Pages From My Journal

     Last week, I began this three part series on attending writer's conferences as teenagers. You can read the first part about being prepared here. I did everything I could to avoid getting lost : )      Often times, teens worry about being taken seriously by adults. I wanted my writing to be compared to that of experienced adults. I was attending this conference to show my work to adults and didn't want any special treatment for being "the teenager" as I was refered to.       One of the speakers took time in a workshop to talk about professionalism. In a room full of adults, she pointed to me and said, "Alyson is a perfect example of a professional." Some adults even clapped. I was surprised, not realizing how much others had noticed the choices I made to be more professional. Here's what I did and my advice to you. I wore this sweater because it had pockets to hold my business cards. Be Prof...

             Attending a writer’s conference can be the catalyst that turns you from an unpublished teenager into a published author. You will be noticed. This can be good or bad depending on the work you put into it beforehand. And I am not talking about your story itself. I am talking about you.   I walked into my first conference a five foot one, fifteen year old with braces on her teeth. This presented an interesting first impression which then led to a platform I could use to show why I deserved to be published. We cannot control how people respond to us being young, but we can control how prepared we are, how professional we look, and how we present our story. Be prepared : As far as the conference goes, be responsible and have all your paperwork and payments completed. You do not want to be missing time in classes if you are lost or have to fix a problem with your appointments. Do your homework a...

      Click to Vote Nominations are in, and the voting has begone! Here is the full list of nominations*: Spoilers at the end Best Male Protagonist Nathan from HALF BAD by Sally Green Arman from EMBASSY by S. Alex Martin Mason from CAPTIVES by Jill Williamson Four from ALLIGIANT by Veronica Roth Caspian from SWEPT TO SEA by Heather Manning William Herondale from CLOCKWORK PRINCESS by Cassandra Clare David from STEELHEART by Brandon Sanderson Best Female Protagonist Celaena Sardothien from THRONE OF GLASS (series) by Sarah J. Maas Shallan Davar from WORDS OF RADIANCE by Brandon Sanderson Fan from ON SUCH A FULL SEA by Chang-Rae Lee Eva Stewart from MONSTER by Mirriam Neal Eden Trenton from SWEPT TO SEA by Heather Manning Colette from UNTIL THAT DISTANT DAY by Jill Stengl Elisa from THE BITTER KINGDOM by Rae Carson Best Male Antagonist Morpheus from SPLINTERED by A.G. Howard The Dark Prince from PARADOX by Brian ...