Day one of the three-day writing conference is in the books, and it got off to a great start. There was only one session to attend, but it was a good one (five were offered at the same time, but seeing as I don’t yet have the capacity to make duplicates of myself I had to just choose one). Young adult novelist Nova Ren Suma presented an excellent session on dynamic openings. The only critique was that her presentation was quite short (twenty minutes of the sixty allotted). True, it left time for plenty of q & a, but I would have liked to hear more from her, even if it was just additional examples of strong openings and why they work. In fairness, she did mention that usually this presentation was done as a workshop, rather than lecture, so I’m sure it was difficult to gauge the timing. Still, the content was solid and her insights were valuable. I’ll definitely be thinking more about my endings as I’m crafting my beginnings as a result of this presentation.

After the session there was time to mix and mingle with a wonderful spread of hors d’oeuvres and a live pianist. I caught up with a friend during this time, and had a relaxing time visiting with her and talking about teaching, writing, and the conference. At that point I had to leave, but I’m excited to go back this morning. Today is jam-packed with sessions, many of them specific to the Young Adult genre, my favorite.

I’m anxious to get going, and to see what new sparks of creativity and energy emerge as a result of today’s learning and inspiration.