I was a presenter at the Blue Ridge Writer's Conference last Saturday, and had a wonderful time. I did two workshops. One on "Writing Fantasy for the Young and Young At Heart," and one on "The Submissions process in the Children's Market."

One embarrassing moment...the air conditioning was so loud, they couldn't hear me at the back of the room. Someone suggested I use the microphone, which I did, and proceeded to blow everyone out of the building! One of the conference organizers came running from the room next to me to say that I was NOT to use the microphone! They could probably hear me in downtown Blairsville!

Other than that, everything was fine. Terry Kay (To Dance With The White Dog...among many others), was the keynote speaker. He was fabulous! So down to earth, humble, in addition to being a wonderful speaker.

The conference was impeccably run, was in a gorgeous location (Blue Ridge and Blairsville, GA), and the food was great...catered by Mercier's Orchard. I'd recommend it to anyone. We stayed in a wonderful cabin in the mountains. Since it was my husband's birthday, we decided to stay for 3 days, "chilled" in rocking chairs on the screened porch overlooking the mountains, and built a campfire, roasted marshmallows and had s'mores! I think those were the first authentic s'mores I've had since my Girl Scout days!

Our little dog, Molly, had a great time, too...smelling all the great, new scents in the forest. Fortunately, one of those scents did NOT, this time, include a skunk!