The morning sky is mostly blue and the temperatures are supposed to soar into the 90s today and tomorrow. I was at the Willamette Writers Conference on and off over the weekend (the off part was because I’m still spending a fair amount of time in bed and it’s hard for me to be on my feet and last week I also had the flu) but it looked to be a big success. Yesterday I gave a talk on pacing and in the audience a tiny 94-year-old woman pushing a walker announced she had signed with an agent (she's written a historical novel). I also met another fabulously talented writer and artist who signed with an agent and is on her way to getting a cookbook published. This particular conference has a fairly high rate of success as in writers landing book deals and agents. I can’t speak to the screenwriting side of the conference because I just don’t know if deals are falling into place.

However, on Friday afternoon I was in the bar of the Sheraton with Hallie Ephron, Elizabeth Lyon and Christina Katz and we were talking about the business and what comes next in our careers. One of my friends joined us—she has written a terrific mystery that is set at the Houston rodeo. While she was pitching it to an agent he stopped her mid-pitch and said, “I don’t want to hear any more. I just don’t like rodeos.” Who gives a damn if he likes rodeos—the point was that she’s a great writer who has written a great story.

So then Hallie piped in that she doesn’t think that conferences are good for pitching to agents and editors. So I asked how writers are supposed to break through and Hallie mentioned that she believes that a beautifully-written query letter will push your foot in the door. Years ago I interviewed Betsy Lerner (The Forest for the Trees) and this was also her main advice for writers. But the times they are a-changing, and most writers don’t have Ephron for a last name or Hallie’s contacts and most editors, agents, and editorial assistants just don’t have enough time to read all the queries that pile up in their office. I happen to believe that trying to meet people in the biz at conferences is still your best bet at breaking in—and it will also let you know if your pitch or novel concept has holes in it.

At the conference my Bullies, Bastards & Bitches was on sale and I also had donated three copies to the conference’s silent auction. And someone stole a copy—so I guess that’s flattering although I’d classify the thief as one of the types of my book title. Also while at the conference I talked with Jeff Baker the book editor of The Oregonian about the book—he had emailed me on Friday when I wasn’t home. A story will be appearing in the paper’s A & E section on Friday, August 8. On Tuesday, August 11, I’ll be at Powells on Hawthorne here in Portland. That’s it for the plugola for now. Oh yeah, and today at salon.com there’s a terrific piece on trying to find authors to blurb your upcoming book by Rebecca Johnson called Why Don’t You Blurb Me?

Blue, blue morning skies. The annual Willamette Writer's Conference begins tonight with a Writer's Fair and Pitch Practice at the Sheraton at the Portland airport. It begins at 5, pitch practice is at 7. I'll be there with my books..... Directions and such are at their website www.willamettewriters.com.

I'll be giving a talk tomorrow morning about Fiction's Delicate Balancing Act--so I'm going to talk about balance and proportions in fiction. On Sunday morning I'll be talking about pacing, which come to think about it, is also about proportions in fiction.

I have just tried to paste the opening to my balancing act talk here, but for some reason I cannot paste here today--so I'll check in later and wish writers everywhere inspiration and in light of my current situation, a strong back.