by Alycia W. Morales @AlyciaMorales

At the beginning of 2020, we had so many plans for the year. And then … many of those plans were cancelled or postponed. You are not alone if you have been bummed out for the past six months. Lonely. Missing your writer friends. Missing conferences. I know how you feel. Disappointed. Discouraged. Maybe even a bit disgruntled. #igetit

When we were ordered to stay home, I had already been home for two months, recovering from surgery. To be told I couldn’t go to Barnes and Noble for the next few months was the first pebble in my shoe. I was so so so so so hoping that BRMCWC wouldn’t be postponed. I needed to get out of my house and away for a week. The conference is like a mini vacation for me, even though I’m working during most of it. It’s a week I look forward to every year. And to not have that mini vacation in the middle of the year? Yeah, let’s not talk about that…

Thankfully, we were only postponed. Many others were cancelled.

November is (finally!) right around the corner, and I am really looking forward to the conference. Hopefully you are too. But in case you’re still on the fence about attending in person, check out why I would go if I wasn’t already on faculty.

1. It’s fall in the mountains.

If you’ve been stuck at home all year like many of us have, there’s nothing like getting away to the mountains for some fresh, crisp air.

2. Coffee with friends.

When’s the last time you were able to get a coffee and sit and chat a while with your friends?

3. Like-minded people.

Need I say more? Writers are a different breed of human. Our minds work in ways that befuddle our family and abnormal friends. It does us well to get together with other writers.

4. Vacation.

You’ve been stuck inside or in your “area” for months on end now. Wouldn’t you love to see some different scenery? I would!

5. Fewer attendees means more personal attention.

No thanks to a certain virus, attendance is limited this year. Smaller crowds means there’s more space at the dinner table for you. (We still have room!)

6. Smaller classes.

More opportunities to get your writing questions answered.

7. Family reunion.

I miss my writing peeps. There are many I look forward to seeing every year. Even if social distancing is the new thing. (Maybe by next month, six-foot distances and mask wearing will be things of our past. Here’s to hoping anyway.) (PS – If you’re okay with it, I’m okay with hugs.)

8. Contests and Awards Night.

I cannot wait to see who won all the awards this year! And I’m so excited we get to do so in person. If you entered any of the contests, being there to participate would be so much more fun than watching it online.

9. All that education.

We have a bunch of awesome classes scheduled for this year. A few of them are new to BRMCWC, such as How to Monetize Your Christian Blog (who doesn’t want to make money in their sleep) and the Ghostwriting class I’m going to teach (there’s decent money in ghostwriting). If you put those skills into practice, you’ll earn back your conference fee and be able to afford next year’s. Plus, we still have some of our fan favorites.

10. Need I say it again? Time with your writer friends in person.

Can you tell I’m all about getting together with other writers and friends who I miss and love? If for no other reason, I would pay good money this year to be able to do that. It’s been a long season of isolation and craziness. I’m ready for some good ol’ fashioned fellowship.

I hope I’ll get to see you at this year’s BRMCWC in November. I’m looking forward to walking the campus and taking in all the autumn sights and sounds. Breathing the fresh air. Sipping a hot coffee from Clouds while enjoying the fellowship of my writerly friends. And enjoying a vacation from the same four walls (well, more than four – I have a two-story home) that I’ve been surrounded by for the majority of 2020.

Will you be there? If you haven’t registered yet, you can click here to do so.

Alycia Morales is a freelance editor and writer. Her writing has been in Thriving Family magazine, Splickety Love, and several compilation books. Her editing clients have won several awards for their manuscripts, including finalist in the Selah Award and The Director’s Choice Award at BRMCWC. Alycia has ghostwritten The Spirit of Hospitality by Larry Stuart and continues to ghostwrite for others. She is currently working on two novels, a YA and a romantic suspense.

She is the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference assistant to Directors Edie Melson and DiAnn Mills.

Follow Alycia at her blogs, Life in the MotherShip, Story Inspirations, and The Write Editing. She can also be found on Instagram and Pinterest.

Alycia’s Twitter: @AlyciaMorales

When she isn’t busy writing, editing, and reading, Alycia enjoys spending time with her husband and four children taking hikes in Upstate SC and NC, creating various crafts, coloring in adult coloring books, and watching crime shows.