—YOU ONLY GET TO BE ALIVE LIKE THAT FOR ONE DAY

 

 

…AWP 2023… What a juggernaut. And this year it was here, in Seattle.

I had no goals going in, and really no reason to attend other than to see my friends, which I did, in full.

  

…So much joy and laughter, not to mention hundreds of hugs, which are one of my favorite things.

 

…Other than seeing the people I love, my biggest highlight was standing next to a woman who looked at my lanyard/name and said, “Oh, I know you. I teach your stories to my class.” When I thanked her and asked where she lived, she said, “Tel Aviv, Israel. People 7,000 miles away are studying your work.”

So, yeah, that was a high, of sorts.

 

…I aim to get back on track, now that I’m not traveling for spell. 

 

…Re-entry is always a comedown. It’s too bad we all live so far apart, but I guess that’s life, all of us going our own ways, then coming together once a year in a vacuum with 10,000 other writers.

 

…These are only a handful of people I saw and spent time with…Robert Vaughan, Karen Stefano, Meg Tuite, Bob Kaye, Nancy Stohlman, Anna Katherine Freeland, Kelli Russell Agodon, Chris Allen, Helen Rye, Beth Gilstrap, Francine Witte, Jayne Martin, Gina Frangello, Steven Dunn, Jason Teal, Ryan Bollenbach, Adam Robinson, Brianna K, Michael Todd Cohen, Chris Bowen, Tara Whitehead, Miette Gilleite, Renuka Raghavan, Marelize Roets, Dani Putney, Brett Pribble, Annie Pluto, Michael McInnis, Joani Reese, Charlie Beckman, Greg Mania, Josh Gaines, Gloria Mindock, Andrew Stancek, Janae Baugher, Tommy Dean, Frances Badgett, Taj Tanaka, Stephanie Austin, Dawn Raffael, Grant Faulkner, Kim McGowan, Michelle Ross, Aaron Dietz, Meg Abbot, Chelsea Stickle, Sarah Lippman, Alice Rabbit Box, Shane Terry, Kurt Baumeister.