Tyler and Back

I won the door prize.

Last weekend I breezed over to Tyler, Texas for a writer's conference. Coincidentally, there happened to be a really large writer's conference that same weekend in Dallas. Usually, they aren't on the same weekend, and the Tyler conference would have a larger attendance.  

Well played, Dallas writer's conference. Well played.

Because I'd never gone to a writer's conference, I opted to start small. Plus, the one in Dallas was significantly more money and it was located in Dallas. Neither appealed to me.  

Door prize goodies.

What I discovered was there are quite a few nice folks in East Texas who have published multiple books. I met several of them. In fact, I was one of the few who didn't have a book published. That's okay. I have two written which are currently in various stages of editing. 

I had driven the farthest for this conference, at 118 miles, though many came from out of town.  

The speakers were great. I learned quite a bit about the book business and discovered I knew more about writing than I previously thought. I was even invited to join the East Texas Writer's Guild. That's all very nice and all, but I'm not driving 236 miles through back country roads once a month to attend the evening meetings. So, it was a hard pass. But I'd be willing to go to next year's conference. Especially if it isn't in Dallas. 

Found this in Tyler, too.