Saturday, April 24, 2010

A great conference!

Well, I did it! I spoke at my first writer's conference as an "author." I felt sort of like an interloper, sitting up there on the stand with published authors (since I don't have a publishing deal yet), but I enjoyed it all the same! I think I did okay, no major mistakes, so that's a relief.


It was so fun to hear some great authors speak about their journeys to publication/getting an agent. I've mentioned before that I'm friends with Ally Condie, and I already knew she was a lovely, funny, wonderful person. I didn't know what an amazing speaker she was! I figured she would be, but I was blown away by how hilarious, thoughtful, and inspiring her keynote address was. If you have the opportunity to hear her speak--do it! She did great. I am so excited for all that she has ahead of her!


I didn't know the other authors personally before, but it was fun to meet new friends. Natalie Whipple (go check out her blog here) did great, too! Thankfully, she didn't pass out (she had blogged earlier about her fear that she would), and I didn't have to employ my nursing skills to save her (as I had blogged back to tell her I would, if necessary). Phwew!



I did have to leave a little early this year, because it is my DH's birthday. I wish I could have stayed for more of the classes, but the ones I was able to be there were for were great! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture with my co-authors/presenters. Whoops. So here's what I have instead...
This is me and Ally celebrating that we got agents:
(Don't worry, for those of you who know us, the drinks were "virgin.") ;-)

The wonderfully sweet, cute and funny Natalie Whipple (I pulled the pic from your blog, hopefully you don't care Natalie!). I can't wait to read her book, it sounds so fun. It was a pleasure to meet her in person.

All in all, it was a great day. Happy weekend everyone! (...and Happy Birthday Hon, thanks for letting me do this on your special day!)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like such a fabulous conference, especially your first one as an author! :)

Oh, I wish I could meet Ally and Natalie, too. Both of them seem amazing online. :)

Natalie Whipple said...

It was so great to meet you! And Ally's keynote really was fabulous.

Elana Johnson said...

Sounds like a roaring fun time! We must get together at an author signing or something. Soon! :)

Roland D. Yeomans said...

May you soon be a published author. Congrats on speaking at your first conference. As a harried blood courier {with dreams of becoming published}, I probably never get the thrill of attending such a conference, much less speaking at one.

May you find strength for the mid-week, Roland

Amy Finnegan {BookshopTalk.com} said...

Sara,

You did a terrific job at the conference. Really, or I wouldn't have surfed the web to find your blog, right? ;)

Hope we cross paths again soon!
Amy Finnegan

Sara B. Larson said...

Sandy - It was a great conference! And Ally and Natalie are both awesome. :-)

Natalie - hopefully we can meet up again sometime soon!

Elana - I'm glad your conference went so well too! We definitely need to get together soon. Maybe for lunch or something... unless you know of a signing we could meet up at. Let me know. ;)

Roland - Thank you! Best wishes for you too!

Amy - Thanks for finding me, and thank you for the compliment! I'm so glad to hear from you. :-)

Trav said...

WOW! WOW! WOW! You did an incredible job! I am so glad I got to be there! Lucky me :)
Love ya,
Trav