Joy In Unexpected Places

I spent the past weekend working at the SAGA Writing Conference. For those who haven’t heard, it’s a genre-based writing conference that takes place in the Carolinas every other year. We’ve hosted stellar guests of honor like Richard Kadrey, Faith Hunter, Maurice Broaddus, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and this year L Marie Wood and Jeffrey Deaver. Students attend classes in the Craft and Business tracks, and gather in the evening to mingle and network. This year we offered pitch sessions with Falstaff Books and Mocha Memoirs Press, chances for writers to practice talking to publishing professionals and to potentially be invited to submit their work.

I represented MMP for this event. I was in a small conference room, meeting with each writer on the list. When a writer would finish, they returned to the mingle room to let the next person know their turn was up. I noticed that when they left me, their peers would cheer to welcome them back. And when the next person’s name was called, the group would cheer again. All of them wanted the same thing. All of them knew there was no guarantee of success. Instead of isolating themselves and keeping their dreams quiet, they became a joyful mob of hope. Every one of them felt the power of that support, and I’m told they ended the night by exchanging email addresses and phone humbers so they could stay in touch and keep the spark alight.

This is the real goal of conferences like SAGA. We. as writers. know the quiet burden of creativity/ Our work is lonely, and a great many of us lack a family support system to fan the flame of art inside. Gathering at events like SAGA doesn’t just offer opportunities for learning, although the classes were well-attended. The real success is bringing people together to be a community. There’s always room in the sandbox.