Writer's Conference and Calling

This was my first writer's conference; and I pitched my novel to two agents, and the very first pitch, I felt like I was going to choke on my own nervousness. I survived that one, and the agent was very sweet. Fortunately I wasn't as nervous about my second pitch, which was good because that one didn't go so well.

When I told him the length of my fantasy, he proceeded to enlighten me on how the fantasy market works, how difficult it is to break into, and how, if my story is just a story about characters, I should set it in Victorian England instead of a fantasy world (as though a sense of place and story means nothing to me). Well, this got me quite angry, and quite determined that if the fantasy market is indeed as boxed-in as he says it is then it is time for somebody to try something different, like short fantasies that are actually readable by the average Americans rather than the heavy-handed technical jargon that is on the fantasy shelves of Barnes and Noble--suitable only to the diehards.

With that in mind, I am beginning my second short fantasy, and hope to write two before my next conference so that when I again meet with a protesting agent, I can at least come across as serious, if a little idealistic!