I would have posted a report yesterday, but I lost the entry I was typing. There I was getting to the part about my agent meeting when I hit the wrong key (I don't know which one) and I was back to a blank slate again, and then I didn't have the autosave. Argh. It was beginning to be a long entry too.

I'll take a different approach to the Surrey report today. It will be non-linear!

Rain and wind were my companions up to Surrey, BC on Thursday. I left at seven thirty in the morning. I arrived at the hotel in Surrey at four. It was an eight hour drive with strong winds along the sound.

The character master class started at four thirty, so it was a good thing I arrived when I did.

Don Maass has a way of making you dig below the surface of character and story. When you think you've hit rock bottom, he has you dig some more. I wrote a ton of notes about character and I took more notes the next day during the outline workshop. I found my novel blossoming in my mind as I listened to Don. He got me thinking and looking around my story. I was impressed.

I hooked up with fellow OCPWW classmates Louisa, Annie, Russ and Rita; plus OCPWW alumni Karen, Terry, and Phaedra. Plus new graduates Matt and Joe. Also, I hung out with Moon, a former Wordo who now lives on the San Juan islands. Then add Dean and Kris to the mix and with so many familiar faces socializing was a breeze. It was comfortable. Hanging around in a group doesn't help me network. At least it didn't help me meet other editors and agents (beyond my agent meeting) at Surrey, but I had a good time. That counts too.

My conference package included lunch and dinner, and boy did I eat well. One night I even went back to the dessert table for seconds and threatened to go for thirds. Chocolate mousse, apple pie, carrot cake, fudge, and many other goodies. Mmmmmm.

The trip home on Sunday was another long drive, but the sun was out. At the border when asked what was I doing in Canada I answered specifically. "A writers conference," I said. "Are you famous?" the officer asked. No. Beyond the border I had trouble getting my Canadian money exchanged. No banks were open so I had to wait at the currency exchange window of a duty-free shop for an hour.

Sunday at the conference was a bust, except for the lunch. In the morning I was late to the Don Maass workshop on idea building and found the room was packed BEYOND standing room only. Wow! So I went next door to a workshop on final novel draft. I also went to a Anne Perry workshop on mysteries, but found myself eager to hit the road. I had lunch--it was worth it--and I was gone.

A panel about best sellers had Diana Gabaldon, Anne Perry, John Saul, and Terry Brooks. Each author had an agent or editor pulling for them before they made it big. Creepy item of note: John Saul once received fan mail from Charles Manson. In fact, everyone who has touched the hand written letter (including the guy who framed it) felt the need to wash their hands afterwards.

Thanks to Russ and Rita for giving me a place to stay during the conference.

A panel titled as Genre Writing: Speculative Fiction had Terry Brooks talking about his novel writing process. Again, I took notes. Brooks has three stages: Dreaming, outlining, and writing. He says he does all the work at the front end instead of revising at the back end. In other words, Terry Brooks does the work needed to do ONE DRAFT. In the dreaming phase he looks at every angle to his novel idea and characters.

Terry Pratchett will be a guest writer at Surrey next year.

I had my agent meeting with Don Maass on Saturday at four thirty. I spent an hour in the bar drinking coffee as I refined my pitch on note cards. I was nervous. After listening to Don Maass talk about character and novel, I wasn't so confident about my story. I could see holes. I could see what COULD BE. But hey, relax. All I needed was a pitch. So my pitch ended up being what it had been all along. I just made sure I knew my novel well enough so I wouldn't hesitate talking about it when asked questions.

Four thirty came and I shook hands with Don Maass. I thought he had recognized me from his visit to the Wordos a few years ago because he said my name when we shook hands. Eugene, Oregon was on my name tag as well. I mentioned the past meeting. No he didn't remember me. It was then I noticed my name on the list of other names he was meeting with (of course!). But it was a nice ice breaker and it gave him some information about me.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"I have a finished novel," I said.

"What is the setting?"

"Eugene, Oregon."

"Who's the protagonist?"

I gave him the pitch. He was intrigued. He asked for a couple more details. I answered. He asked if I had a sample, but I didn't (and the conference recommended writers not to, but it would have been nice to be prepared). He asked how long have I have been writing and I answered ten or fifteen years.

He pulled out that little business card. I was done in five minutes. This was easy. Too easy! He told me to send the first fifty pages of the novel and they would respond in four to six weeks.

He looked at his watch and asked if I had any questions. I told him I learned a lot from his workshops.

Now I'm home and I'm doing some tweaks on the first fifty pages of my novel. Who knows what happens from this point. This is like getting past the first reader of a professional short story market. He might not want to read more than fifty pages, but it's nice to get noticed. I'll be mailing this sample in the next week or two.