Whoa. That was the sound of a giant literary whirlwind depositing me back down to earth. 12,000 writers! One tiny (giant) conference center! 8 zillion parties (which I appreciated from a distance)! really seriously discounted books! and my favorite–most nerdtastic–part: panels panels panels.

Guys, seriously, I could live under a panel table at the AWP conference. (“Talk writing craft to me. Talk publishing nuts and bolts.”–me)

For your own nerdy pleasure, here were some highlights from panelfest 2015:

On Process

• Watch & wait. “If you’re stuck, don’t be stuck. Sit there with it.” — Jillian Wiese
• Play. “Don’t get take [your writing] too seriously.” –J.W. (who dresses up as her characters and then walks around in public pretending to be them.
• The best laid plans… Kate Pringle, who developed her characters and world carefully, said, “And then they misbehaved.”
• Subvert your biases. Kate Pringle also talked about realizing her…