A special place

 Write! Canada is a special place of retreat and revitalization for me.

I have always known that I was different from those who don't write. As a child, words fascinated me, and it drove me to distraction when they were misused and misspelled. As I aged and the reprimands of teachers and family forced me to move away from my obsession with keeping the integrity of the written word, I tried to fit into other molds. And then I met Mrs. Quiggly. High school English teacher extraordinaire, this woman fed my love of words and encouraged me to write. "If you do nothing else in life, you should write."  Her words never left me.

As I grew into my writing career, I began to seek others who had this same burning desire to put thought to page. I found them at Write! Canada. It is my second home; a place where I am not different. I learn much about who I am, who I can be and who I should be. I learn that I am not alone in my uniqueness – that there are others who love words as much as me. I connect with friends who, prior to the conference, have only been names and head-shots on a computer screen. I reconnect with those I have met in past conferences and it is as though I am at a giant family reunion.

Write! Canada is one of those institutions that should remain until the earth is no more.

Donna Fawcett (writing as Donna Dawson)