Bright lights, Big city.

Our trip to NYC went way too fast. There was much to see inside and outside of the conference. I think it probably unfair to lots of great writers that they had to compete with the rest of the city.

I managed to see a lot of really cool people anyway. Some highlights were: Joyce Carol Oates, Johnathon Saffron Foer, James Tate, and Stephen Dunn. I hope to one day sit on a giant velvet pillow beside Joyce Carol Oates and have her talk about herself while I crochet pot holders for her fans. I think mostly she reminds me that we can't take ourselves too seriously, that that is the mark of the dead or dying artist in all of us, and to have some perspective.

I also went to several panels, including Writing and Motherhood with Jacina Townsend and Joey Flamm-Costello. I have a sixteen month old son so it was nice to hear women speak about finding ways to balance their lives as writers and their lives as mothers.

Shawna (ghost intern) and I spent a night out with Josh Bell (my favorite poem of his here) and Matthew Guenette (check out his blog) going to the Met and eating Sushi. We would have pictures of this but Josh and Matt are both vampires and so their images cannot be captured on film.

Thanks to Ron for keeping us in line. (Seriously, he made us all wear matching outfits and we had to walk everywhere in single file)

I had a great time, an excellent time, and saw many people from my former lives, though I wish I had more time to do everything I wanted to. This would have been contingent on being able to compress time in NY to not affect time in Indiana and also winning the lottery.

Next year, Chicago!