This two and one-half day writer’s conference couldn’t have delivered more on its 10th anniversary. Included were 26 professionals that taught 86 workshop/discussion groups. The twenty-six-member faculty was made up of best selling authors, literary agents, editors, journalists, screenplay writers, film producers, editors, publicists and publishers. Supposedly they limit attendance to 200 but due to the economy the attendance was less than capacity. At $395, which included a private reading with a faculty member and “pitch your book/idea” session, this conference is very reasonably priced. Also included: one dinner and one lunch at the Paradise Inn Resort in San Diego-a 4 to 5 star resort. At the end it was saturation overload. If you could only attend one writer’s conference, this would be the one. Where else can you stand in the shade between classes and talk to a New York literary agent, a New York Times best selling author like Linwood Barclay or Hollywood screen writer Eldon Thompson. I followed Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Humes a narrative non-fiction journalist, and attended every class he taught. He gave out some great pointers about my next project, which is a true crime story from college days. His instruction and personal attention couldn’t have been timelier as I embark on searching out the facts, locating the characters and determining the voice that the story will need for the reader to relive the crime and feel the humanity in the story. Since there were so many agents present, I will add a new page with what I learned and collected from the sessions. Next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment