by: Kathleen Pickering  http://www.kathleenpickering.com

I love my job.

I may get a tad over enthusiastic about it, but hey, why not? I mean, how many folks get to climb onto a plane, fly to somewhere with a personality of it’s own, like New Orleans. Stay in the French Quarter in an historic hotel, that may or may not include a ghost with the room. Attend a poetry reading,

a Civil War era cocktail party,

then attend and/or speak on panels about writing the next day until it’s time for the Civil War Zombies for Peace dinner theater that evening—costumes and all?

Top that off the next day with an English Tea, a well stocked book signing, a power lunch with a fascinating few where possibilities are hatched for future projects, finished with a romp through a really scary Haunted Mortuary,

and I’ve worked hard at my craft all weekend.

What? Don’t all writers do this?

Maybe not exactly that, but I have yet to meet a dedicated writer who just sits on his/her duff. For example, there’s Jordan Dane who shoots guns and blow up bombs. (I’d love to be right behind her!) Or, Basil Sands who hosts radio shows and views the world from his perch in Alaska. Or Joe Moore who knows how to infiltrate the Internet-within-the-Internet to retrieve information that no man should see. Or, James Borne who uses his knowledge in law enforcement to enhance his writing.

Writers can’t write unless they experience life and indulge their voracious curiosities. That includes attending conferences to keep one’s finger on the pulse of the industry. Since I’d already landed my current editor and agent from previous conferences, I really didn’t need to pitch anything. Only network. This time I met a producer from Hollywood looking for books to pitch for TV options. Chatted up a ‘sleeper’ work of mine to a boutique publisher and captured his interest. Not bad for leaving an open space to see what might materialize from networking. You never really know what nugget of success you’ll find, but the bottom line is: unless you attend you won’t know.

The weekend I described above was spent at Heather Graham’s Sixth Annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop. Heather began this tradition intending to help infuse the local New Orleans economy after Hurricane Katrina. What she didn’t expect was to develop what is now a six year tradition of bringing writers together from as far away as Australia into a pool of enthusiastic camaraderie, information gathering, and creative inspiration. Despite her lack of sleep, one of our cohorts was so inspired, that she began writing her next book on the flight home. Each year in New Orleans gets better and better.

Heather’s workshop is only one example. I’ve mentioned before how critical networking is for a writer’s career, especially now. The age of communication and technology demands we put ourselves into the current. It’s like the writing industry is this huge ocean reef, with our little coral tentacles waving in the current for sustenance. If you’re not waving, you miss the juicy bits. Me? I’m waving with both hands and feet! After all, this is my career, we’re talking about. Research. Writing. Riding the Conference Current. It’s all part of the job.

If I couldn’t physically be present at conferences, I’d have to find another avenue, like YouTube. But, quite honestly, I don’t think anything works better than being there. The flow of energy alone from all that talent in one place is worth attending.

So, my author friends . . . do you ride the conference current? What’s your focus, and what are your goals when you do?