Yesterday was the 14th annual "Bridge to Publication" conference hosted by the Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I truly enjoyed meeting several authors I've followed for a while as well as getting to know several more.L Diane Wolfe: Owner of Dancing Lemur Press who published my short story "WIN" in 2016. I was so glad to finally get to meet her in person. I enjoyed her crash course on how to "Market Your Books Like a Professional" and I hope to work with her again in the future. If you'd like to learn more about her, check out her blog http://www.spunkonastick.net/ If you'd like to submit, check out http://www.dancinglemurpressllc.com/
I've been following John M Floyd and Michael Bracken a bit from their joint ventures with https://www.sleuthsayers.org/ It turns out these men have known each other for years as their paths have crossed numerous times over the years. Both men are experts in the genre of short stories. I believe Floyd has published more than 900 stories while Bracken has had more than 1200 short stories published. I can only imagine how many more they have had rejected, sitting in a drawer somewhere, or currently out for submission. They also both happen to have a story featured in this years "Best American Mystery Stories".Floyd spoke with us about "Writing & Selling Short Stories" and then Bracken spoke with us about "Decision-Tree Story Creation". To learn more about these inspiring gentlemen, check out http://www.johnmfloyd.com/ and http://www.crimefictionwriter.com/
This was my first time meeting Gina Ardito and I'm amazed that I'd never heard of, or at least I don't remember hearing of, her. She is a true writing force and a great presenter. I thoroughly enjoyed her informative two part boot camp for writers. She provided so much useful information in the span of just a couple of hours. I will definitely be following her from now on. If you'd like to join me, you can find her at https://ginaardito.com/
The other author I really enjoyed meeting is Jerica Guillory. I almost left the conference early because I was so very tired. However, I am so glad I did not. Guillory's energy, enthusiasm, and worldly wisdom in her "Key to Publication, Inspiration, & Motivation" presentation was the perfect way to wrap up the day. Overall, this was a highly enjoyable and inspiring day spent with dozens of authors. I'm energized and anxious to get back to my own WIP's. I hope I have he chance to meet with all of these speakers again.
A very special thank you to the Bayou Writers Group for putting together another great conference. If yo'd like to learn more about them. head over to https://bayouwritersgroup.com/
How about you? Have you been to any great conferences lately? Are there any particular writers who continue to inspire you?
