If you follow me on Facebook, you know I had my two minutes of fame Saturday night when I received the first place award for poetry at the Willamette Writers conference banquet in Portland Saturday night. It’s not my first award, but as the queen of second place, I’m thrilled about this one and that it’s for poetry makes it even sweeter. That I could also celebrate with Debby Dodds, a sister graduate from the Antioch LA MFA program was also a blessing. The pictures with me in them come from Debby’s camera.
 |
| I got a room with a view, but of what? |
It was a strange day in Portland. So hot even the people who lived there kept complaining. When I got the news of my award, the conference hotel was already full, so I stayed at a place nearby. Lest I get sued for libel, let’s just say it was in the area. If I had read the reviews before I booked my room, I might have chosen a different place. “Rundown” is putting it nicely. The photo will show you what my “view room” offered out the window. It actually got better at night when the convention center towers were lit, but still. Inside, everything was hanging lopsided, not quite clean or falling apart. No pool, no breakfast, not even a free pen. But it was only for one night, and the air conditioner worked.
It was odd showing up at the conference hotel and not being registered for or teaching at the actual conference. I was just there for the banquet. Inside the ballroom, we winners were relegated to our own tables, but most of the winners lived too far away to come to the banquet. So I shared a half-empty table with an 11-year-old winner in the kids’ category, his mom, dad and bored older brother and a non-winner who came in late and needed a seat. Turns out she and I both worked at the same newspaper in Los Gatos, California a few years apart. Amazing.
The awards began a bit late, but moved quickly to the poetry division. Amid cheers, I hurried up to the platform, posed for a picture with my certificate and hurried back to my table, where Debby grabbed me for a hug and a couple selfies, which showed up on Facebook a few minutes later.
 |
| Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series |
We contest winners were small fish at the banquet. Awards were also given to Justin Hocking, executive director of the Independent Publishing Resource Center; Kelly Williams Brown, author of Adulting: How to Become a Grow-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps; Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and seven other books; Ivan Doig, author of 16 novels and three nonfiction books; and Diana Gabaldon, whose Outlander books are debuting this week as a TV series on Starz. Gabaldon gave one of the best keynote speeches I’ve ever heard. We laughed, we learned, we were inspired, we gave her standing ovation. Man, she’s good. And she started her books while holding down two jobs and raising a couple of kids. So what’s our excuse?
Once the nerves of my own award were over, I could enjoy my dinner. Salmon with hollandaise, some kind of potato concoction, green beans, salad and the most beautiful dessert, which I should have photographed. With layers of chocolate, coffee, more chocolate and whipped cream, it looked like a cupcake but slid down easy like cheesecake. Not exactly on my diet, but hey, I won first prize. Besides, when you consider my low-fat breakfast at the grungiest Denny’s ever, it evens out.
In the morning, instead of rushing to the Doubletree for a day of classes, pitching, and networking, I was free to roam to Chinatown and the waterfront. It was a wonderful day. Stories and photos to come. And then it was back to Annie in the cool coastal forest. Ah, fame.
Unleashed in Oregon 