Last week I had the absolute pleasure and honor to be an instructor at Author Quest, the definitive writing camp for young authors. This truly magical experience takes place in Northern Michigan and is lead by author extraordinaire, Johnathan Rand. Johnathan, famous for his scary middle grade stories in the American Chillers series, has created a creative oasis for young writers, by combining time and space to write with supportive mentors and a whole lot of fun and silliness for good measure. The four days I spent at camp, have risen up to be some of my favorite all year… and I can’t wait until I get to go back.

To give you a little peek inside this wonderful word nerd world, I am going to share my insights and pictures of the week with you in the form of a Top 10 List.

You Know You’re At Writing Camp When…

#10 – Notebooks are silently passed around the breakfast table and read between bites of pancake, because someone wrote a great story after campfire last night and couldn’t wait to share it.

#9 – Writers are dressed in attire adorned by typewriters, dragons, author quotes and witty word-nerd phrases.

#8 – A writer sarcastically comments, “Gee, I wish I had packed my thesaurus!” and someone else instantly digs into their backpack and responds, “Here, you can borrow mine.”

#7 – Heated disagreements breakout during a giant-sized game of lawn scrabble, as campers debate the validity and existence of words played.

#6 – Nap time is announced, and everyone cheers because they stayed up too late reading or writing under the covers.

#5 – The entire day is structured around words. In four days I was able to add 2,000 words to a manuscript, edit 14 pages, read an entire book, teach 5 write-shops and STILL have time for a nap each day.

#4 – In the car on the way home, the radio DJ announces, “This is 102.5, The Moose”, and you immediately start to sing, “The moose, the moose! Swimming in the water!”

#3 – You are jealous/intimidated/awestruck/inspired by the work being ready by an author at the campfire, and the writer is 10/11/12/13/14/15 years old.

#2 - Writers of all ages and abilities gather together for some word nerd fun.

#1 – You mark your 2019 calendar with the Author Quest dates because you can’t wait to go back!!!

If this sounds like word nerd heaven to you, and you'd like to attend Author Quest, you can check out more information and find the application HERE.

Thank you to Johnathan Rand for the invitation to be a part of his magical camp-world, and all of my new writing friends for an incredible week. Write On!!!