Wow. It’s been almost a week and I’m just starting to recover.

I booked five days of vet relief work the week of April 15th, since I wouldn’t be working earning vet income during the WOTF week. (Trust me, the week WAS work!)

The clinic I was at Friday April 19th graciously arranged the schedule such that I could leave early; I was home by around 3:30 or 3:40, packing up food like a madwoman, before Dave arrived. I arranged a Lyft (since I was “local”, my transportation wasn’t included) to the Loews Hollywood hotel.

I checked in, Dave and shared a drink at the bar, then I met the rest of my cohort that evening.

Kinda dorky pic of me, but you get to see all the writers at the two tables!

Everyone is amazing. I’m sure every WOTF cohort feels theirs is the best ever, and I’m sure that’s true for everyone, but I feel so lucky to have met all the writers in this year’s group.

Check everyone out:

• Amir Agoora
• Galen Westlake
• Jack Nash
• James Davies
• John Eric Schleicher
• Lance Robinson
• Lisa Silverthorne
• Rose & Alice
• Tom Vandermolen
• Find Kal M on X
• and find Sky McKinnon on Bluesky

The next few days were a rush of classes, photos, classes, practice for the Gala, classes, and so on!

The Writers of the Future blog has a good summary of what was covered each day.

• Day 1: Arrival
• Day 2: Craft with Jody Lynn Nye and Robert J. Sawyer
• Day 3: More craft, and the start of the 24-hour story
• Day 4: Finish the 24-hour story, and a bit of lecture the rest of the day, then—we got to see our illustrations!
• Day 5: Critiques, more class, and tour of Author Services
• Day 6: More classes/lectures, including the amazing Nnedi Okorafor.
• Day 7: Gala!
• Day 8: Post-Gala. Social Media

Group photo before the Gala!

I’ll follow up with more specifics over the next week or so!