The Barnes & Noble Meet & Greet was so much fun! I loved chatting with readers and signing autographs. I sold several books and made new friends. It was truly a success. I'm so thankful for SCBWI letting us put this event on. Barnes & Noble Victorville loved us so much they offered to have us come again. 

Here are some pictures from the event. 

This retreat was so worth it! I can't tell you enough how awesome this weekend was for me. I had so many opportunities to bond and learn from other writers. This picture is a group of fellow writers from in my cabin. We had such a great time hanging out and making connections.
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​This retreat is a yearly writing weekend that I only started going to last year. Not only did I get to hang out with some talented and amazing writers, published and unpublished, but I got to meet editors and agents from the publishing industry.  Normally, it would make me nervous to talk to agents and editors from the industry, but in the beautiful relaxed setting of the San Bernardino Mountains it was much easier. Everyone talked shop (You know the stuff that makes your friend's and family get all eye glazy) and everyone was so approachable. It truly was a great opportunity for someone like me who's still trying to find an agent. 

I finally had finished my Icarus story and had brought it to the retreat to get feedback. In my critique groups I got a lot of positive and constructive feedback. From the agents I learned that I still have some work to do if I want to get it published, but I'm almost there. Thank goodness. I had no idea when I started writing how long the process of creating a book would be. 

Thus far here has been my process. I originally wrote Icarus as a short story of 2,000 words. And that created the bones of my story.  After some encouragement from my husband and the short story submission feedback I decided to make it into a book. It's taken a year of flushing out the book. First with breaking it down into a constructive outline, making sure that I hit all the beats of my story. Then writing chapter by chapter, using my outline as a guide. I worked each chapter with my  critique partners until I finished the manuscript. It's now approximately 80,000 words. It's so different from my original story.  

Now I'm looking at the whole picture and find that though I think it's good, it can be even better with a few changes. The whole process is daunting, but I know it will be worth it when I see it on the shelf. 

THE WEBSITE
My original website was built with a website builder that limited my ability to sell items and receive comments from my supporters. This new blog/website will do both of those things. I'm also excited that I will be able to include media videos and live feed for when I interview authors or have show clips of plays I post on Youtube. 

I'd love to hear what you think of the site. Drop a comment so I can see if it's working or not. Using Weebly.com's Bluehost plugin, I was able to drag and drop art files and customize the site the way I wanted it to be. And I would've been lost without Canva.com. Oh, how I love canva.com! I'm so addicted and love how it allows me to be creative. I'm not an artist, except when it comes to digital art. I can get lost for hours in this online creative platform. 

Okay enough about my silly obsessions.
What have I been up too? Well, the list is long my friends.

• I write daily and have just finished the last chapter of my mythology based YA novel, BEYOND STYX! Whoot hoo! Yea baby, I'm so excited. Now I'm headed into the editing stage of the manuscript. I'm hoping to have a submittable version ready by my writers retreat in May where I have an opportunity to mingle with agents and editors. Cross your fingers! I'm hoping this is my year. 
• I'm working on setting up a digital store to sell some custom t-shirts that I've created. So far I have 12 designs with more ideas coming everyday. 
• I'm teaching my acting classes. This is the the last session of the school year and am taking a break for the summer. It's been a great year and I have more plays ready to publish and put together in a new 10 MINUTE PLAY BOOK. I'm working on prepping the manuscript for publication so that I can release 10 MINUTE PLAYS FOR KIDS #3  in 2024. 
• I'm working on prepping my ROSE MAIDELIADEN #2 manuscript into a paperback form and getting that up soon. I'll keep you posted. I know a lot of you have asked when you can buy it. Soon very very soon! 
• My SCBWI SoCal chapter is keeping me busy with planning the fall conference, running critique groups, and setting up signing events for our published members. I'm excited to say I'll be participating in a local BARNES & NOBLE Author's day event on June 3rd, here in Victorville. I hope you can come and support. It should be a great day! 

Well, that wraps it up for now. I mean of course I'm running my butt off with all the end-of-year school activities. My daughter is in the musical INTO THE WOODS. One of my favorites and  my oldest son is GRADUATING this year.  I can't believe he's old enough to graduate. Wow time flies. 

Anyways, I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think of my site and give me your insights on how to make it better! 

Love ya, Carlene