Conferences and Retreats

• Write on the River – I attended in March of 2015. Author Bob Mayer talks about story structure, character development, publishing… you name it! Held in his beautiful home in Tennessee. This is one of the things I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do without the Lilly grant, because going to a retreat with the author of 60+ books and only three other attendees ain’t cheap. I got a lot of good information about publishing avenues… not to mention meeting some other really cool authors! And, of course… COOL GUS!
• Bard Institute of Writing and Thinking – I attended the weeklong Writing Retreat for Teachers in 2015. It was a great experience – very focused on Literature, with very little regard for commercial applications. I met some really amazing people AND was invited to share some of my writing at the closing ceremony – woohoo! This is another one of the things I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do without the Lilly grant, since it was pricey even before travel costs.
• Midwest Writers Workshop – I attended in July 2015. This one I proooobably could’ve pulled off on my own, but I’m still really glad that the Lilly grant paid for it.