Writer's Conferences

Heading off to Los Angeles today for AWP.  What is your favorite Writer's Conference or event?

My favorites include the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, Cape May, Philadelphia and last, but certainly not least, The Rosemont Writing Retreat.

Missed week

A missed week on my blog due to a funeral in the family.  The event is generating a good deal of prose in my head, but my fingers hesitate to do the actual writing.  I feel stuck, and have decided to give myself time to heal.

Have you noticed or experienced an effect on your writing after a personal tragedy?

Fan Letter

This week I had the very pleasant experience of receiving an e-mail from an author to whom I wrote expressing my admiration of his book.  He very kindly sent me a list of books I might find helpful, since our subject matter comes from the same time period in ancient history.  Of course, he is in England, and I can find none of the books he suggested here in my local library.  Thank god for the information super highway.  I'm sure I can get them somewhere.

So, have you ever written a fan letter to another author, and did they respond?