Conferences

My conference schedule for 2015 is almost full already! As much as I love hiding out in my office with only my characters and story plot for company, I also need to get with my peeps a few times a year for conferences and other literary events. That’s when we writer types (and reader types) mingle with like-minded people and gossip about made up characters that seem as real to us as our family members or day job coworkers. When you put more than one writer in the same place at the same time, wonderful things happen. Creativity flows and new stories are born while pesky plot …

This year was my third time to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I knew there’d be great workshops, fun times at the special interest chapters’ evening parties, interesting conversations in the bar, and amazing moments of meeting favorite big-name authors. But nothing could have prepared me for how special it would be to attend the conference as a Golden Heart Finalist who just sold her first book. I felt like Cinderella at the ball and walked about two inches above the ground the entire event. (Well, maybe not after the author dinner when I decided to wear heels. …

April is my favorite time of year in Spokane. Not just because spring arrives, but because it’s time for Get Lit! During this amazing literary festival, authors and readers worship the written word. The festival began in 1998 as one full day of readings and was sponsored by Eastern Washington University. Now, more than ten thousand people come to the yearly event to enjoy a week of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction literary events. I’ve been a festival volunteer every year, since I moved to Spokane. This year, I’m moderating a panel featuring three amazing authors: Rebecca Zanetti, Danica Winters, and …

Wow! Time flies when you’re having fun and sometimes you neglect your own blog because you’re too busy playing on other websites and at conferences. I just returned home from an amazing few days at the American Writers & Writers Program (AWP) conference in Seattle. I graduated from Eastern Washington University with an MFA in creative writing (non fiction) back in 2010. For the first time, the university sponsored a reception for current students and alumni during the conference. It was so much fun meeting up with old friends who are now scattered all over the states in different jobs, …

Many years ago, I went to my very first writers’ conference. More than a little frightened and overwhelmed by the number of workshops and the large egos of some of the writers, I considered staying in my hotel room the second day. Instead, I pulled on my big-girl panties and braved another day of feeling out of place, answering rude questions, and attending workshops that taught me I would probably never make it as a fiction writer because few people ever did. That afternoon I attended a panel of romance writers. As soon as I stepped into the room, I …