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?