Another Great Ozark Creative Writers Conference is in the Books

I spent last weekend in beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas, attending the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. The conference is held at Inn of the Ozarks every year. It’s one of my favorite events, and this year was particularly sweet.

I was invited to be the opening speaker this year. The first speaker of the year is tasked with discussing his or her journey as an author. My journey began in third grade, so that’s where I started my presentation. Mine is a convoluted journey with long hiatuses and desperate efforts.

The early birds seemed to enjoy my presentation and slide show. At least that’s what many kind writers told me. It was supposed to last an hour and a half. I practiced and practiced, nearly perfecting the timing. Once I was finished speaking at the event, I looked at my watch, and I had only used half my time. We chatted as a group for a bit, but I didn’t want to keep anyone from browsing the book tables or exploring the city.

My book space was next to USA Today Bestselling Author Renee George. I was thrilled, but I tried not to fan girl all over her. I am a huge fan, though. I have many of her 100 books but not nearly all of them. We looked through my titles together, and she pointed out that I had books two and three of a particular series, but I was missing book one. Of course, that book that came home with me.

Renee is not only a wildly successful author, but she’s a great person, as well. I’ve met her several times. In fact, I ruined her presentation at a different conference a couple years ago. Well, she says I didn’t ruin it, but I sure put extra stress on her.

You see, I drive the struggle bus. Nearly always. That day was no different. I walked in the wrong door and had to go around the projector to find a seat for Renee’s presentation. As I was cutting through, I tripped over the cord that plugged into the projector and yanked it right out with incredible force. She plugged it back in, but she couldn’t get her slides to come up. She called in the tech support people, but no one could get it working for probably a good twenty minutes.

She did her best to begin her speech without slides, but it was a challenge. When they finally appeared, she raced through them like track star. As I recall, she finished the slides in time, but many of the attendees were upset over the speed, and they all knew it was my fault.

I apologized over and over. She finally told me that it was really okay. It may be for a clumsy reason, but Renee sure does remember me now.

I mentioned that episode in my opening talk, so everyone had a good laugh. I told them how brilliant a marketing master she is and how I was looking forward to Renee’s back-to-back marketing workshop during the current conference.

When I walked in, I saw her at the front of the room with tech support. I said the first thing that popped into my mind. “I didn’t go near those cords!”

She laughed, and after a few minutes of work, her slides appeared. She shared much wisdom and advice. I had the pleasure of spending some one-on-one time with her, and she doesn’t believe in gatekeeping. She answered all my questions and readily offered suggestions. She also bought my book, so I’m beyond thrilled with that.

The other speakers were also top-notch. I attended a session on combining poetry and prose for publication. Tim Ritter, the speaker, inspired me, so I may be dusting off some of my old work to revamp soon.

My friend, Shirley McCann did a presentation on writing short stories to sell. She discussed several markets, some of which I’d never considered. Her information was vast and valuable. She patiently answered all of our questions and freely offered her ideas.

Of course, I knew she’d do a great job because she’s been published in several prestigious magazines and journals over the years. She is one of the few people I know who have had short stories published in “Woman’s World Magazine”, which is what I consider a big-time publication.

Our keynote speaker, Meredith Blevins, was funny and engaging. She had us do some improv that had me up in front of everyone pretending to be a political influencer’s trophy husband. It was a stretch of my meager acting ability, but I tried. I think we all had fun and learned to think outside the box.

The awards banquet is always fun, and this year was no different. I love to see my friends win awards. My friend, Author Lynn Combs, cleaned up! She placed in fourteen competitions. Several of my other friends, Lois Curran, Shirlee McCann, Jen Kenning, Ruth Weeks, and many others won awards. I did pretty well, myself. I placed in six competitions. I won a little money and two medallions.

While all of that is great, the valuable pieces of the conference, for me, are spending time with other authors and expanding our knowledge of the art. Sometimes the best thing you give someone is your time, and everyone was generous this year. 

Writing is my passion, and I hope one day to claim it as my career. I encourage everyone of you to find your passion and pursue it.

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Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please join me again next week for more Ozarks Maven.