Farewell, Las Vegas

We will head back home today after attending the Public Service Writers Association conference in Las Vegas. The conference was wonderful. We learned a great deal, saw friends, and made some new ones.

However, I was once again reminded of why we don’t visit Las Vegas often.

It's HOT! I don't do well in the heat. I've heard the argument, "But it's dry heat." At over 100 degrees, ANY heat is too much. Admittedly, I find it harder to breathe in humid air, regardless of the temperature, but high temperatures simply sap all my energy.

It's crowded. The traffic in the city is even worse than in Southern California. Last night we met friends for dinner at a restaurant on the same street as our hotel but about ten blocks away. It took us over half an hour to get there in the Sunday evening rush. In addition, the only scenery is the skyline featuring tall buildings vying for attention with their flashing neon signs.

Las Vegas allows smoking and I am extremely sensitive to the smell. My sinuses have been complaining since we arrived. Even in our supposedly non-smoking room, the scent of smoke is noticeable. In the Casino, I find it hard to breathe. Fortunately, the floor where the conference rooms are located was more isolated, and the air seemed a bit cleaner.

The unrelenting noise and lights are overwhelming. The casinos remind me of the pachinko parlors in Japan—all flashing colors and bells and tinkling music. Even the rooms aren't very quiet. Because the city runs on a 24/7 schedule, people slam doors, laugh in the hallways, talk loudly at all times, regardless of the time. I haven't had a good night's sleep since we arrived.

I am looking forward to being back at home in Dana Point where the daytime temperature is expected to be about seventy degrees. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. I want to work on my PC with the dual screens in our office where I can hear the waterfall instead of slamming doors.

Yes, I'm spoiled—and I love it.

Lots of people pay a great deal to travel long distances just to visit Las Vegas. Since we don't drink or gamble, the charms of this city are rather lost on both of us. Maybe someone can explain to me why they enjoy coming here.

Will we return again? If the conference is held here again next year, probably. The rooms are inexpensive and the conference is worth the discomfort. Would we come for a vacation? Unlikely. Highly unlikely.

Attending Writers' Conferences

 A couple of weeks ago, we spent four days in Vancouver, WA at EPICon, the annual conference for EPIC (Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition). As we have since 2006, we loved spending time with others who are as obsessed with books as we are. Then, in July, we will go to Las Vegas for the PSWA (Public Safety Writers Association) conference. Why do we keep going to conferences?
 

In 2005, after our first book, a memoir entitled 31 Months in Japan: the Building of a Theme Park, was published, we decided to attend the now-defunct Maui Writers Conference.  We had already planned a trip to Hawaii for the same time, and my favorite author at the time, Gail Tsukiyama, was one of the presenters. Larry said he’d rather surf. That is, until he found out one of his favorites, Terry Brooks, would be speaking. Oh, and he realized the cost of the conference was tax-deductible.

He agreed to go, but said he’d drop me off in the morning, go surfing, and pick me up in the afternoon, except for the time Terry was scheduled. I agreed.

Once we arrived, however, and he saw all the topics available, he decided maybe he’d go to one or two workshops. It was a good thing we had another few days on Oahu after the conference, because he never surfed on Maui.

We heard some awesome people speak, learned a lot, which we’re still using, met some wonderful folks, and had a blast! Oh, and we also met the guy who became the inspiration for our protagonist, Agapè Jones, in our mysteries, Murder… They Wrote and Murder in Paradise  (finalist for the EPIC eBook Award).

We discovered spending time around others who understood when we complained that our characters wouldn't cooperate was empowering. If we say, “I just couldn’t sleep last night. My latest character kept talking all night,” they don’t think we’re crazy. In fact, they nod sagely. They’ve been there, too.

Later the same year we decided to go to EPICon in San Antonio when our book, 31 Months: The Building of a Theme Park, was named one of the two finalists in the nonfiction category.

This conference was a more intimate, but we actually preferred it in some ways to the big one. And we loved visiting San Antonio. We didn’t win the award, but we had a ball. And we’ve been attending EPICon each year since.

By now, quite a few of the members have become dear friends. I met one of my writing partners at the first conference. We’ve since written five anthologies together, including Directions of Love, which won the EPIC eBook Award for best romance anthology.

Why do we keep going, year after year? Because the workshops are relevant to the publishing industry and we never fail to gain information to make our writing better. Because we love reconnecting with dear friends every year and making new ones. Because writers are lots of fun!

We plan to attend EPICon again next year. In fact, our arms have already been twisted to present our workshop "The Perfect Pitch" again next year. (We've presented every year since 2007, including doing the luncheon keynote for one.)

Hope to see you at a conference next year!