This year I attended with my beautiful daughter author Amanda Torrey.
Amanda and I carefully decided on the workshops we both wanted to attend. When there were two workshops scheduled for the same time period that we both wanted we split up and went to different ones and shared our notes later. (There is so much to share we will have a lot to talk about on the ride home and for the next few weeks!)
We even dragged a friend or two into the workshop split/share program. (Amber Skyze was one of them!)
Yes, it is fun to sit with a friend in a workshop, but one of the great things about a Conference like this, is that you are never alone in a workshop. You may not know the other people there, but you all have a common interest and it is a wonderful opportunity to connect with new people.
The reason writers conferences are important are multiple and multifaceted. Every author has her own (or his) reasons for attending. One of the foremost reasons is the sense of community we, as social animals, so badly need. Writers work alone. Writing is not something you can do as a corporation, unless you are a comedy writer on the Dick Van Dyke show. Even the most introverted writer needs to feel she belongs to a bigger community. She needs to be among her peers occasionally. She needs to be reminded that she may dwell in a dark cave most of the time, but there are special occasions when she can join others in a communal dance around the bonfire.
Then there are the workshops! It gives the writer (established and newbie) a chance to learn something new or to hone old skills.
Many a good and lifelong friendship has been formed at Writers Conferences.
And writers, especially romance writers, are great at sharing information with each other, and helping our sisters and brothers in the trade out. We are not in competition with each other, we complement each other. (For example, if someone loves Recency Romance and they love Georgette Heyer books, it is natural that she will also love Jane Austen. There is no competition, their books make excellent reading, even back to back.)
If you are a writer, I highly recommend you attend a writing conference. If you are not a writer, you should visit the book fair that every writing conference holds. It is a wonderful chance to meet the authors and to find new books.
The first book in Amanda Torrey's Healing Springs Series is FREE. If you haven't read it, you should get it today. The entire series is
a not to be missed read. (I lifted the following covers from Amazon, the Look Inside feature will not work here, but if you click on the link it will take you to Amazon and give you a peek inside.)
Amber Skyze pen is scorching hot! Don't you love this cover? Check out this and all of Amber's books.
This is one of my favorite Georgette Heyer books!
And this is my favorite film version. If you haven't seen it, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is to die for! (If you have seen it, watch it again, the swimming scene is well worth it.)
Enjoy!
See you again soon, here in the Spell Room.
