Another Conference. So Soon?

The AWP Annual Conference is at the end of the week and in my backyard – New York City.
I'm trying to get a ton of work done before it all begins on Thursday – panels, presentations, seminars, readings, schmoozing, receptions, networking, hanging out with writers; all that stuff I always want time for, and then when it's nearly here, I panic and think, there's no way I should go to this, I have way too much work to do.

I'm going anyway. If I don't, then next year when it's in Chicago and I'm too broke to go, I'll wonder why I didn't take advantage when it was just a train ride away.

I'll try to share some Conference tidbits (unless I use the downtime to sleep!).

Meanwhile, if unlike me you have a bit of spare time this week, these are two of my favorite ways to squander a little of it on the web.

►Don't you love it when the media makes some mistake which, in retrospect, seems all too easy to have avoided? So do the folks at Regret The Error.

►At Anthology Builder the idea is to assemble the short stories you want into a custom-built book, with the cover of your choice, for about $14. But if you're like me, you may simply enjoy spending 15 minutes picking the stories from their list, playing designer with the cover art, seeing what it all will look like….and then signing off. [I shouldn't call this a time waster, because it's a pretty darn great idea and I hope it catches on; the site notes that writers whose works are still copyrighted are being compensated.]

And one that's definitely not a waste of time at all….
►To find out which buttons to hit that will get you past the automated voice systems at hundreds of U.S. companies, check out Get Human.

Just started reading: Always Too Soon, by Allison Gilbert with Christina Baker Kline.