Conference Crazy!

Conferences galore the last few weeks. I just haven’t had time to stop and blog about it all.

I’ve been to:

The Local Author Showcase at the Columbus Library where about 40 local authors attended. It was lots of fun connecting with folks I knew and meeting other like-minded writers who live nearby. Steve Scott, the Kudzu King, occupied the table next to me. He’s a great hit at local school libraries. 

At the Maneuver Conference in Columbus, I walked the exhibit hall talking to vendors, looking for advertisers and articles for the magazine, the Infantry Bugler, where I work as an editor. I’ve been doing this job for ten years now. It’s a quarterly magazine, so I’m only there one day a week. With the added responsibilities of my mother and dad in different nursing/assisted living facilities, I’d love to find someone to replace me. So if you live near Columbus and are reading this and are interested, get in touch with me.

The Chattahoochee Valley Writers Conference in Columbus is put on by a group of local writers. Most of the workshops are geared for adult writers, but I taught a class on writing for the educational market. Two highlights. I got to hang out with my sweet friend, Irene Latham. I enjoyed Irene’s class on writing poetry from artwork. She does such a wonderful job teaching poetry.

And I rubbed shoulders with the amazing Terry Kay, the keynote speaker. I took a workshop with him years ago and the exercises he used, one impromptu drama sketch in particular, remain vivid in my memory. He drops names like Pat Conroy and James Dickey, both of whom were/are close friends, says outrageous things that most of us could never get away with, and just keeps writing wonderful Southern stories. He recommends typing out the text of great literature as a means of learning the rhythm of a good story. And he follows his own advice.

Last week, I donned my business suit and manned the Delaney booth at the COMO (Council of Media Organizations) conference in Macon. Lots of librarians. Lots of books. Lots of good friends. Fellow writer and vendor, Annette Laing, is always a pleasure to visit. I was wishing for a good cup of English tea, but she didn’t bring the teabags along this year, just her delightful British humor.

 And at the author reception, fellow Southern Breeze authors Vicky Alvear Shecter and  S.R. Johannes signed copies of their new books.

 

 Next week is WIK, the fall conference by Southern Breeze (SCBWI) in Birmingham.

Then there’s only one more (the Georgia Literature Festival) and I can breathe again. This is what happens when you have too many jobs!