Memoirs in Reno

I am going to a writers' conference in Reno, Nevada in April. This would be exciting under most circumstances, but there are several especially exciting elements to my trip. First, I won a scholarship to the conference - the Fred Salas Scholarship in Memoir. Second, I haven't been to a writers' conference since Bread Loaf in 1995. Third, I've never been in Reno. I've never gambled before either (at least not in the casino sense), but that is not so exciting for me as worrisome.

Gambling aside: I think I would be a bad gambler because I persist in the face of bad results too long. I justify playing computer games ad nauseum on the basis of "my luck's about to turn." When you are doing this for money, you don't want to be that personality type. Friend Jane suggested a $5.00 per day limit playing 25 cent slots. I suggested nickel slots, but she says those are hard to find.

I will be staying with my friend Sam - as in Sandra, not Samuel. She is an experienced gambler. In fact, she must be what is called a high roller because her hotel room and meals (and, thus, mine) are going to be "comped." (For those of you who don't speak the casino language, that means free.) This part is truly exciting. Also very exciting is that I had enough reward points to get a free plane ticket. Okay, I had to pay $10 in service fees, but that's nothing compared to a round-trip ticket.

All-in-all, this trip to Reno is shaping up to be fun. After the conference, Sam and I are going to visit her place in Lake Tahoe for two days, then back home to Houston. I'm going for 6 whole days!! That's exciting.

The writer who will be leading my workshop is Joelle Fraser-Porter, who wrote "The Territory of Men." I intend to read it before I go.

Now you know what's exciting in my life. I'm going to go watch a TV program at 8 PM - Project Runway - so I will bid you ...

Ciao!