25th Most Powerful Author Working In Hollywood: Maui Writers

Hey Everyone,

Back again. Still thinking about how to raise my status on the Powerful Authors list, and now I think maybe if they make the Magic K movie, that will help. You know, a TV show AND a movie? But then, what if both are terrible? I don’t think they will be, but what if they are? What if viewers hate them? Then I might fall off the list altogether! Even worse, I might fall onto another list – The 25 Least Powerful Authors not working in Hollywood. OMG, what would I do then?

Oh, right. Shawn just reminded me. I still have the books. Also, he said to shut up about Hollywood because I am a book writer, not a Hollywood personality. Just give up on it!

So I will. Instead, I will talk about the Maui Writer’s Retreat and Conference.

Just returned from a two week Hawaiian vacation that ended with four nights on Maui. Haven’t been back since we quit attending the conference so it was a bittersweet experience returning to the Grand Wailea and what is now the Wailea Mariott. I spent maybe a dozen years there, teaching and lecturing writers seeking wisdom from those of us who wish we had some. I met so many people I would never have met otherwise, many of whom I am still friends with. Elizabeth George, Susan Wiggs, Karen Joy Fowler, Gail Tsukiyama, Bob Mayer, Dorothy Allison, Liz Engstrom, Andy Cohen, Chris Vogler, and so many more. I revisited all the places we held meetings and classes for the retreat and the conference. Everywhere I went there were memories of the past surfacing out of the places in which they had been hiding.

I was reminded, too, of how many of those students we taught went on to publish books. So many that I am still astounded at the level of success. Those people worked so hard to write their books and publish them, and I remember when I had the same hopes and dreams they had. You want to give back when you are as lucky as I have been, and that was probably the best chance I had to help people trying to get to their foot in the door. It was exciting, challenging, and I do miss it.

But some things you can’t go back to. This was one. Now the Maui Writer’s Retreat and Conference is no more.

But what a time we had.

—Terry