To quote Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home." Indeed. The week at Chautauqua was magical, even if the trip home tested one's patience. (American Airlines no more!) Kathi Appelt, Candace Fleming, Kelly Milner Halls--stellar writers all--kept their audiences spellbound. Bruce Coville--what can one say about Bruce, except that he's a writer's writer, a speaker's speaker, and a genuinely warm, caring (and funny) gentleman to boot. He was the heavenly cream cheese frosting (My favorite!) on the cake called Chautauqua.

This Chautauqua was bittersweet for me. Long ago, Kent Brown and I came to an agreement that I'd serve on faculty every other year, and it has been an honor, privilege, and education doing so. But 2007 also marked my last Chautauqua--at least for a time. As I told Kent, it's time to share the Chautauqua faculty experience with younger blood. It is also time for me to refocus. So for all the wonder and magic that Chautauqua is, I am looking forward to diving into new projects that I hope will be as spiritually and emotionally rewarding. I will continue to support the Highlights Foundation--which funds scholarships for deserving beginning authors who otherwise could not afford the opportunity to participate in the conference--by auctioning off an "expenses paid" elementary school visit at the foundation's annual auction. (So educators who are interested in a dynamic school visit and who plan to participate in a future Highlights Writers' Conference at Chautauqua should check with their administrators to clear a bid. The foundation is a public, not-for-profit 501.c3 corporation. This year's winning bid--$1,300, if I recall correctly--went to a librarian at a school in southern California.)

Now it's time to do laundry, clean house, play with Kubric, pack for Colorado, and--perhaps most important of all--WRITE.