This week I’m heading to Portland, Oregon for the Association of Writers and Writing Professionals Conference (called “AWP”). It’s the biggest book fair in North America, and given how difficult it was to book a hotel room I should have been prepared for the size of this thing. Reader, I was not. My plane is full of poets and fiction writers and non-fiction writers and booksellers and illustrators and designers and they are all so excited to be spending four days talking about nothing but writing. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Make sure you plan for downtime!” a fellow writer said to the crowd at the gate. “I didn’t my first year and within two days I was lying curled in the fetal position crying in a hallway because I was so overwhelmed!”
“Ha ha ha!” we all said, instantly breaking out in back sweats. So, now I’m on the plane. I have no plan here, people. I have a few groups I’m going to meet-ups with and a cocktail event with my agent (which, by the way, is a crazy thing to say) but otherwise my main goal is now NOT to end up curled up crying in a fetal position. It’s important to keep your expectations realistic, I think. More soon!