Best. Writers. Conference. Ever.

I've been attending the Surrey International Writers Conference (in Surrey, BC, just south of Vancouver) each year for the last seven years.

I got started going because every October my online friend Diana used to mention going to some writers conference in Canada that was "small, but really, really good."

I had never been to a writers conference before, but I began to toy with the idea of going to this one, even though it meant crossing an ocean and a very large continent to get there. (I was living in Switzerland at the time.) So in 2000 I told Diana I was coming, she said great, she'd see me there, and the rest is history. That first time I knew no one except Diana, who was very busy with workshops and panels, and that particular year only there for one day. I felt like the odd bit of pocket fuzz wisping along in the shadows, trying not to be noticed but wanting desperately to be a part of everything. But it was exciting to be there; I learned a lot, made friends, and even made the acquaintance of an editor who agreed that some stories needed a lot of room to tell, and she'd be happy to look at mine once it was finished.

The following year about 20 or so of my writing buddies at Compuserve got wind of the conference (well, it was my talking it up, actually) and we descended on Surrey like a flock of hungry pigeons. And in varying numbers and configurations, we've been returning ever since. During that time, some among our number have become published and successful writers in their own right (kc, Vicki, Linda).

The conference has grown in reputation and finally news of it is beginning to leak out. Word got back to the conference organizers that Terry Brooks, a several-times guest, recently named it the best writers conference in North America. Other guests, such as the erudite Jack Whyte with his wit and to-die-for baritone voice, and the elegant Anne Perry, were persuaded to try it once and now it's a yearly event for them, like a family reunion. Janet Reid, a first-timer, has her own report to make about Surrey. And I heard from a reliable source that even the inestimable Miss Snark attended this year, though of course no one, least of all me, really knows who she is.

And it truly is an excellent conference. They offer a wide variety of workshops and panels for every kind of writer at every stage of experience, as well as (free) private appointments with agents and editors, and (free) private critiques with well-known authors. But it's the atmosphere that can't be duplicated and can't be described, except inadequately as casual, warm, and welcoming. And tremendously energizing.

I typed up some notes from the workshops I found most helpful; rather than repeat myself here, I'll link you to their home on Compuserve:

"The World of the Novel," master class given by agent Don Maass

"Mind Games," with Vicki Pettersson

"Three Types of Tension," with Don Maass

And now, because Vicki kicked me out of my rut, I'm off to write!