Monday, August 23, 2010

Top Ten Reasons the Catholic Writers Conference Rocks


There have been a lot of blogs about the Catholic Writers Conference Live. I'll be having a few more here and there myself. Here, in a nutshell, is why I love it.

1. Talking about papal encyclicals, getting published and the Cleopatra's Boudoir fantasy suite in the same conversation.
2. Starting the day with Mass, being able to go to Confession during the day, and having a dedicated place to spend time in adoration, pray the rosary, or spend time in quiet spiritual contemplation.
3. Laughing so hard that people come from the other side of the trade show to ask what's so funny. (And it's an NFP cartoon!)
4. Finding out that you are not alone or crazy to want to write Catholic fiction.
5. Taking that workshop that teaches you that you can do something you previously thought beyond your talents.
6. Telling that vendor on the last day how much you like their samples--and having it presented to you as a gift.
7. Discovering the "catholic" in Catholic: meeting people from all walks of life from the rural Southern writer of women's lit to the intellectual North England apologeticist to the soft-spoken article writer from Cameroon, and finding out you all share common ground, common morals, common goals.
8. Being able to talk pitch to publishers on the exhibitor's floor as well as in pitch sessions.
9. Hearing someone talk not just about the mechanics of storytelling, but the theology and philosophy of the creative process.
10. Knowing that when it's done, it's not really the end.

1 comment:

Amanda Borenstadt said...

Oh wow! I loved the online conference, but a live one would be so cool! :)