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Sportster and I have spent the last
two weeks in beautiful Santa Barbara area. We rested our wheels at the Elks
Lodge in Goleta, California. The first half of our visit included enjoying the
amenities here – the exercise room and, after working up a good sweat, the sauna
and hot tub. We also strolled in the serene, forested picnic area.
We were here to attend the Santa
Barbara Writers Conference at the Hyatt. The facilities Winnebago offered may
not have been superb to the Hyatt, but they offered my own pillow, coffee served
while I lounged in my pj’s at no extra cost, and an outdoor patio to soak up
the sunshine after the marine layer dissipated. Let’s see, $199.00 a night or
$25.00 a night? Oh, and did I forget to
mention? Winnebago allows pets. So there
you have it.
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Of course the second week was not
leisurely. It was jam packed with education, inspiration, new friends and did I
mention? Education! Authors, Editors, Workshop leaders, top notch
speakers offered up with great service from the hotel staff and the conference
volunteers. I met Fannie Flagg the author of FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, Catherine
Ann Jones who wrote for TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL
and THE CHRISTMAS WIFE and Monte Schultz, the son of Charles Schultz,
the creator of PEANUTS.
I met with agents as well in which
four of the six wanted to see more of my work. Their publishing houses included
Bantam Doubleday Dell, Simon and Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, and McMacmillan.
These agents have represented John Updike, Louis L’Amour, and Tani O’Dell.
I had my picture taken with Gk
Parish-Philp whose ten years of experience in online digital media products and
brands led him to create Mp3.com and Stage6.com and participated on a panel moderated by Marla Miller with
www.marketingthemuse.com. What a fantasic woman full of energy and information on marketing.
With the overwhelming wealth of
knowledge I absorbed I hope to pass it along in some new workshops that will
feature the bones of the story, character development, dialogue, and plot.
But now I am unwinding and soaking
up the last of the salty air and the moist filled mornings before I head back
to the real world from which I acquire the grist for my writing mill.
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT SPORTSTER'S BLOG - HIS TAKE ON THE SANTA BARBARA EXPERIENCE.
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| THE GOLETA PIER |
