I'm Off

Today I leave for New Orleans and the Saints and Sinners conference. I love the place and I love this writer's conference, which serves as a fundraiser for NOAIDS. I'll be meeting with my publishers, Bywater Books, and that's always fun. A writer doesn't normally get many chances to meet face to face with editors and publishers.

I'll also get to meet up with some friends from my Montgomery days who I haven't seen in many years.

I'm excited about some of the panels and workshops, so I thought I'd let you know some of the ones that particularly interest me. Writing Credible Historical Fiction, a master class taught by Jess Wells, who certainly knows what she's doing. The Art of Revision, taught by the extremely talented Ellen Hart, who has written 24 books and won 5 Lambda literary awards, so she ought to know something about this.

There's a panel discussion called Art and Entertainment, delving into the timeless question of literary fiction versus genre writing. There's a panel called Tales of the New Depression, with various publishers, including Kelly Smith of Bywater Books, talking about how thw economy has affected the book market, as well as online vendors who offer used copies for sale right along with new. Not naming names. Mid-Career Blues, with Elana Dykewomon, who has a new book out called Risk, which I highly recommend. A panel discission of the origins of lesbian literature, discissing the sixties and seventies and those great early books and writers that began our canon of literature.

I'll be busy, totally immersed in conversation about books and writing. What could be better? Drinking and talking about books and writing, at the opening and closing receptions, of course.