Each fall, on the first weekend in October, I get starstruck. If I had a tail, it would wag incessantly and knock the coffee mug off the side table. My tongue loosens, although hopefully not like a dog panting, but who knows how I really look after I spend a long weekend in a conference room with some of my favorite all-time people, many of whom I’ve never even met, to talk about my longest sustaining loves: books and writing. Some of you may be Swifties or Vikings fans or never miss an episode of The Kardashians, but I’m an unabashed Writer and Bookworm. Most authors may never sell out stadiums or make millions unless they happen to have written the Bridgerton romance series. Yet, ardent fandom does exist within those who adore authors and the writing life, and in Kalispell, we come together annually to celebrate the written word at the Flathead River Writers Conference. It also includes its fair share of autographs, too.
It was a glorious weekend to spend indoors, as most reasonable people say this time of year when we’re treated to these extended days of summer or what the late poet Donald Hall called “Summer’s curtain call on a triumphant final tour.” This burst of warmth in autumn is only magnified when I get to hang out with my clan of book people: writers, editors, and agents. While the October sun glints in the hazy blue sky, I’ll happily take the background of drab windowless conference rooms to talk nonstop, tongue-wagging with people about how much we love to read and how much we typically like to write. Yes, even at a conference celebrating writing and exploring varieties of ways to write and share our work with the world, we are a bit of an insufferable lot, and we tend to moan over our fifth cup of coffee that it’s also a bit hard.
“We are hardwired for stories,” Leslie Budewitz, the celebrated mystery writer from Bigfork, told us during her presentation on the long, storied, and beloved genre of mysteries. No matter whom I heard talk, whether it was the esteemed writer Debra Magpie Earling, whose novel “Perma Red” was recently listed as one of the Great American Novels, or a newly made friend standing at the row of coffee pots, the power of stories is what sustains us. I spoke with literary agents whose job it is to read hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts and yet they have time to read for fun, too. We compared notes about a book that is very much talked about these days, topping bestselling lists and up for numerous awards. We bonded over a lesser-known book, published 20 years ago that deeply impacted us as writers and readers. We weren’t talking like we were making a business deal, we spoke to each other through that sparkling line of awe and admiration. Throughout all these conversations and presentations dedicated to either the craft or business of writing, I marveled at the people sitting next to me who seemed just as excited as I was. It’s a beautiful autumn day? Who cares, we’re listening to Debra Magpie Earling spin us a tale, conjuring the uncanny that arrives in novels that remind us that yes, we are human but we’re also animals and when fearful, our hair stands up.
I tell people, once again, dancing around the room like a dog who hears his owner jangle the leash, that the Flathead Valley may draw millions of people here annually because of Glacier National Park, and sure, that park deserves the attention. But there’s also a vibrant literary scene here, too. And you better believe that I left that weekend with many more books to read, the opening page decorated with the author’s signature. Hardwired and starstruck, that is me.