I didn't know if I'd make it to the conference afterall. My mama had a turn for the worst and has been a bit ill for the past few days. I brought her home to stay with me all week and decided to hold off on leaving until noon. That way, I will take her to my sister's and know that she will be fine.
I had originally planned on leaving by 7 a.m. and enjoying a day in the city. I had wanted to drop in on an art museum or perhaps do a little sightseeing/shopping in the garment district of Los Angeles. It has been years since I've been there.
But I guess everything turns out in the end. I should get to Los Angeles by 4 to 5 p.m. -- I know, right in the middle of 5 p.m. traffic on a Friday evening..... yuk! But that should give me plenty of time to check into the Fullerton Marriott and enjoy a nice dinner, maybe take in a movie and be ready for tomorrow.
:) Of course, my mother thinks this is awful! She does not believe that women should travel alone. I reminded her I've been all over the country, to Canada and to Europe ALONE.... she still said she wished I could take someone.
Truth is, I love traveling alone. When I've invited a sister, I feel so trapped. I enjoy their company but we are so different. I am too independent and move too fast. They linger too long at the "wrong" place (one store department, for example) I zoom in and out of stores, and my lingering is over coffee, reading a paper, or at museums (and they hate all that) LOL
I'll be back next week and will write about my experience -- barring any disaster from earthquakes (my one big fear) I should be fine. That is the only thing I am dreading. I hate being near tall buildings. Going to San Francisco or Los Angeles scares me for that one reason alone.
Until then,
:)
Sorry your mom is ill.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are having a great time, and learning much. The one thing I learned at my first writers conference that I could not have learned any other way was that agents and editors were human, and that they had their own challenges to face -
I hope you'll tell us what you learned when you return.
Sorry to hear about your mom.
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to my first writers' conference, in June. I hope you're still able to attend yours.
Anyway, just wanted to pop by and tell you I enjoyed your story.
Thank you, Mark and Jamie. I came home a day early but I still went. It was awesome and one of the best things I've ever done for my writing career. It really fired me up. I don't know why I had never gone before. This one was more newspaper related but there was a bit I could pull towards regular writing. I'll come back and blog about it. Now I'm really excited about attending a more conventional (novel related) conference.
ReplyDeleteAs to my short story, thanks. I just found out about it winning second place. I screamed! I was so excited! It's the first contest I've ever entered.
So, it's been a great week.
I'm on my way to my mom's to pick her up and have her stay with me the week again. Thank you both for your thoughts.
Esther
I'm glad you had a good time, Esther. Congratulations on your story, I really liked it. :)
ReplyDelete