Technically, the PNWA Conference isn’t yet wrapped up… but it is wrapped up for me. I’m skipping the Sunday morning sessions to take care of some stuff at home, and to recover before the start of a very busy upcoming week.

First of all, the conference was fantastic. Pam Binder and the whole crew did an awesome job of putting it together. I learned a lot, met up with fellow writers (and friends) I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, made new contacts, and heard great speakers. Hopefully everyone else there got at least as much out of it as I did.

I came away from the conference with a few goals. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Get more involved in the PNWA on a monthly basis. I’ve been limited over the last three years due to health issues and time, but hopefully all that is, or soon will be, behind me. I’ve got a project lined up with one the PNWA Board members that we should be able to get traction on in September that is going to be really, really fun for a lot of people. More to come on that in the future.

2. I’m going to try out Scrivener as a writing tool for my next book. I’ve been using a mix of Microsoft Word, Excel, One Note and notepad for all my books up to this point, but I heard nothing but good things about Scrivener at the conference, so I’m going to make a concerted effort to make it work.

3. I’ve got ideas for one, and possibly two, and maybe three classes to give at next year’s PNWA conference. I’m going to start putting the ideas together soon, and turning them into blog entries to see if I can’t crowd-source some of the areas where I have gaps in my knowledge.

4. If I’m going to do #3, I’m going to have to make time in my schedule for resuming my Toastmasters classes. Being able to get up and speak in front of large numbers of people still isn’t easy for me, so practice will make perfect there.

5. I need to figure out my YA Platform. I’ve got this blog, but this is more of a personal blog, and not so much targeted towards my YA audience. Not quite sure how to go about doing that yet, but it’s a must have for this year.

6. I need to start reading again. My writing was so much better when I was reading more, and more frequently.

7. I need to get started on my next novel. It’s going to be YA Speculative Fiction. I’ve got the characters in my head, and the general plot and setting. It’s just a matter of sitting down and getting the outline done.

So, lots to do, and little time to do it. But I have ways of making more time, and in a week or two, I’ll be making the first of many announcements in this regard. Stay tuned.