in conversation at UntitledTown
Time has slid through my grubby fingers since I attended UntitledTown nearly two weeks ago. One never knows how these events will turn out, or, more specifically, whether PEOPLE will turn out. Best a gal can do is hold her breath, prepare her materials, and show up.
I arrived early to check in and receive my marching orders while asking for clarification about one item on the schedule. In Conversation was meant to be me and two other writers talking in a room and anyone could pop in and listen for the hour. "Make it whatever you want. One of the writers can't make it this weekend, so it's just you and __________." Ah. Okay. Roll with it. That's something I can definitely do.
Friday night I sat in the audience and enjoyed listening and learning. Saturday morning, I led a children's workshop, over an hour with delightfully creative young'uns. They each had ideas, but more importantly, they had supportive grownups who brought them to the Green Bay Public Library to explore and develop their ideas. I wasn't sure whether the packet I designed would hit the mark, but it turned out providing a hybrid of spaces to both write and draw ideas was exactly what the kiddos needed. I migrated to a different space a gave a roomful of adults some hard-earned advice on character development. To my enormous satisfaction, I needed to drag in extra chairs (!) and none of my handouts got left behind. In the world of public presenting, that's a huge win!
Saturday capped off with a swell time at bonus son's wedding where middle son gave a perfect best man's speech, the bride and groom looked stunning, all my offspring scrubbed up nicely for the occasion, we ate and drank and danced.
Sunday began with one of those pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming panel discussions: Doing Crimes and Misdemeanors--Writing Mysteries and Thrillers. Lori Rader-Day, Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare, half of Juneau Black, and I talked about the craft of writing mysteries. In storied company, I learned so much and the Knox-Mare duo were the most charming moderators ever with killer questions for us to chew on! (I even managed to come off as reasonably coherent despite feeling starstruck.)
After getting books signed and this photo taken, I made my way to Badger State Brewing for the In Conversation portion of my weekend. The room was arranged with rows of chairs facing a table in front, rather cold and hardly conversation-inducing, so I dragged one row's worth into a cozy little circle and popped up copies of my books on a barrel. A volunteer dropped in to ask what I needed.
"I've no clue! I never did anything like this before. I guess I'll just sit here and wait for people to show."
Eventually a lovely woman and her husband who'd attended the mystery craft panel entered the room. I asked her what she was working on since it was just the three of us, and she began to tell me her story. She's a well-published writer of business and communications books, ready to begin a mystery series in her retirement. She revealed her most brilliant idea for back matter at the end of each book, in lieu of the traditional recipe one finds in cozies (but that's her surprise to reveal, not mine).
After a fashion, another woman stepped through the doorway. "Sit down!" I encouraged her to join our little circle, aware that the other writer slated to appear In Conversation was a no-show. I decided to use this time to invite these other writers tell me what they had cooking. The new woman explained she's a graphic novelist, comic books for adults and teens. Her current project's about a vampire-barista (with a kickass title involving the word Grounds). The couple and I peppered her with questions about her creative process. None of us had ever had the pleasure of talking to a graphic novelist before. Did she do her own artwork? (Yes) Did she do the story first or pictures first or both interchangeably? (Interchangeably) She talked about signing with an agent excited to sell her work, and gosh, it sounded exciting!
Around the time the graphic novelist was halfway done explaining her work, a tall teenaged boy stood uncertainly in the doorway. "Come in! We're In Conversation!" I told him.
He did and contributed a few of his own questions to the graphic novelist. Then we asked him to tell us what he was working on. A fantasy time-travel novel! This young man described the physics and magic and layers of intrigue central to his story and the three of us all leaned forward, equally curious to hear about his characters, setting, and plot. He's on the home stretch, only a few chapters left, and he was curious about how to go about putting his novel out into the reading universe. We were on the edge of our seat and all in awe at how accomplished this high school senior was--and bonkers smart to boot!
Reader, I could've sat ALL AFTERNOON in conversation with these three other writers + a spouse. Listening to their stories and hearing them talk about what inspired their projects and how they develop their plots and characters and settings was the best. It was a gift to sit with this terrifically diverse group of people sharing their stories without pretense or fear of criticism. We were simply five people who spontaneously connected over our passion for writing. That hour felt as close to magic as I've experienced in a long time.
Unscripted and unexpected, this was my very favorite part of UntitledTown 2026.
How exciting this all sounds! My oldest child and her cousin (my niece) did a writer's day camp when they were in 5th or 6th grade, and it was a marvelous thing. Providing safe space to write and think - what a gift to give young people.
The conversation time with other writers sounds great. And thank you for recognizing that how the furniture is arranged makes a difference in how people interact. I get mocked for that at church - no, I don't want to lead a conversation with the participants sitting in the pews. It doesn't work well!