Over on the Viable Paradise mailing list, a few people were chatting about an upcoming seminar in Madison, WI called Fire in Fiction with Literary Agent Donald Maass and author Nalo Hopkinson. I know of Maass.  In fact, I’ve got a couple of rejections from his agency when I queried Asymonte all those years ago.

The comments regarding the seminar ranged from “OMG OMG OMG” to “I wish I was near Madison so I could go.” Fellow Iowan and VP bud Cath blogged about her conversation with her husband about her decision.

I’m not too far from Madison, only three hours.  Of course, the seminar is pretty expensive and it happens right before we head off to England (literally – it ends on Sunday, we leave on Wednesday).  So I went back and forth over if I should go or not.  Our conversation (spread over several days) went a lot like this:

Me: “I’d like to go but God, it’s expensive.  Add in the hotel room and it’s right before we go to England.  I don’t know.”

Steph: “Will it make you a better writer?”

Me: “Donald Maass is one of the top agents representing my field and has written some awesome books.  I got one on my shelf.  I’ve never read Hopkison but she’s pretty popular and a former instructor at Clarion and apparently got some recent professorship in California, so yeah, I think it would.”

Steph: “So go.”

Me: “But the money and –”

Steph: *THE STARE*

Once I shook myself out of my terrified stupor some time later, I reserved a space and booked a room at a hotel up the street and put in an inter-library loan request for his and Nalo’s latest books.

Darn spouses.  Always making you do what’s in your best interest.