Conference Overload

I'm in between back to back writers' conference weekends.

Last weekend at the Auburn Writer's Conference (Auburn University), I sat in three workshops. Evalina Galang, director of MFA program at Univ of Miami, talked about plot. Wendy Reed, producer on Alabama public television, talked about differences in non-fiction genres.  Poet Melissa Dickson talked about persona poems. The second day was filled with keynote addresses and readings.

I gleaned a few gems from the sessions and readings, but I always come away from these type conferences feeling like I've gotten too much of not enough. A one-hour session just doesn't give enough time for ingesting or digesting the information, inspiration, imagination in a workshop leader's notes.

Tomorrow I head for Birminghim and the SCBWI Southern Breeze fall conference. Another day of short workshops. Again I'll glean. Again I'm going to feel like it's too much of not enough.

I'm about ready to declare a fast from conferences!

My husband has gone to Texas to spend the weekend with the grandbabies. I'm lonesome, but getting some work done. But it's pretty bad when I resort to a 1970s musical version of Tom Sawyer on TV to go with dinner. Okay, I'm switching channels. Now.

Ooh, I got to Google phone call with the grands and call their spelling words to them. Now that's satisfying.