four different agents, all of whom asked to see more, I realized that I had to finish it as soon as possible. I waved goodbye to all my friends, locked myself in my room, and nearly a month later, surfaced with a COMPLETED novel. My first completed novel! And no though no one who has never completed one can understand exactly what that means, it was, without a doubt, one of the most euphoric feelings I’ve ever experienced.

4. So, if you’re still with me here, in May I went to the Houston Writer’s Conference, on June 1st I finished my novel (and subsequently sent it to the our agents I pitched to), and on August 15th, my agent Josh emailed me back and told me he wanted to sign me as a client. To this day, I still cannot believe it. I AM AN AGENTED WRITER. Since people often say a picture is worth a thousand words – something which, as a I writer, I have qualms with – here’s a pictorial depiction of my emotional state as I signed my agency agreement:

5. If getting an agent wasn't amazing enough, my friends' reaction to the news would have itself been a Patronus moment. They sat with me while I cried (happy tears of course), they bought me champagne (and even thought to buy me sparkling grape juice because I don't actually like champagne), bought me cake from my favorite dessert café, and showed me in every way a friend can how proud they were of me. As amazing as getting an agent was, my friends' reactions following the news might have been even better.

6. Shifting away from writing related moments, another one of the best aspects of this year was spending time in the kitchen with my friends. I’ll admit, I have NEVER thought of cooking as a pleasurable pastime . . . until this year. My friends Annie and Tina, who unlike me are quite culinarily talented, roped me into helping them cook. And I could not believe much fun we had doing it! Some of the best evenings of 2011 were spent with the three of us chopping, dicing, and sauté-ing in my teeny, tiny apartment kitchen.

7. And speaking of my apartment, moving into it was yet another Patronus moments – one which acted as the springboard for many, MANY others. Including, but not limited to: dancing around the apartment with my amazing roommate Tina. Staying up until 3 in the morning gabbing with my semi-second roommate Annie. Friendsgiving . . . and so many more.

8. In June I went to New York with my mom and cousin Allie. We had the BEST time! We visited the Harry Potter exhibit, went to a zillion museums, Stayed in the Marriott Hotel on Times Friggin’ Square, and went to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying . . . where we met and got the autograph of Daniel Radcliffe aka. Harry Potter. I’ll never forget that trip.

9. For the past three years running my birthday has been pretty amazing. And this year kept the tradition rolling. My amazing friends all took me out for a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden (a tradition which began when we were in college), and then came back to my apartment where they showered me with cupcakes (thanks Annie!), cookies (thanks Julie!), powdered sugar covered treats (thanks Tina!), festive party hats and some of the best gifts I’ve ever been given . . . including a printed and bound copy of my novel with “critical praise” excerpts from each of them. I’m not ashamed to admit that I bawled like a baby when they gave me that one. And then we watched Die Hard. It goes down as one of the best birthdays in the history of time.

10. Beginning in December, Lifetime Television started airing a series of truly spectacular made-for-TV Christmas movies. My mom and I recorded ALL of them, and spent our free afternoons mocking them. What started out as a funny pastime turned out to be one of my very best memories of 2011. The two of us, camped out on our living room couches by the fire, enjoying the cold weather and Christmas spirit. While most of the movies were spectacularly awful, a few of them wound up being pretty amazing; I even ordered two of them on Amazon. It’s a tradition which I hope we continue in the oncoming years.

11. Last but not least, my blog. I started Pensuasion in May after the writing conference as a way to stay connected to the writing community, with little expectation. I had no idea how to gain followers (thanks Julie for giving me some tips), or what all to write about. Now it’s been eight months, forty-six posts (or forty-seven including this one), and ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE FOLLOWERS (I was hoping for 150 before the end of the year, but since my real goal was to reach 100, I’m going to consider this one a win)! So thank you to all my followers and readers for the much, MUCH needed support and comments.

Agents, and Manuscripts, and Edits! Oh My!

Several of my friends and family have responded to my August 16^th "Down the Rabbit Hole" blog questioning what three events inspired the post. While the first two are personal and will therefore remain anonymous, the third event is part of the professional sphere, and now that it’s official, I see no harm in sharing. So, in case you’re interested and have not already heard via my many emails, texts, Facebook posts and phone calls . . .

I GOT AN AGENT!!!

I met my new agent – Josh Getzler of Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency – at the Houston Writer’s Conference in May 2011, where he very generously squeezed me in as his last interview on the last day of the conference. Lucky for me, he laughed with me over the oh-so-long title of my (then incomplete) manuscript, and asked me to send it his way as soon as I completed it. I assured him, not quite believing it myself, that it would be finished by the end of the month.

After four weeks locked in my room with no outside contact and even less sleep, I finally completed it and sent it his way on June 2. And thus began the waiting game (something which many of my amazingly talented writer friends are still pulling their hair over). But, after two months of torture, I finally heard back. Imagine my shock when Josh (my favorite of the four agents I interviewed with at the conference), told me he was interested in my work and wanted to schedule a phone conference. (P.S. I apologize to my friends and family members who had to deal with me while I waited to hear whether he wanted to represent me or not. To say I was a basket case would be the understatement of the century).  

But, after one amazing phone conference and two days of waiting for the official contract to come in, and as of August 17, 2011, I am officially a represented author!

Needless to say, it still hasn’t quite sunk in. Unfortunately, after the celebrating and haze of jubilation finally lifted, I realized how much editing I have to do before Josh begins sending my manuscript off to potential publishers. We’re looking to have it ready by late fall, so if you don’t hear from me much in the next few months, be patient . . .

But, for those of you who are interested in learning more about my new awesome agent, check him out:

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/jgetzler/

P.S. Check out the names under the heading ‘Leading Clients’!!!

Houston Writer's Conference 2011

If I needed to envision my happiest memory to summon a patronus, I'd think of the Houston Writer’s Conference.  The first I’ve attended, I spend weeks preparing for it. Terror overwhelmed me every time I thought about meeting literary agents and editors, but much to my surprise, rather than the sharks I expected, I met professionals that offered nothing but encouragement.

At dinner the first night of the conference, my friends from the Houston Writer's Guild and I  sat across from a certain editor/author of How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack: Defend Yourself When the Lawn Warriors Rise Up (And They Will), a book I stumbled across several months ago while researching The Garden Gnome Liberation Movement (think Amélie). Never would I have imagined the crucial role my love of Michael Biehn, The Princess Bride and garden gnomes would play in my networking capabilities. 

Over the course of the weekend, I learned a lot about the long and arduous process a writer goes through publishing their novel. I left the conference with contrasting emotions – terror that I’ll never get my novel published, thus destroying my life’s dream and months of hard (and payless) work, and joy at my first contacts in the publishing industry.

Though it may be years before my novel sees the light of day, this was without a doubt the best moment in my writing career thus far. A special thanks to my friends from the Writer’s Guild for helping me hold it together, Nikki Loftin for sharing her struggle to get her novel, The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, published, and all the agents and editors I met for their generous comments and guidance.