Storymakers!

It was my second year at the Storymakers conference and it was a blast!

In Hannah Bowman's master class, I was able to analyze the internal and external conflicts of my current project and pinpoint how to get them to work together (or against each other) to propel my plot forward. Great hands on class.

Editor Victoria Curran taught me to not be afraid to let my characters act on what they want to do, and that in a romance, it's the power of opposition that causes tension, not the attraction.

Some other highlights include learning all the ins and outs of writing a series, the importance of my YA characters having concrete goals, and how to write story turns to drive the pacing of my novel. I even took a sounds-so-boring but was oh-so-helpful tax class for writers.

Anne Perry was the keynote speaker and taught a two-hour class about fine-tuning your writing. She might be my new favorite author--I could listen to her speak for hours. Every word she says (in her cool accent) is poetic and profound. She made me want to be a more positive, hopeful, and inspiring writer. 

And of course the biggest reason I call this conference a great success was all the writer friends I got to see. Not only did my CP's fly in from out-of-state, but I met several writers from the online community. Here's a quick slideshow as proof of just a few of the people I met. I bet you'll recognize some of them. :)

Have you ever been to a writers conference or met bloggers in real life?

Don't forget to enter my $20 B&N giftcard giveaway to celebrate my recent book deal. I'll announce a winner later this week.