At the end of it, I said to the person that I hoped she would get "all green lights" on her future plans.

Whatever did I mean by that?

I meant that I hoped that when it was time to proceed, I hoped she would feel the rightness in her gut. I correlate that rightness with "seeing" (but maybe it's really feeling or both) all green lights.

Am I the only one who can feel green lights? Does anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

For the record, I also "see" red flags. Sometimes they are more subtle. Other times they are like big red flags frantically waving in my mind's eye as though to say, No, no, no! Don't go this way.

Apparently, Sue Donckels, Managing Editor over at the Mom-Writers Literary Magazine knows what I'm talking about. In the magazine's blog, she posted on the topic of intuition.

I hope what she has to say will remind us all to bring our intuition to work with us today.

I think it's a topic worth discussing further. It's certainly one I bring up all the time in my books and my teaching. I think I'll make it a category...

Lisa is the author of the new Writer's Digest Book The Mind of Your Story, Discover What Drives Your Fiction. I just love that title too. And the book design is so intriguing. Check it out if you write fiction. :)

We also had a lovely and illuminating discussions about the important role that university presses can play for literary novelist in a time when a literary novel can be a tough sell. Thanks for all of your insights, Lisa. I learned a lot.

Chuck Sambuchino came into the green room sniffing with a terrible cold and asked me what I'd done to my hair. (Chuck!) Because it's Chuck, who calls me "Katz" instead of "Christina," (Chuck!) I decided to let it slide. More about the hair some other time. It's a bit, ahem, blond. (I am now officially done retaliating for the hair comment.)

While the pitching sessions were going on I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with several folks in the hall. Of course, if they were balking about pitching, I encouraged them to try. Even if you get a "No" or a "No thanks," pitching is such a great learning experience. The pitching sessions in this conference are super-short. I think they were three minutes. But you know what? Three minutes is really ample time to make your pitch, receive a response, and maybe even get a question in before the timer motions you off to get in line for your next pitch.

I was very pleased to see Metropolitan Mama Stephanie Sheaffer several times throughout the day, including at my morning session. I recognized her right away from several photos I'd seen over at her blog. Sounded like she had some great success at the conference...but I'll let her share it. I don't want to steal her thunder.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca Laffar-Smith of Writer's Round-About, another blogger who flew all the way to the conference from Australia. Wowee! Shout out to Rebecca! Hope the jet leg isn't too brutal when you get back home (makes me wince just thinking about it).

By the end of the conference, my blood sugar was taking a nose-dive and I needed to find some food. So I followed a gaggle of agents, including Andrea Hurst, whom I met last summer at Whidbey Island's MFA Residency, social butterfly Katherine Sands, and agent mama, Verna Dreisbach. I also got to see agent Lilly Gharemani, chat with agent Andrea Brown, and meet agents Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada. And what a treat later to be driven back to the hotel by agent Donald Maas. He's such an intelligent and thoughtful guy. His new book (the title escapes me at the moment) from Writer's Digest is bound to be great.

After a lovely evening, a delicious dinner and lots of time chatting with Robin Mizell, an intern at Writer's Digest who is also a freelance writer and copyeditor (shout out to Robin!), it was time to head back to the hotel. There are so many people to thank for such an enormous amount of work that it takes to make a great conference like this one, but I'll do my best.

Big thanks to Greg Hatfield, Jane Friedman, Lauren Mosko, Chuck Sambuchino, Robert Brewer, Brian Klems and Scott Francis. There were many other folks from Writer's Digest there I did not get to chat with. Thanks to everyone who helped put on such a terrific event!

P.S. I'm pretty sure I saw Kevin Costner driving by in a convertible in the shuttle on the way to the airport the next morning. But I can't be 100% sure. :)

Class Begins: Only class this year begins June 4, 2008
Space is limited!
Cost: $199.00
Register here: http://writersontherise.com/classes.html#Proposal

Born: May 6, 2008, 12:01 a.m.
Height: 8"
Width: 5 1/4"
Weight: 11 ounces
Pages: 367
Gestation: Two and a half years

Author and book are healthy and doing fine!

Learn more...

Wednesday, May 28, 2008,
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
The conference starts at 8:00 a.m. with a keynote address by New York Times best-selling author Jacquelyn Mitchard (The Deep End of the Ocean, The Breakdown Lane, The Most Wanted, Cage of Stars, Still Summer)

An all-day event, with workshops and panels throughout the morning and afternoon featuring writing's top authors, editors and agents!

Confirmed are fiction, mystery, screenwriting and television panels with superstar agent Don Maass, Hallie Ephron, Victoria Schmidt, James Scott Bell, Bill O'Hanlon, John Truby and many more!

And the original PITCH SLAM session is always a part of our conference!
You get a one-on-one with the largest gathering of agents and editors of any conference who will hear your story idea and give you instant feedback! You could be one step closer to GETTING PUBLISHED!

Up to the minute programming details at www.writersdigest.com/bea.

Admission is $199, which includes lunch and the 2008 edition of Writer's Market!

Register at: http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/en-us/writersconference.cfm

Entries are now being accepted for the 28th annual Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, created to recognize and encourage the efforts of writers who have not yet achieved major-market success. Writers will compete for a $1,000 first prize, $500 second prize, and $500 third prize in this internationally acclaimed competition. Several honorable mentions are also awarded each year.

Stories in all genres of fiction are welcome. Maximum length is 3,000 words, and writers retain all rights to their work. The final deadline is May 15, 2008; winners will be announced at the end of July.

For complete guidelines, please visit www.shortstorycompetition.com, e-mail shortstorykw@aol.com, or send an SASE to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL  33041.

$2,000 Awaits Winners of Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the 2008 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition to vie for $2,000 in cash prizes. The literary competition is open to all US and international writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more. Writers who have been published on-line or have self-published are considered on an individual basis. This competition celebrates the emerging writer.

The first-place winner will receive $1,000 in cash, while the second- and third-place winners will receive $500 each. Judges will also award honorable mentions to other entrants whose work demonstrates promise.

The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition was created in 1981 to support and encourage the efforts of writers who have not yet achieved major-market success. Lorian Hemingway, the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel "Walking into the River," the Pulitzer Prize nominee "Walk on Water," and the powerfully evocative "A World Turned Over."

To be eligible for the 2008 competition, stories must be original unpublished fiction, typed and double-spaced, and they may not exceed 3,000 words in length. There are no theme restrictions. Writers' names should not appear on the stories, and manuscripts will not be returned. Copyright remains the property of the author. (We do not accept e-mailed submissions.)

Each story should be accompanied by a cover sheet with the writer's name, complete address, e-mail address, phone number, title of the piece, and word count.

The entry fee is $12 for each story postmarked up to and including May 1, 2008, and $17 for each story postmarked from May 2 up to and including May 15. Entries postmarked after May 15, 2008, will not be accepted.

The entry fee may be a personal check, cashier’s check or money order in US funds. Foreign funds can be accepted if US funds are unobtainable; credit cards and Pay Pal are not accepted.  Writers can submit multiple entries in the same envelope, but each must be accompanied by an entry fee and separate cover sheet.

Winners will be announced at the end of July 2008 in Key West, Florida. All entrants will receive a letter from Lorian Hemingway and a list of winners, either via regular mail or e-mail, by October 1, 2008.

The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition has a twenty-seven-year history of literary excellence, and its organizers are dedicated to supporting the efforts of emerging writers of short fiction.

All manuscripts and their accompanying entry fees should be sent to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041.

For more information, e-mail calico2419@aol.com or shortstorykw@aol.com.

Take this mini-quiz: Google your name. How many records on the first page of results are about you? I am fortunate. My name is unique, so the very first record that shows up when I Google my name is my website. Your job this month is to find a way for your web content to show up on the first page of a Google search.

What if your name is Mary Smith? A quick Google search yielded Mary Smith as a: painter, novel character, landscape architect, and police officer, all at the top of page one! If you have a common name, try including your middle name in your professional signature, or create a unique business name that will put you at the top of a web search. Just make sure to include it on your letterhead and business cards.

This can be accomplished any number of ways. If you’re lucky, you can affiliate yourself with a hit E-zine, like The Writer Mama or Writers on the Rise. These E-zines use technology that “tags” your name so it will be one of the first results in a web search. I don’t completely understand how it works, but I certainly reap the benefits.

If you’re not a contributing columnist, you can accomplish the same feat by being the master of your own domain via website or blogging. According to this morning’s edition of The Oregonian, I live in one of the most blog-friendly places in the United States! To learn more about blogging, visit www.wordpress.com, www.blogger.com or www.typepad.com. These blogging sites will walk you through the set up process.

You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive software like Adobe’s Dream Weaver or Contribute to build and maintain a website, (although if you’re technically savvy, they can prove to be invaluable tools). Instead, you can create a free Yahoo account and use one of their templates to create your own “shingle.” Purchase a domain name (your name, preferably), select a basic site, and get typing!

No matter what strategy you choose, creating a professional web presence has advantages. An editor can glean more information from your website or blog than a one-page query letter. Your query letter can point to your website or blog, allowing an editor to see the expanded version of your bio or read your clips in their entirety. But please don’t fill your site with an endless array of cute family photos and whimsical musings about your pet cat. Your site should define you as a serious writer. Unless you are writing about family life, try to keep your site as professional as possible.

“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`
Mary Andonian is the agents and edtiors coordinator for the Willamette Writers Conference, one of the largest writers’ conferences in the United States. In past years, she was Co-chair and Program Coordinator. She just completed her second book, Bitsy’s Labyrinth. Contact Mary at maryandonianwwconference AT yahoo.com.

Yes, that was me up all night on Christmas Eve and I wasn't waiting for St. Nick.

Then my hubby went down on Xmas day.

Fortunately, Samantha bounced back in time for Christmas morning and sledding down a short, steep hill in the back yard with daddy and grandma.

On Wednesday, everyone was well enough to go see Beauty and the Beast and even eat the Christmas Roast Beast.

Thanks for letting us take some cookies home with us, Mom!

On the upside, the trip home went quite a bit smoother. A delay in Chicago but Samantha made some little friends at the airport while we were waiting.

We'd heard we'd be coming home to snow...but it turned out to be the usual rain instead. Hey, our plane wasn't canceled. We'll take it.

Today is all about unpacking and wrapping our gifts for each other that we will open in the morning. (!!!)

I'm going to lay low for a couple more days. My stomach is still not quite right...but come January 2nd, we're going to have some excitement around here.

First, I'll send out the tip markets to all the folks who have been sending in their Writer Mama receipts over the holidays. Good job, ladies!

Then, I'll be posting and sending out the zine versions of Writers on the Rise and The Writer Mama. Yahoo!

I've got a few deadline myself before another month of intensive book writing recommences.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Above all, stay healthy! I'll try to do the same.

It's from Craft Amor and will definitely put you in the creative spirit!

Thanks, Ali!