Lunch and Learn with Philip Beard
A few months ago I joined FaceBook and MySpace to catch up with friends old and new, and to do a little networking with other writers. I took a chance and contacted a local author, Philip Beard, to introduce myself. Well, what do you know? Not only did Philip agree to connect with me, he sent me a personal note, we exchanged emails a few times, and yesterday we met for lunch.
Yes, he’s that kind of guy.
Philip has published two novels, including one of my favorite reads, Dear Zoe, named one of the ten best first novels by Booklist when it came out. Dear Zoe is a truly wonderful story – the voice of his teenage protagonist, Tess, rings so true it’s hard to believe a man who was in his 30’s wrote it! He’s in the process of shopping his third novel and about to start a new project, so it was a great opportunity for me to hear his insights and advice about networking and writing, plus the challenges of the publishing business.
He even asked me to pitch my book to him, which I feared he might do, because, well, after 4 hours of sleep and coming directly from a morning jam-packed with meetings, I wasn’t exactly what you’d call eloquent. (Note to self: Always be prepared and eloquent, you doofus!) But after kindly listening to my jazzed-up on nerves and Diet Coke rambling, he offered me another networking opportunity with someone he knows. I honestly didn’t expect that!
Yes, he’s that kind of guy.
Check out Philip Beard’s backstory about Dear Zoe’s journey to publication (a testament to persistence if i ever read one!) and his books, Dear Zoe and Lost in the Garden.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
Tags: facebook, networking, writing
This is great Susan!!!
I can’t wait to read your book when it comes out – which it will!
I will have to read his books now as I have to admit, I have not heard of them. Thanks for the titles!
Awesome!! Congratulations! Great networking… you’ll be on the best seller’s list in no time!
[...] my novel or writing. I became a regular contributor online. I met some really cool people and made new writing connections, some I haven’t even written about here. Plus, I polished my novel and got a few literary [...]