Here it Comes!

By Nichole Giles

Every March, the volume of email exchange in our writer’s group expands like a balloon being held to the nozzle of a helium tank. It could be spring fever, or the end of a long (and freezing cold) winter. Maybe we’re all starting to recover from the sick season that always follows the holidays, or it could be that the additional hour of daylight has given us more energy. There are so many possible answers to this phenomenon, but only one that really, truly explains it.

It’s time for the annual LDS Storymakers Writer’s Conference.

Of all the conferences we attend each year, we love the LDStorymakers conference most. This is the one we can become involved in, and share ideas, and socialize with authors, published and unpublished alike. It’s our time.

Granted, it does help our excitement when we start writing skits to recruit more writers to our group. And when we talk about visits from the writing fairy (aka Tristi Pinkston) and door prizes, and the first chapter contest (open only to conference participants.)

So, we exchange a frenzy of emails, and we order t-shirts and hats and buttons in order to recognize each other. And we plan parties and pranks and get-togethers while we count down the days until the conference.

Well, it’s finally here. Today, authors all over the country are gathering their bearings and packing their laptops, notebooks and pens to prepare for boot camp early tomorrow. There is no big pressure, as it’s all in the spirit of learning and fun—even if they make us drop and give them fifty.

And if you happen to be staying in a hotel somewhere near Sandy City, Utah this weekend, don’t be alarmed when a group of crazed women who smell like popcorn and chocolate come knocking on your door in the middle of the night yelling, “The Stompers are coming!” and then run away laughing like goons. It’s just a bunch of brain-fried-exhausted authors letting off steam.

Oh, and also, don’t be alarmed if you happen to witness thirty or forty people running around in clothing from other eras in time, space, or stories, tagging each other with a fairy wand and screaming, “Cut that chapter!” We’re not crazy or drunk. We’re just learning to see the possibilities.

Stay tuned next week for highlights of the best of Authors Incognito and the LDStorymakers at the conference. Maybe I’ll even include pictures.