As the sun sets on the first day of the Summer in Words Conference at Oregon’s Cannon Beach, writers and presenters mingle – not over martinis at a hotel bar – but around tidepools and boulders festooned with orange and purple sea stars. In the distance, 235-foot-tall Haystack Rock offers inspiration for those who’ve traded pen and paper for camera or sketchpad. A debut YA author frolics on the sand with her dog. A New York Times best-selling novelist plays with his children and pauses to talk with participants from his afternoon workshop.
“Writers need real face time with each other,” says Summer in Words director Jessica Morrell. “They need to be inspired by how other writers live their lives. People come back from the beach experience, and their cheeks are pink, and they’ve got a gleam in their eyes. I love gathering together writers.”
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