Susan Sands: My Writer's Heart is Full

Dear Friends,

I'm writing this following an event that I'm dying to share with you; it was author and reader related and has had me sighing with a deep satisfaction until I realized that yes, my book is still due at the end of the month, and no, I can't just sit here and wallowing in my stretchy pants eating pie for breakfast. I must focus and move forward at a steady clip or stress myself to the point of no sleep and even more pie.

But back to my fun times. A couple weeks ago, I attended the first Milton Literary Festival in Milton, GA. Milton is a small community twenty or so miles Northwest of Atlanta. It's horse country, and while the area has grown in recent years, it's lovely, heavy in local history, and has a small town feel with rich, cultural roots. A group of incredible volunteers devoted innumerable hours to putting on a fantastic event free and open to the community. One of the local public high school's fine arts department sold baked goods to support funding for their visual arts print periodical, which was incredibly well-done. (See Photos) The authors involved with the festival couldn't pull our wallets out fast enough after getting a look at what these talented young men and women were working so hard to fund.

I was involved in two official events during the festival, but found myself pulled into others and attending my fellow authors' panels and presentations. Some wrote biographies, some narrative non-fiction, and others Southern women's fiction. We were quite varied as authors and people. So often, I've been involved in a lot of sameness within my writing life. A lot of romance and women's fiction  writers--mostly women. This was so much fun because of the diversity of the genres and people. We all met at the end of the day for dinner and cocktails at a small local restaurant. It was a rip-snorting good time. Best of all, I feel like I made some new and real friends moving forward.

Some of the attendees were:  Karen White, Ann Hite, Kimberly Brock, Valerie Conners, Nicki Salcedo, Amanda K Williams, Jackie K Cooper, Michael Buchanan, Romily Bernard, Jameson Gregg, Rona Simmons, George Weinstein, Haywood Smith, and Scott Seeke. Sorry if I missed anyone!

It was a rich experience. I'm not a literary writer, but I value those who write the beautiful sentences and words all the time. I'm funny and smart and I'm proud of what I do, but I can tip my hat to those who do it differently and more magnificently. I only hope to gain insight from those folks as I continue my lifetime of learning.

Wish me luck on my deadline journey!! Ack!

Susan Sands
Author of AGAIN, ALABAMA
The Tule Publishing Group


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