COFW Conference

On September 12th, I headed out to Columbus, Ohio for the Central Ohio Fiction Writers conference. This was my third trip to Ohio and my first trip to Columbus.

I'm pretty sure Ohio State had an away game that day, so I wasn't accosted by any crazed fans--my biggest fear.

I had a great time at the conference. It's a really fun group of writers and, since it's "fiction" writers (not just romance), it was a nice variety. Mary Jo Putney was the keynote speaker and gave a great, funny talk, closing with an absolute tear-jerker of a story (in the best way!) about a lovely librarian in England. Speaking of librarians...

There was a presentation from Robin Nesbitt and Kathy Leonard from the Columbus Public Libraries, one of the largest library networks in the country. I love libraries, so this was an extra special treat for me.

The best part of the conference? Finally getting to meet my author, Olivia Parker! I've now worked with Olivia for nearly two years, and published one book, but we'd never met face to face--one of the many strange side effects of the publishing business.

Especially now, with the internet, I know there are editors and authors who have worked together for years and years and never met, so I definitely feel lucky to have connected with Olivia.

I truly had a blast in Columbus. I ate a lot (seriously, a lot) of good food, made great new friends (Hi Melody!), and learned a ton. And if you're in Ohio, I'd definitely check out COFW--they're a fantastic group.