IWWG Conference

Got up at 3.30 am with my friend Reg to get a plane for 5, to be on a subway at 8 to be at the conference by 10am, to find there's no tea or coffee at IWWG. We listened, famished, to the opening speakers, then ducked out to Maloney's bar and I had an "Irish" breakfast. Sorry Maloney's, and the homesick Irish chap who served us, but it was really the Full English - 2 eggs, 2 bangers, 2 rashers, tomato, black & white puddings, tea, toast, orange juice. Everything except the baked beans, porridge and fried bread. An obnoxious man at the bar kept on talking loudly about OJ Simpson decapitating his wife "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? HE DID IT WITH A KNIFE" until the barman asked him to "stop talking about what you're talking about."

Reg and I rehearsed our pitches for the 6th time each, and headed back to the hall to listen to the agents' panel.

The night before, my daughter did our nails, made sure we had adequate makeup, went through our wardrobe picks, sorted, discarded and added, checked our jewelry and made sure we'd look our best. With stunning prescience, she made us write down on cards what qualities we were looking for in an agent, and then told Reg: don't expect the person who's right for you will necessarily be a woman.

IWWG put on a lovely panel of agents. Because the group has a focus on spirituality, they'd picked several agents who seemed to be a good fit for me. We stood in two-hour lines at tables to meet our top picks, but it was worth it. I felt very at ease with the woman who asked me to submit my work. In my exhausted, befuddled state I still managed to give the book's synopsis and my platform, thanks to the morning's practice with Reg - who stood in line to see the only man there.

We bought a copy of "Next to Mexico" from the author Jen Nails, a book I'd actually picked up in Barnes and Noble the week before, thinking it would be a good choice for my daughter.

We also bought a book from Natalie Reid, who does 'soul readings' and helps people work with their soul's voice through her book The Spiritual Alchemist: Working with the Voice of the Soul. Natalie holds workshops at the IWWG annual conference at Strathmore. I'd love to go in June, but that's a busy time for my chicken, bee and garden operation, and I plan on pasturing 100 chickens this year - a substantial increase from 20.

What I loved about the panel of writers who spoke to us in the morning, was their diverse means of publishing. This used to make me feel very scared: "if there are so many more books being published, who will ever buy mine?" I wondered. But I see it differently now.

The publishing industry has opened up in such a huge way that everyone has access to some level of publication. Instead of a dozen carefully tended, clipped and sheltered rosebushes, there are fields of wildflowers blooming across the earth - in blogs, e-books, self-publishing or traditional publishing houses.

It gives authors access to publication according to their skill level and their desire to be published. So a person who just wants to get an idea out there could blog; develop the idea into an e-book and sell it; get it bound with artword and promote it as a self-published work; or try to really take it to a highly-developed, highly-polished level and submit it to an agent or a publishing house.

I do see writing and publishing as soul development now. This takes out the competitive element with other authors and writers. Instead of "my book - what have you written?" it's "how are you developing your soul?" or "what does your soul want to express?" Also, "what feeds my soul?" and for blocked writers, "how do I get in touch with my soul?" And ultimately, it's always:

"what makes my soul sing?"