The Afternoon I met Anne Perry

I can’t decide if it’s more fun to anticipate something or be pleasantly surprised by it.  The afternoon I met Anne Perry I had no idea how exceptional that next hour was going to be. Delightfully surprised.

Anne was the keynote speaker for the Story Maker’s Conference in Utah, last weekend. Her legendary skills are used in a different genre than I normally read, so I was not familiar with her work.  I instantly became a fan. Her beautiful British accent caught my attention first but as she continued to speak, the eloquence of her words surpassed the way she spoke.

 Usually when a keynote speaker presents at one of these conferences, a dull murmur of conversation continues throughout but not with Anne. The entire room was silent. She is a recent convert to the LDS church, a lover of poetry and a legend in the industry.  Her entire address had threads of writing advice, poems, life lessons and mentions of deity woven beautifully together.

The only way to describe it was magical.  The kind of magic, that gives you goose bumps, steals your breath and makes you wish everyone you knew could hear it with you. Ultimately I sat there wondering how I had been so lucky to hear it myself.

The next day I snuck into Anne’s class to hear two more hours of her wisdom but this time is was centered solely on the craft of writing.  I had to sneak because I hadn’t signed up for it to begin with.  I’m so glad I did.  She said things like “Keep it simple, cut out repetition. Write from the heart.  Don’t describe a scene, tell how the characters feel about being in it.  Create echoes throughout your book. Shimmering is a great word to write once, not fifteen times. The scent of something can be powerful.” She made me want to write better, research more and be elegant.  I realize being elegant is not necessarily a character trait of a great writer but I wanted to do it anyway.  I wanted to have tea, use a British accent and talk about white roses in the moonlight. 

Anytime you have an experience that elevates you, inspires you, makes you want to be a better person, I believe you should cherish it.  Speaking as someone who loves to write, I say you need to write it down, you have to.  Write it down in every detail so that you can go back and live it again and again.

That’s the way I felt after meeting Anne Perry, inspired.