Trying hard to understand how charmed my life is right now. When Words Collide 2017 being yet another event that brought joy to me. A big thank-you to the volunteers, organizers and guests for this amazing event. Below is the list from the program for the volunteers and organizers. Send your thank-you’s to info@whenwordscollide.org

These people are the wonderful group who worked hard all year to bring you the best festival they could. Please take a little time to shake their hands.
The One to Blame (Chairman) Randy McCharles
Who We Begged for Money (Finance) Cheryl Cottreau, Mahrie G. Reid, Cliff Samuels
The Person Who Organizes Our Agenda (Secretary) Michele Lisiecki
She Who Reached Out (Affiliates Liaisons) Val King and Kyera Lea
The Person Who Wrangles Authors (Guest Liaison) Cliff Samuels
The Man Who Makes Things Beautiful (Artist) Steve Swanson
The People Most In Need of Rest (Programming) Randy McCharles, Susan Forest. Suzy Vadori, Susan Calder, Sarah Kades, Mahrie G. Reid, and Darlene Louka
The One Who Arranged For Things to Purchase (Merchants’ Corner).Marzena Czarnecka
The Person Who Found Us A Place to Gather (Hotel Liaison) Randy McCharles
Pre-Festival Workshops Susan Forest
The People Who Managed Our Saturday Night
Banquet Randy McCharles, Nola Sarina, and Darlene Louka
Mass Autograph Session Kim Greyson
The Ladies Keeping Track of Everybody (Registration)
Pre-festival Sandy Fitzpatrick
At Festival Kyera Lea

The People Who Kept You Informed
Web Site Gary Renshaw
News & Notes, E-Mail Monitor, Statistician Randy McCharles
Podcasts  Tony King
Program Book  Cliff Samuels
Restaurant and Area guide Cliff Samuels
Promotions Distributor, Calgary Public Library Liaison Stacey Kondla
Facebook Ron S. Friedman
Twitter Suzy Vadori
Media Relations Tony King
The Person Who Cracked the Whip (Volunteer Wrangler) Kim Greyson
The Person Who Remembers Who We Were (Archivist) Val King
The People Who Deal with Government – Grants  Catherine Saykaly-Stevens
Siona Gunn-Graham, and Susan Forest
Those We Have Insufficient Space to List And Many Others
There are many volunteers to thank

The biggest moment for me was meeting my literary hero Guy Gavriel Kay. Not only meeting him and getting a selfie but listening to him talk about writing and his writing process. I will share more on that in a coming blog.(HINT:There is no magic bullet) But here is the fan boi picture. It’s hard to explain the impact this had on me. At 57 years old I held little hope for meeting people I respect as heroes. I doubted the chance that it would happen. This year I have met two, one Andy Mckee the finger style guitar player and now Guy Kay. And yes you do get goose bumps at my age. You check to see if it’s rash first, but you still get them. When the first example he used was your favorite scene, it gave the word ‘surreal’ new meaning. This can’t be happening. It is not possible. Transcending.

“In this world, where we find ourselves, we need compassion more than anything, I think, or we are all alone.”― Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana

Be Well – dcd