Ballarat Writers' Festival

I spent a lovely weekend travelling down to Ballarat for the Writers' Festival, which was being run for the first time in five years. The Festival focused on Children's and Young Adult writing so I was keen to go along, even though it involved a 16 hr round-trip. The drive down, firstly through country NSW and then through country Victoria, was beautiful. Lush greenery replaced the dry, brown barreness of the last few years and we could feel the first days of Spring had well and truly sprung.
The Festival began with a dinner on Friday night and was held in the wonderful Alexandria on Lydiard. I have to admit it was a little nerve wracking heading off to dinner, when I knew not a soul in the room, however I met some very entertaining and interesting people who made me feel very welcome.
The Saturday consisted of a number of sessions including 'Picture Books - to Rhyme or not to Rhyme', which of course interested me greatly. Another session I really enjoyed was the feedback session from the editors. The last session of the day consisted of the three visiting editors critiquing a section of entries in the First Page competition. This provided very valuable insights into what editors are looking for and what we, as writers, can do differently when submitting.Congratulations to the organisers of the Festival, you obviously haven't lost the knack, even after five years.
It was nice to be able to meet in person a couple of people I had otherwise only known as Facebook writer friends. It's always good to put the face to the name.
The drive home was again a pleasure, although a tiring one, but I think we were very lucky we drove on the Sunday and not today (Monday) as the Victorian townships we came through have since been deluged with flooding. My thoughts go out to those affected and I hope the damage is not too great.