At the beginning of May, I had the opportunity to attend my first ever Storymakers conference in Provo, Utah. I'd heard a lot about this conference, and I've been part of the Storymakers guild for about a year and a half, but could never make the trip until now.
I'm so glad I did. I got to attend a ton of excellent classes, buy a bunch of books, meet some new people, and listen to Shannon Hale speak! It was an energizing weekend.
It was also nice to attend a different conference for a change. I love When Words Collide here in Calgary, but I've been the last three years in a row and wanted to try something different. Both are great conferences, by the way. I'm going to skip WWC this year since I did Storymakers but I'll be back next year and hopefully with some new things to share.
Me and Shannon Hale! (Wish I looked better in this picture)
The highlight of Storymakers was definitely Shannon Hale. Her keynote speech was AH-MAY-ZING. Brought me to tears multiple times amazing. It was really cool getting to meet her briefly as well, plus she signed my copy of Austenland! (And my daughter's Squirrel Girl.)
The hardest thing about the conference was not knowing anyone. I went alone and knew no one there at all, unless you count recognizing a few faces I "know" from social media (which I don't). I don't tend to know people at WWC either, but here's where Storymakers gets tricky: they provide meals. Which is awesome, but it also means I was transported back to high school where I'm holding a tray of food and figuring out where to sit in the intimidating cafeteria. Ugh. But I did it, I survived. I even talked to people. (Shocking!) Next time, though, I'll probably go with someone I know. Because let's be real, that was Hard.
Storymakers book haul!
Anyway. I'm still so glad I got to go and I'll definitely go back again sometime. Not every year, because it's a trip for me, but I'm thinking in a few years when my daughter is old enough to go. Now wouldn't that be fun!