Here's the tl;dr: I had a great time at Storymakers 2019.
My CP, Taryn Skipper, picked me up so we could road trip together. The weather had been sketchy all week, and I was afraid the highway would be closed, but it cooperated! We had about six hours in the car to talk about books and writing and our families, and just everything. Taryn and I have been friends for thirteen years, so a) we're old, and b) we have a lot to talk about.
One of my favorite things about Storymakers is the top-notch education it offers. There's a wide variety of classes, and people at all levels of ability can find something to help them improve. I took two psychology-type classes, two worldbuilding classes, and a handful of random others. For the most part, Taryn and I went to different classes so we could cover more ground and exchange notes afterwards. The highlight for me was teaching my Genetics 101 for Writers class. I was so afraid that no one would show up, but people did! My Powerpoint worked fine, even the embedded clip. I went over time, which I felt bad about, but in my defense the presentation was ten minutes short when I practiced it at home!
I had a query letter critique for my new book, and I was thrilled to hear from the literary agent I met with that my query letter was good to go and that he wanted to read the book! Even if nothing ends up coming from it, it was a nice confidence booster.
Taryn and I met up with some of our writing friends who weren't at the conference to do an escape room. That was a blast, and we DID escape, even though Taryn and I had melty brains from thinking about writing all day. The escape room was within walking distance of the conference hotel, so I think we'll definitely have to try another room next year.
Yes, I'm already planning next year. That's how great the weekend was!
