Authors Diane Haynes and James McCann
Originally uploaded by Jane Ray’s Wildlife Rescue Series
The email arrived out of the blue, some time last winter: Would I be interested in being one of the authors to present workshops at the annual Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference?
Would I?!?
After months of waiting and preparing, scads of emails and much excitement on the part of the Vancouver-based authors who would be going up together, the day finally came — May 4 — we were off to Williams Lake!
Organizer Amar Sull had thought of everything. She booked us flights with Central Mountain Air on their 18-seater prop plane. We flew direct from Vancouver to Williams Lake, swinging out over the Pacific coast and then rounding east across the snow-covered Central Mountain Range and into the interior of British Columbia. Williams Lake is 6 hours northeast by car, and situated exactly half way between the coast and the BC-Alberta border. It’s a mill town and a resort town, with a population of about 36,000 and great outdoor amenities summer and winter. Our only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer.
As soon as we saw a photo of the plane we’d be taking, author James McCann and I decided we needed to dress the parts. He went all out as Indiana Jones, complete with fedora, and I aimed for a Casablanca look. We turned a few heads at YVR, but hey, that’s what we were aiming for.
We met fellow authors Kari-Lynn Winters and Max Tell in the waiting lounge, and proceeded to throw our own little party, complete with food and drink and loud, obnoxious laughter. Missing the boarding announcement completely, we held up the plane’s departure … and then held it up a little further when we asked one of the CMA staff to take our picture on the tarmac. However the result, above, was worth it.
The plane had a row of seats on each side, separated by a very narrow aisle. In all, the plane wasn’t as wide as many cars I’ve been in. We could see the cockpit and the instrument panels from our seats, and were astonished when, after completing the pre-take-off cabin prep, the flight attendant took her place in the co-pilot’s seat and proceeded to help fly the plane.
The trip was gorgeous, and surprisingly short (55 minutes), and before we knew it, we’d arrived. Amar and her husband Jas met us at the little airport, introduced us to three more authors (who’d flown up with us, unbeknownst to us) and drove us to the Sandman Inn, where Amar had arranged all our rooms.
After settling in, James, Kari and I took a walk through Boitano Park and into downtown. Because it was Sunday, everything was closed, but again, we thought this was somewhere we’d like to return to, and spend more time.
We all met up at the Laughing Loon Pub for dinner that night, and shared some unrepeatable stories and unforgettable songs. Then it was back to the Sandman and to bed.
The conference the next day was incredible and again I have to say that Amar had thought of everything. Each author had his or her own room, and we shared an authors’ lounge for breaks and lunch. In each of our rooms was a basket of goodies — pencils, pens, chalk, kleenex and even candies! — all the emergency supplies any touring author would ever need.
We met all of the workshop participants in the gym first thing, then began our workshops at 9:45 am. I taught three one-hour workshops to grade 6 and 7 students from various schools around District 27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin). With the first group, I led a Shamanic journey for the students to discover their medicine animals. With the second two groups, I told the story of how by rescuing a drowning seabird, I joined my passion to my writing, and then I led them through a series of exercises designed to tap into what they care about most.
All the students wrote, and I invited every participant to send me their finished pieces for posting on this site. So stay tuned here for some awesome student writing!
After closing ceremonies in the gym, we all headed back to the cafeteria, where the 8 authors set up tables with their books. Students, teachers and parents had the opportunity to buy any books they were interested in, and have them signed by the author.
With our workday done, we headed downtown to check out Open Books, the little store we had spotted the day before. Staffer Annette took the arrival of 8 authors in stride, and welcomed us to the store. We hope Open Books will be involved in the conference next year!
There was just time for a snack and another short visit together, and then it was time to head to the airport, and home. We all felt as though we’d packed a week’s worth of adventures into 24 hours, and yet stiil, it felt too short. We vowed that if ever we had the opportunity to go back, we’d stay longer.
One of the best things about it, I think, for all of us, was the chance to spend time with our colleagues in a fun, no-pressure, non-competitive environment. Writing is such a solitary pursuit, and yet we’re social beings with a need to connect and to learn from one another about this crazy business we’re in. The Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference gave us that, and we definitely made the most of it.
Good luck to Max, who’s presenting and performing today as well (lucky duck!) and congratulations and thanks again to Amar, Organizer Extraordinaire.
Watch here for posts written by my workshop participants at the Williams Lake Young Writers’ Conference!
