Sometime back in early summer I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the
Writer Unboxed UNconference in Salem, MA on Nov. 4.
How could I say no?
Of course, I dragged ass about writing the thing all summer, trying to NOT think about the fact that I've never stood at a podium or spoken into a microphone. And the biggie - to say something that mattered. To put a little wind in the sails of the participants. The last time we all gathered here, we woke up to the horror show of the election results. It was hard, but I made and kept a promise to the organizer, Therese Walsh, that I would not utter one political word.
It went well. I didn't die of stage fright. Although I'd brought a case of bronchitis with me, I didn't cough! (Four days prior, I had no voice at all!) After weeks of worrying over how others would take my words, my thoughts, the "
what to wear" and "
what the hair"? it's finally over.
I was a little sorry I couldn't stay for the conference - a whole week steeped in the nuts and bolts of writing. But there was a very big upside. I got to meet a long-time online friend in real life. How often does that turn out well?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4GHeRQhQjZRH2nwTghh5pZaAJaHMLwzi12pXPs0pcJ4xRamnKFensOFnVGGkrWEdGawic-JmPJqN9lCS8WTqr1G0L4vg8oxrOD2lZElJEYfDSsnZl0vpqyUdMhr1xl8YxPHp/s400/20191103_131650.jpg)
Turns out my hostess is gracious and generous, exactly who she is online, a warm and thoughtful human being.
Instead of a week of hotel rooms, scrounging the town for cheap food on foot, and varying levels of social unease, I was made welcome, comfortable, and catered to by
Dee Mallon, her husband K., and good dog, Finn. My stay a Casa Mallon was the very best part of the trip.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafP2GmNmNjE3o3hky8cMFC6AulOcw5kPvujizitsRMl7_tceC3VCHFjL2xy72EbovR-9FgHpdP5eQ1OF71x4sg19uPUwgFYVUjkWBlD7MLQPfhMj0ffD-BWq3QD9iVuUIpSNu/s640/20191104_085416.jpg) |
Again, Dee, thanks for the marvelous hospitality. When will your Bed & Breakfast open? |