Asilomar Conference

 


It was a lovely conference. The buildings at Asilomar were originally a summer camp for girls, and the smell of old wood beams and woodsmoke hit me as soon as I stepped into the social hall to check in.  It reminded me so much of being a child at summer camp myself.  It's a special place, and I meet such nice people.  I can see why many participants come every year.   



Everyone made me feel very welcome. I had great conversations with the participants and the four editors who came.  I had breakfast one morning with one of my agents, Josh Adams, and Rick Richter who introduced us all to the brave new world of apps.  I was picked up at the airport by Lea Lyon and Alexandria LaFaye and her beautiful toddler. 

Another morning, David Wiesner and I sat together. "Tell me about the books you loved as a child," I said.  It was a fun conversation about what led us both to the books we create. 

But it was especially great to spend time with online friends like Debbi Michiko Florence and Susan Taylor Brown.  Sometimes it feels a little awkward meeting people that you've known online--your in-person friendship has to catch up with your online friendship.  That totally wasn't the case here. It was immediate, not at all like it was the first time we'd met. 

I gave a talk that I had given a few years ago at the Maryland and New England SCBWIs called "The Plusses and Perils of Writing What You Know."  It's a personal talk for me about some of the things I wish I had known when Rules started out into the world. 

I have to admit that when I saw I was scheduled for 7:30 Saturday night at this conference, my heart sank a little.  I'm a morning person, so I have to pace myself to speak for an hour in the evening.  I went to all the talks on Friday and Sunday, but dipped in and out of the great programs on Saturday, so I could pace myself and run through my talk a few times in my room. 



I had a fireplace in my room, which was so cozy! 

My talk received a standing ovation. Many people came up to talk to me afterward.  As an author and a speaker, when people are moved to tell me their own stories, I know the book or the talk has been a success.  It's a gift when a reader or audience member completes that circle and gives me back something of their own. 

On the last day, Debbi took me home with her for supper.  We stopped in Mountain View (home of Google!) for lunch, and then she took me to her house and I got to meet her husband and Trixie, her adorable rat terrier. 

 

Trixie let me hold her on my lap, and she brought me her stuffed bat for a rousing game of fetch. 

 

What a cutie.  And Debbi's husband is a great cook!  It was a perfect ending to my trip.

I some "firsts" in California.  My first taste of duck and hummus. My first time touching the Pacific Ocean and a redwood tree.



My first time seeing fields of yellow mustard and artichoke farms. 

And these long whips of seaweed!



I blurted out something 100% heartfelt and mildly inappropriate on our drive when Debbi and I crested a hill and suddenly there was the ocean and the mountains gloriously ahead.  So dazzling. 

I came home to 10 more inches of snow, but I'm carrying inside me some California warmth, hospitality, sunshine, green grass, and springtime.