Writers of the Future: My Week in Hollywood

Wow…you guys. I’ve returned safely from Los Angeles with a full head and swelling heart. My time was chock-full of learning, making connections, learning the craft and business of writing, and (the best part!) making friends.

My week got off to an awesome start when I discovered I’d been assigned the talented and wonderful Carrie Callahan (fellow writer winner) as my roommate. My exclamation of “YES” in the fancy hotel lobby caused an echo which gave me a brief moment of embarrassment. But it was worth it.

Carrie and me standing in front books by former WOTF winners. We’ll be in there someday!

Carrie and I had been in touch via facebook messages for a few months. She’d graciously pointed me in several helpful directions for my website redesign. (You can see Carrie’s lovely author website here.) I had a good feeling about her. It turned out to be exactly correct. Not only is she smart, she’s also kind and in possession of a great sense of humor. And she lent me a pair of pajamas after I forgot to pack mine. True story. She is honestly one of my highlights of my Writers of the Future week.

Meeting the other writer winners was a huge joy for me. We tried our best to live it up: getting meals together, taking walks, writing our 24-hour story assignment side-by-side at Starbucks, socializing after-hours (honestly, I have gone to bars more frequently in the last 7 days than I’ve probably frequented in the last 7 months, but this was BUSINESS, people! No judgment!