Writing for Charity

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a writing conference. The convention wasn’t large and mainly focused on the purpose; all proceeds went to purchase books for underprivileged children. A good cause in my mind but what really drew me was the opportunity to talk to authors. Those who know me know I like to talk, to those I know. Talking to strangers, let alone people I admire, is very difficult. This is difficult for most people. I didn’t want to go alone and ended up convincing one of my friends to come with me. It was a two hour drive both ways. We left early and got home rather late. Do we regret it? Not in the least.

I am pleased to report I learned some new things, won (by sheer pestering it seems) a reviewer copy of an unreleased book (which I finished in three days. It would have been less but I was needed at church and work), and talked (without too much stammering) to a half dozen authors for an extended period of time.

I’m headed to a (much) larger conference later this year and this whole conference was in preparation to go to that one. I’m raring to go, even more than before, which I didn’t think was possible. The only problem now is to finish editing in time and I’ll be required to talk to editors and agents as well as authors. There’s always something.