Writers Reunited!

I'm writing this from a 13th Century Abbey outside Paris, having the most wonderful trip I could possibly imagine. First, I have to tell you the story.

In April, 1999, I went to an SCBWI conference at the Abbey de Royaumont. SCBWI stands for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. At the time I was working on finishing my first novel for kids, and I was discouraged because I didn't know anyone else with such a dream. What I hoped and prayed for at that conference was to make some connections--some friends at about the same level of writing, who shared the same dream.

My prayers were wonderfully answered! Vicki Sansum was my roommate, and we stayed up talking late into the night. At meals, I met Kristin Wolden Nitz, who was interested in starting an e-mail critique group. Vicki met Erin MacLellan, whose story reading was one of the best at the conference.

We began e-mailing our work to each other for critiques (along with a few others who fell by the wayside after awhile). Of course, sharing such a dream, we became very close to one another over the years, even though we had only seen each other a couple of days. In the six years, Kristin and Erin had their first books published (Defending Irene and Run from the Nun), and Vicki has had a picture book accepted for publication (due out in 2007). I'm hoping my turn is next!

Last year, we found out that SCBWI was holding another conference at the Abbaye de Royaumont, this time for "advanced" writers. One by one, we got signed up. So here we are, at the Abbey. We spent a few days in Paris together before the trip and discovered that we are indeed good company in person, not only over e-mail! We'll have a couple more days in Paris afterward.

As I left my house Wednesday morning, I was praying for the trip, and suddenly there appeared before me a rainbow, apparently directly in my path. I took that as a sign that it will be a wonderful trip!

Below is a picture of Vicki, Erin's friend Robin, Erin, and me at a Paris restaurant on Wednesday, our first day together. (Kristin arrived Thursday.)

Erin and Robin knew each other when Erin was fresh out of college and lived in Paris for a year. Now Robin is married to a Finnish magician! She definitely had interesting topics of conversation, and she found us a wonderful restaurant with fantastic service, Le Relais Beaujolais.