Southeastern Writers Conference

 This past weekend and Monday the Southeastern Writers Conference happened on St. Simon's Island, and I enjoyed it like I usually do. The unique feature of this conference is it's small size and the fact that most attendees and speakers share meals in a dining room. I took my developmentally disabled brother with me. He wants to go with me over staying home with a sitter. The conference allows my brother to sit with me during sessions.

I missed one session that would have been really interesting. The topic was the business of writing. I usually do not get so hyped up on courses of how to sell and market my stories. I am busy working on the quality of writing. That was until the next day when the speaker the Honorable Lori Duff did her second presentation. She was incredibly interesting. The most notable thing I remembered was that many dollars could be gained or lost in a business agreement based on an oxford comma. I don't usually use Oxford commas, but, I am being persuaded.

Kevin Steverson taught everyone about writing science fiction. In three hours, we got the gist and some important points about selling your book and the topic of building a world or writing in an established world of another author. To write in an established world, you have to have permission from the owner of that world. A big way to never be asked is be known for posting politics on social media. That is too late for me. I don't post a lot on any social media about politics because I liken it to being a bore. But like Don Quixote, I just have to fight that windmill at times. 

I am incredibly rude at these conferences, I usually scroll continuously on my computer. It is what I have to do to not fall asleep. During his first program, I fell asleep and did not hear some marketing ploys. One involved selling unwritten books as presells on Amazon. The book sells because the last book was so riveting and there was a cliff hanger. Oh my, who shot JR. The other item was to to give your initial book to libraries, leave them in public places, donate them with the theory that people will read the book and want to read more. Needless to say, I bought his book. I'm a hard sell to get me to read a series but I will report back. (Why do I fall asleep? I don't sleep enough at night and rarely nap is my theory.)

John Edwards was there giving everyone a run down on what makes Southern literature and his guide is the work of  William Faulkner. I have read Faulkner. This has made me want to re-read or read a book by Faulkner. I read a lot of the classics in my twenties. I used to remember things well but I really don't remember any of the books I read. What I remembered the most about Faulkner was his description of poor whites. They kept everything repaired with whatever they had. It was a truth that I knew was as true today as when Faulkner wrote his novels. 

The keynote speaker was Wulf Moon. He did a series of presentations. His book "How to write a Howling Good Story" is a great writing book and folks who follow him usually join his Wolf Pack. Several of my friends at the conference have been a follower for quite some time. I listened to two of his presentations. I did not listen to all of them for several reasons. One was it was too long a day for my brother to be sitting through. Another one is that if you want to write, you have to decide which direction you are going and not stop and start a new direction. If I had encountered the Wolf Pack ten years ago, I would have signed up. 

My brother and I took a boat tour off Jekyll Island Sunday night. We would have taken one off Saint Simons but I waited too late to sign up for a Saturday boat tour and there were no more until Wednesday.. That Saturday, I took my brother to the Publix in nearby Brunswick to buy Alka Setzer for colds to treat my allergies and a pint of Ben & Jerry's pistachio ice cream. We rested Saturday evening. The three and a half hour drive from our home to Saint Simons stretched about 5 hours with a few pit stops.  We did not leave until 5:30 PM. I always have too many loose ends to get done before I leave. Going to sleep around 11 PM and getting up at 6:30 to get ready for breakfast was a bit much. 

Jekyll is my favorite island. The state of Georgia runs it as a state park and only 35 percent of it can be developed. On the bus tour, the Captain told us Driftwood Beach was actually a dead tree beach. They don't remove the dead trees otherwise the beach would be considered developed and that would have to be included in the 35 percent. Nearby Cumberland Island is almost totally undeveloped. The Greystone Inn on Cumberland costs about $1500 a night. Cumberland Island is a National Park. 

On the boat tour, we saw many bottlenose dolphins. The Captain shared about how a juvenile female would become a breeding female's midwife. The juvenile would spend about a year with the adult before that female would breed. The pregnancy lasted 12 months. The Captain's wife actually recorded the birth of a dolphin. They wanted the pictures to be used in National Geographic but (I missed why), the pictures had been digitally altered and National Geographic could not use them. There is some continued contact with National Geographic in that to get pictures of a dolphin birth is not easy to obtain.  

We spent Monday touring the old lighthouse on Saint Simons after class. It was 129 steps to the top. We would walk 20 steps and stop on the landing and look out the window to catch the breeze and our breath. We went straight with the last 44 steps. A couple in their 40s were out of breath and commenting that we weren't out of breath. I could not help but laugh. When we made it to the top, we were both a bit unsteady walking through the doorway to the balcony at the top. We had made it entirely around the outside by the time they arrived. 

Walking down the tower, there was a huge rumble of thunder. It sounded like the lighthouse was collapsing. After we realized it was thunder, we continued down the winding staircase. Rain was heavy at that point. It is hard to realize that a rainstorm began after two to three minutes of us leaving the top to go downstairs.  These are two photos from the top of the tower.

The islands are called the Golden Isles because the seagrass, Spartina is gold in the spring and again in the fall. Spartina is related to sugar cane and the debris from the plant is part of the wild shrimp's diet. Hence, the shrimp has a sweet taste.  

Below is a picture of the sea grass. It is not so Golden in June.

Next June, they will offer another conference. Their website is https://www.southeasternwritersassociation.org,

Next year, I plan to come early and catch that boat on Saint Simons.