Saturday started early. The coach left Cirencester at 05.10, which meant I had to leave at half past four. Isn’t it interesting how an exciting day out means that getting up at four is no problem whatsoever?! I would hate to do it every day…
The coach was in time, and comfortable. I dozed most of the way there, checking emails and Facebook as I went along. London was busy as usual, and the noise is always a bit of a shock! Walking into the large station I had another shock, a pleasant one this time. There was a tiny HEMA! Selling all things Dutch… So before I knew it I was toting two bags. Somehow travelling light never works out for me. I had one heavy bag already with my tablet, snacks, diary, more snacks in case I really got hungry, more paper as I might need it… Now I had another bag full with Dutch food!
The conference was near Holborn, so I had plenty of time for breakfast. I found a lovely Swedish place, with the most amazing cinnamon swirl ever. It was the perfect place for breakfast, apart from the Swedish prices… Whilst having the large coffee that actually tasted like coffee, an email came in. From the Publishers!
Sadly they explained that my manuscript wasn’t quite what they were looking for, as Christian fiction is hard to sell etc etc. They were very nice about it; I just wonder how dreadful they thought the manuscript was… They did recommend another Publisher though, so it can’t have been too dreadful, unless they can’t stand the other publisher, and this is their way of taking revenge? You know, send all the awful manuscripts to them…flood them with trash…?
So I googled the Publisher, and wrote a synopsis of the book. It’s actually quite hard to do, for what is essential to the story, and what isn’t? It was especially hard as I really enjoyed writing the story, remembering Zahra and her ups and downs. Before I knew it, it was time for the conference! So I grabbed all my bags, and wandered off, using Google maps to show me the way. As I got there I saw a few people I recognised, which was great!
The conference itself was very useful, and I met some wonderful people. The whole writing territory is new, and there are so many interesting angles to it all. New jargon, new names, new vocab. Plenty of coffee to keep me going though!
The journey back was just as quick, and again I slept for most of the journey, in spite of my writing plans… Just one little bit of excitement as the coach got coned in somewhere in the middle of Swindon. The driver took us down a road to drop off several people, then some road worker placed cones behind and in front…and refused to move them! After calling the police another roadworker saw sense, and just moved the cones long enough for the coach driver to turn us round…!
My first Writers’ Day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, looking forward to NaNoWriMo even more now!