Highlights Foundation, #nErDCampNC, Florida Writing Workshop & MORE!

I’ve had a BUSY summer. The cover release of Queer Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the English Language Art Curriculum has been one of the highlights. It’s the first time one of my novels has been featured in a textbook!

I started off the month of July as a student. I attended a Highlights Foundation Master Class on writing narrative nonfiction. We had a stellar faculty.

Larry Dane Brimner was my mentor for the week.

Prolific author, Carole Boston Weatherford spoke about writing around the gaps/the unknowns in nonfiction books.

Susan Campbell Bartoletti encouraged us to “go deep with our emotions,” and reminded us that though a nonfiction writer’s biggest fear is another book on the same subject, “there is always room for a good one.”

After my week at Highlights, I attended North Carolina’s first nErDCamp at Lenoir Rhyne University. I took along my presentation on the lifesaving power of LGBTQ books and had the opportunity to share it with a small group of educators.

And then on August 4th, I was back in Tampa to critique manuscripts and present at the Florida Writing Workshop. The topic of my presentation was, “Tips to Shorten Your Journey to Publication.”

In reflecting back on the past several weeks, I’m reminded there is always more to learn, and that I also have lots of knowledge to share with beginners.

Happy dog days of summer!