Ann Arbor Grafitti – Fiction Writers Workshopping at a Conference?

One of the items that I needed to check off in my quest to become publishable was attending a writer's conference. I've belonged to online writer's groups, but I have never been to a writing conference. I found a web site that would allow me to search through contest based on location and month. I narrowed down my choices according to the following criteria:

• It can't cost too much, because I have little to no money.
• Located in Michigan, because I have little to no money for travel.
• Occurs in the month of October, because I am impatient. Need to complete my check list as soon as possible and become publishable eleven years ago, so I can make all that postage on submitted fiction pay off.

The first candidate was The Erotic Pen. Can't say that erotic art is my cup of tea. I can barely write the word vagina without feeling intense waves of shame. (My cheeks have turned vermillion at this very moment.) However, my options are limited and perhaps some flooding therapy would be just what the doctor ordered. However, the home page for the conference displayed the following message "Error 303 – Forbidden Access. You tried to access a document for which you don't have privileges". I guess my sensibilities really are too puritanical, and my PC knows it.

It turned out that the second candidate, Creative Journeys, wasn't really a conference but a workshop. One blurb from the workshop description states, "Telling our stories can help us take risks, open up to life, heal ourselves, and achieve peaceful well-being." Sounds absolutely dreadful, and it is not going to work anyway. Although the writing conference listing states that Creative Journeys workshops are in several different states, including Michigan, the Creative Journeys web site only mentions Oregon.

The third candidate turns out to be the winner. The Ann Arbor Book Festival Fall Fiction Writer's Conference turns out to be the winner. It violates one of my criteria, since it takes place in November rather than October, but it is early November. More importantly, it takes place where my son goes to high school. I can walk there, which I can't say about Oregon.

Keep an eye out for a report in November. In fact, you can add it to your Outlook calendar.

Other Posts You Might Like

• Path to Publishing Fiction
• Fiction Writing Contest Page