Back in 1995, I bought a book at Borders when I was still merely dabbling in writing, The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction, by a fellow named Barnaby Conrad.
At the time I had no idea who he was, other than that he worked with the folks at this thing called the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.
I loved that book. I loved reading it and daydreaming about writing, the writing lifestyle, and visiting glamorous Santa Barbara. And as I’ve gotten older and learned more about it, I wanted to go even more.
In 2006, I visited my third cousins at their home near Montecito and loved it. But I so wanted to be able to go to the writers conference one day. Life got in the way of that for a while. But….flash forward a few years.
I have the most wonderful husband in the world. When it looked like we might not be able to buy a house this year, he knew I was bummed, and knew that an instant way of cheering me up would be to let me go to a writers conference.
When I began looking at what was available, I realized Santa Barbara was coming in June, and I couldn’t sign up fast enough! I’m incredibly sad that Mr. Conrad and Ray Bradbury, both longtime stalwarts there, have both passed away. But I’m still incredibly excited to be around other writers, agents, editors, and the staff.
I leave on Friday. Can’t wait to let you know what I learn!
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