Daddy's Christmas Angel

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Writer's Conferences, Artist's Workshops

This is the time of year when I begin thinking about attending both writer's conferences and artist's workshops. Actually, I'm really thinking about what I will take and what I'll wear because I've chosen and paid for my workshops well ahead of time.

After I first joined Romance Writers of America, I attended the annual conference every year. I loved visiting new places that often were the sites for the conferences. Seattle was one of the most interesting destinations, and prior to the conference my husband and I took the ferryboat over to Victoria, British Columbia. We visited San Francisco for another conference and also attended one in Anaheim, California. We went to St. Louis during one of the flood years in downtown which added a bit of adventure to the richness of the experience. In New York, a travel writing editor took me to lunch at the Waldorf Astoria which created a wonderful memory.

The RWA conferences always provided for me an amazing array of workshops about every aspect of writing. I learned so much during those years of attending conferences, and I got to meet and talk with many of the stars and the rising stars of the industry.

More recently, I've attended the Public Safety Writers Conference in Las Vegas--not because I'm a public safety writer but because my publisher and many of her authors attend that conference. We are part of the panels, and it's fun to visit with and get to know other authors in our group.

My artist's workshops are yet another story I'll share another time. What conferences do you attend? What have you found most helpful?

4 comments:

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Maybe one day soon.
I'm always so jealous when I read accounts of the different conferences.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've only attended the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference, here in Colorado Springs. I was surprised how many people travel for the conferences, so that might be in my future!

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Thank you, Giggles and Shannon. I hope you get to a conference before long, Giggles. The Pikes Peak conference sounds like a good one, so you're lucky to have it close by, Shannon.

Laura M. Campbell said...

I just attended the Pennwriters Conference in Pittsburgh this past weekend. A wealth of knowledge and a great opportunity to meet published authors like Jonathan Maberry and C.J. Lyons. I geeked out all weekend! Every Thursday for a few weeks I will post about my experience.

Next month, I'm attending Tinker Mountain Writing Workshop in Roanoke, Virginia set in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I'll be working on personal essay and memoir writing all week with Jim McKean. I'm very excited.