I attended my first MORWA meeting this weekend and I'm thrilled to see that seal broken. Okay, that's the last one, I swear!
First off, I want to stress how wonderfully nice everyone was. I walked in feeling like the new kid in school and instead of wetting my pants (never happened), they gave me a name tag, paired me up with another author and included me in every discussion.
But it wasn't braiding hair and holding hands (actually, we did none of this unless I missed it. Did I miss it??? Buehler. Buehler). They got down to business and offered an informative presentation with Barbara Samuel, who discussed "strong" female characters.
Throughout all of this, I learned a few tips that all newbie meeting attendees should remember.
1. Be on time!
Here was our schedule:
9:30am - Coffee Talk - Amanda Heger on Query Letters and Everything Else (this topic changes each month)
10:00am - 11:00am MORWA business meeting
11:00am - 12:00pm Barbara Samuel program part 1
12:00pm - 12:45pm (approx) Lunch
12:50pm - 1:50pm Barbara Samuel program part 2
2:00pm - Booksigning
These ladies don't mess around. I was a little bummed that my schedule wasn't open enough to be there at 9:30 but I'll get 'em next time.
2. Buy that raffle ticket early.
During the short break between the business meeting and the program, they sell raffle tickets for prizes! And if you don't buy them early, you'll miss out! I learned the hard way and was busy meeting new people.
3. Dress for the camera.
Can't make a meeting because you're stuck at home because of the flood. No worries. You can join the rest of this group via GoToMeeting. You may be able to lay around in your undies while attending (I wouldn't recommend) but us attending better wear something...anything. Lucky for me, I didn't come in my sweats!
4. Come to share.
There's a part of the meeting called Grins and Groans where the authors share their good and bad news. Got a book signing? Grin! Was rejected by a press? Groan. Either way, these authors are right there with you cheering you along.
And that's the best aspect of this group. Encouragement. Writing is hard and the road to publication is bumping but with a good group for support, you can do it.
If you were at the meeting, thank you for being their for my first time!
