So, I jest in the title of this blog.

I’m sure there were those attending the writer’s slush fest sessions I attended this weekend who thought it was a flush fest.  Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the other submissions. It made me feel like I didn’t belong.

I submitted the first two pages of my novels to various editors and agents to critique in front of a room full of other aspiring writers.

I’ve been writing for several years now and have racked up enough rejections to not feel the pain of criticism as strongly as I used to.

Here were some of the comments on my books:

Title: Absalom’s Beauty

From a mainstream literary agency: Great opening sentence. Too much narrative. I would keep reading because it appears to be a romance.

Christian book publisher/agent: Tightening can be done. Lightness is good. I would keep reading

Title: Golden Band

From a mainstream book publisher: Opening sentence was cinematic. Intriguing. Maybe a little overly dramatic

Christian Book publisher: Didn’t like the word “Plopped” in the first sentence. Didn’t like the jumping stories. Main character was whiny. Delete the whole first scene to create mystery about the ring.

Title:  Sweet Sixteen

Christian book publisher/agent team: remove some adjectives on the first page — “when you catch an adjective, kill it.” Concept good but start in a different place.

Title: It’s a Good Thing

Christian book publisher/agent team: Cut opening scene–changes POV too quickly. Make details work for you. We know more about the main character’s furniture than him. Add a third part to a bit of humorous dialogue. Too much concentration on movements.

All great advice that I intend to incorporate into my stories.