As I Lay... Catching up on Missed Sleep

It was uplifting. It was exhausting.
It was inspirational, productive, and fun.
It was sublime. It was ridiculous.
If you get only one conference, let this be the one.

It was intense, but with mellow chocolate-martini-esque moments.
It was welcoming, supportive, collegial, and warm.
It was eye-popping, butt-kicking, heart-thumping, rockin’,
Motivational, sensational... quite far from the norm.

I met Max in his wolf suit, two Cruella Devilles,
I rubbed elbows with my secret mentors and stars.
I forged brand new connections, and forged former ones deeper.
I flirted with mascots with checks upon thars.

The Ave of the Stars never teemed with such talent,
of voices “post-discovered”, and those not quite yet.
It was the SCBWI-LA annual reunion.
A five-day marathon I will never forget.