Life has been a whirlwind lately, and it isn’t slowing down today: in just over two hours, I’ll be sipping a latte as Corey Wright—friend and crit partner extraordinaire—and I head up to the DFW Writers’ Conference. This will be my third year attending, and Corey’s second.
Two years ago, I had barely come out of that first-trimester-of-pregnancy brain fog, and was lucky to be vertical.
Last year’s group of #Twitterbloc girls at DFWCon ❤
Last year, I was still living through the sleep-deprived newborn phase of things, and was mostly excited to meet my ten(ish?) close Twitter friends (collectively known as #Twitterbloc) in person.
This year? I’m excited about a lot of things.
I’m excited because my manuscript-reading commitments slowed down last fall, and I’ve been on an insanely productive writing streak ever since.
Also exciting? I’m fresh off of an incredible workshop experience at The Writing Barn in Austin, Texas, led by the talented and über-amazing Sara Zarr (author of HOW TO SAVE A LIFE and THE LUCY VARIATIONS—which comes out on Tuesday—along with several other books you’ll want to add to your to-read list). If you ever have the opportunity to attend anything at The Writing Barn, I suggest you do it—I’ve attended a lecture and a workshop now, and both have been wonderful. After this whirlwind month settles down, I plan to write a whole post devoted to the Sara Zarr workshop experience. Suffice it to say, for now, I came out of the weekend with my tool kit brimming over with the wisdom and encouragement people kept putting inside it.
Aside from seeing some of my #Twitterbloc girls again—and a long-time in-person friend who’s gotten pretty serious about writing ever since I moved away (WHY DID I MOVE?!)—I’m looking forward to DFWCon because there are lots of classes I think will be useful to me. And—*gulp*—Corey and I are actually going to lead one of them.
If you’re at the conference, our class is called 60 Tips in 60 Minutes, and it’ll be a mix of presentation and participation, covering tips on how to stay organized, motivated, and disciplined while working on your various projects. We’ll also spend time on creative ways to use tools like Scrivener (and good old-fashioned index cards and post-its!) for drafting and revision. If you’re at the conference, our class is at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, Room 6! We’d love to meet you.
Well. It seems I can’t avoid packing forever, so off I go! Can’t wait to see old friends, meet new ones, and pack even more stuff into my writerly tool kit. Happy writing and reading to you all!
Owl and Sparrow 
Good luck on your presentation. Remember, have fun and it will be naturally creative.