Confession Time

I have a confession to make today.

I, a woman who desires little more than to see her books in print form and to sign with an agent, has yet to attend any conference with any literary agents in attendance.

I'll pause while you pick yourself off the floor.

There's a bunch of reasons I haven't made it to any of these. The two primary ones: time and money.

In fact, the last time I went to any conference related to writing was probably at least ten years ago.

Now, I've been to multiple shorter events, usually Sisters in Crime talks, and an occasional book signing.

But to go to a convention, or even a weekend seminar? Hasn't really happened. At least not in person. I did attend parts of the Muse Convention online last year, just before the health mess with my son started getting rolling.

I've wanted to go to Bouchercon for years. This year, it's in St. Louis--which would be a very affordable train ride via Amtrak across the state of Missouri for me. But, I've also heard Bouchercon is more for readers rather than writers. *sigh* What's a girl to do?

I think ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) is also having their conference in St. Louis this year, just a couple weeks later. While I'd fit in theologically, my stories... well, they really won't fit with the ACFW or CBA "guidelines." Hmmm...

Getting TMOTH to sign off on any convention at this point is also pretty iffy, given our son's state and the "mommy" factor--he about panics whenever I leave him, even with Daddy for an hour or two.

Maybe a convention isn't in the cards this year.

But, I do know that I can't afford to keep ignoring this aspect of the writing game.

Today's Question: Have you ever attended a conference? If so, which one(s)? What did you find most beneficial? If you haven't attended a conference, what's holding you back?

Until next time,