Conference is Over-I can breathe again

First note: A good pair of conference shoes are worth their weight in gold. Yeah, a tacky cliche but so very true.

Our Bayou Writers' Group conference is over. It was great. From my point of view, it went smoothly, we had some wonderful speakers and I connected with some sweet people I used to know and made a lot of new friends. I absolutely love collecting writer friends, encouraging them, and watching them grow and succeed in their careers.

In hindsight, there are a few things we'll definitely be changing for next year. As always, experience is the very best teacher. That applies to writing too. Write, and you will learn how to write.

Here are some pics of our conference.

This is author Randy Denmon. His voice didn't carry and our microphone decided to be contrary, so Randy moved to the center of our group and it worked well. Rumor has it that Randy is our 'most quoted' speaker.

Our Boy's Life editor, Paula Murphey was super. She brought magazines and writers guidelines for everyone. We love personable and easy to talk with editors, and Paula is that and more. Here she is meeting with our friend Ray. Paula is excellent at brain-storming ideas with writers.

My good friend, author Barbara Colley, stepped in for a speaker who had a personal crisis and couldn't make it. Barbara is always professional and well prepared. She should be. She's published over 14 books, is excellent at promotion, and always willing to share information. Barbara even created a hand-out at the last minute. Visit her website here. If you ever need a conference speaker, she has my recommendation. You can also read my interview with Barbara here.

What can I say about David LaBounty, The First Line Literary magazine editor? Actually, I'll try not to go gushy. I have a weakness and an unnatural love for literary magazines. Reading them and submitting to them back in the 70s was my very favorite thing to do. I have billions of rejections. Very little success. David and his family brought back memories of when I traipsed around at writing conferences with my daughter and husband in tow. We always had a good time; we always had interesting family discussions, learned together and shared a lot. The First Line is a great publication and family effort. Check out their website and if one of their first lines grabs you, sit down and whip out that story. There's a lot to be said for spontaneity. Now, because David likes his privacy when it comes to the Internet, I thought I'd treat him to his anonymity but still share with my readers so here he is speaking to our group.