For me, there is nothing so ecstatic, so invigorating as being surrounded by creativity, especially involved with creative minds.

At 10:30 AM, I joined an author and writer’s symposium/conference sponsored by the Dayton Metro Library. It was an excellent event. From my perspective, it was well organized, well attended, and staffed with some incredible panelists/authors.

I knew several authors on the panel, but got to enjoy some time with friends, Kim and Belinda. Kim is the mother of two of my male students, and Belinda and I are house managers for Dayton Live.

There were three major divisions of this conference, each lasting an hour with visits to all author tables in between. The areas covered were: character development, plot development, and, the working writer. Not only did the professionals on the panels offer excellent commentary and advice, but I learned quite a bit from my fellow audience members. 

Learning from other creative souls and minds is something I’ve always valued and respected about my life and career in the fine and performing arts. There is always an element of learning in whatever we are doing, and with whomever we are engaged or working. It’s thrilling. I yearn for these moments, more and more. For many years, I was surrounded by those in the performing and educational arts; now it’s in an entirely different area of the creative arts: writing. There are numerous similarities and overlaps in all the genres and I’m certainly embracing and loving this new arena of novel writing. I’ve been edging into it for 10+ years. 

I needed this booster, today. I feel some slight exhaustion, but I have an incredible amount of creative energy festering within.